Aside from understanding which coworkers you might get along with best, there are several reasons why it’s imperative to have a deep understanding of your personality traits as they pertain to the workplace. Taking the initiative to look within yourself and understand your style as an employee just might help you perform better at your job – and hopefully impress your boss in the process!
Learning Styles
Audio, visual, reading/writing, and kinesthetic are all different types of learning styles that can help you retain information and improve your overall job performance. For example, if you were the type of person who liked to take notes in class, you might be a reading/writing learning style. Or if you need to actually perform a task for yourself in order to understand how it works, you might lean towards the kinesthetic side. Employees can learn by combining several learning styles; no one is limited to a singular style. You might prefer to watch your boss perform a task and explain it as they are doing it, which could mean you are both an audio and visual learner.
So, how does this help you? Well, understanding the way in which you learn will help you learn and retain information when it is relayed to you. This way all the time you spend at meetings and training events won’t be wasted. You’ll know exactly how to prepare beforehand and how to master the information afterwards.
In addition, you can apply this style to your daily work. If you know that you remember things much better by writing them down, then maybe keeping a notepad at your desk will be beneficial. This way, you can write down daily tasks and physically check them off as you work. Another example would be, for the visual learners, create a spreadsheet or document to track your progress. You can style it any way that you like and visually see your tasks throughout the day.
Instead of assuming that a task must be completed in a certain fashion, try asking your manager if you can try something new, something that you know works for you. You never know: your idea just might catch on and change the way you do things in the office.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
This test is a very popular personality quiz that helps individuals understand how their brains work in a learning environment. After a series of questions, individuals are categorized by four contrasting ways of thinking: extrovert or introvert, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. The combination of these ways of thought may form a “map,” so to speak, of a person’s behavior in the workplace.
An extrovert employee who prefers to rely on intuition, feeling, and perceiving works much differently than an introvert who senses a situation, is thoughtful about their choices, and judges their environment based on evidence.
Knowing these traits about yourself will help you better communicate with other employees and management. If you’re able to explain why you might need time to process a change within the company, chances are your manager will understand and reconvene with you at an agreed upon time. However, if they don’t understand that you need that space, they may assume the worst about your behavior.
You may also be able to better communicate your wants and needs as an employee to your manager. If you’re a person that prefers constant communication and validation about the work that you’re doing, that is something your manager needs to know as soon as possible so they can provide you with the same type of working relationship. If that is something that your job is unable to provide you with, it might be time to start thinking about a career change.
An employee who has complete confidence in their learning style and personality traits will be able to use them to their advantage. Using these traits as tools can keep you focused, organized, and ready for additional work instead of feeling overwhelmed and unproductive. If you’re plan is to jumpstart your professional career and you wish to seek that promotion without fear, start by mastering your learning styles and personality traits.
