Every human being has a pattern of behaviors we call their personal or work style. Each style brings unique qualities and strengths to organizations. In today's fast-paced and constantly changing business environment, effective interaction with others is critical to good leadership, project quality, and customer satisfaction. Learning how individual personal styles work together is crucial to success.
For supervisors, a better understanding of the behaviors associated with each style is the first step to more effective communication and interpersonal relations. It is also the foundation to effective leadership practices and team work.
New Generation Construction Group (NGC Group) of Lincoln, NE is a general contractor that specializes in commercial construction and project management. The company offers a single source solution for all construction related needs including restoration, site preparation, new facility construction or existing facility renovation. When the company decided that supervisors could delegate workflow more efficiently if they communicated directly with contractors, the company contacted the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) to help improve the skills needed to make the change.
Their first training workshop, based on the book People Styles at Work, was presented by Ralph Lassiter, NBDC facilitator, to a group of eight supervisors. The skills acquired in this training were applied immediately on the job. “The class not only helped our guys with different subcontrators, but helped them understand each other,” says Matt Warner of NGC.
The NGC Group management team collaborated again with NBDC to invest in another round of eight supervisors' professional development. The highly positive feedback NBDC received shows that the trainees were able to use what they learned on the job.
“The biggest thing I learned in the class was how to recognize the personalities of different people and how my personality best interacts with them,” says Eric Porter of NGC.
NGC Group leadership gave high praise for the training. “Finding personal development tools that not only engage our employees, but also excite them, is hard to do. This class had our employees raving! Great tool to learn how to interact with others and also a phenomenal tool to learn about yourself. Our employees enjoyed this class so much, we added another class. I would definitely recommend this course.”