Managing a project team and addressing people’s issues are challenging for project managers. A flood of people’s issues may overwhelm a professional, and especially those who aspire to be a PM someday. There are professional tools that consultants use to bring teams together and bring awareness to personality types. There are two types of activities that can help: personality assessment tools and team building exercises.

Personality assessment tools are useful in two ways. They introduce and promote discussion about the notion that different people have different personalities and these differences influence their effectiveness as team members. While it may seem patently obvious that different people have different personalities, examining and discussing this is useful. They also give insight to each individual on how their own personality might influence their interactions both as team members and as managers.

There are many assessment tools on the market today. One tool mentioned by the textbook’s author is the Personal Style Inventory third edition, by Champagne and Hogan, published by HRDQ® (www.hrdq.com). This assessment is based on the well-known work by the mother daughter team of Myers and Briggs. You may also review the personality profile test at www.humanmetrics.com

An astute student will recognize that not only are these types of assessments and exercises useful in a classroom environment, they can also be used in “real” projects. Many PMs will administer personality assessment tools as a team building exercise that also gives the team real insights into how best they can work together.

What type of team building exercise would you use if you were managing a project team? Why will this work? What challenges have you personally experienced, if any, and how did a team building or team assessment tool help?

Your comments should be supported by research that you reference at the bottom of your post – see rubric in syllabus for complete submission guidance.