The World According to DISC: The Low Side of Stress Styles
April 2nd, 2010Sometimes around the office we find that people are “reaching their limit” or “at the breaking point”, but we don’t know why or how things got so out of control. Understanding the impact of various situations and how they relate to differing behavioral styles can help you to better understand your coworkers and perhaps recognize and avoid repeating patterns that in the past were inadvertently causing stress levels to rise.
Previously, as part of our “World According to DISC” series we discussed ways in which one can “stress out” a classic High D, High I, High S and High C (The World According to DISC™: How We Stress Someone Out in Style). But what if someone’s most telling category is one in which they score significantly low instead of high?
How to stress out a Low D:
Tell them that they have to “step up and take the reins”. Put them in charge of a team. Let them know that everyone is counting on them to the lead the way.
How to stress out a Low I:
Ask them to cheer up a co-worker or plan an office party. Give them a big enthusiastic pep talk. Give them projects that involve lots of team interaction. Ask them to drum up enthusiasm for a new initiative among the staff.
How to stress out a Low S:
Force them to work a highly repetitive task. Ask them to work a rigid checklist of activity. Make them wait for extended periods. Demand multiple layers of process and approval for very action.
How to stress out a Low C:
Put them on a quality initiative. Tell them that every fact must be rigorously checked and documented. Ask them to provide detailed annotations. Request that they adhere strictly to the facts and avoid injecting opinion.
Behave Responsibly
We certainly don’t advocate setting out to “stress out” your coworkers, but what we hope is that you will find these examples helpful in recognizing that sometimes, without meaning to, we can say or suggest the wrong thing in the wrong way and end up adding significantly to our coworker’s stress levels.
DISC profiles are powerful allies in learning how to adjust your communication and management style to meet the needs of your employees. Without taking the time to learn the styles and how best to communicate to each, it is too easy to find yourself bringing anxiety and stress when you thought you were bringing solutions.
Tags: behavior, behavioral style, DISC, DISC Assessments, DISC behavior, stress
June 1st, 2010 at 5:25 am
[...] and gradation in the DISC spectrum. Even when we’ve discussed the low-end of DISC scores (The Low Side of Stress Styles) we’ve simplified the discussion by treating each of the four categories as if they were the [...]