DataDome Blog

We at Data Dome would like you to join us in welcoming the newest addition to our facilitation team: Rico Pena.

Rico has combined his 25 years entrepreneurial experience, DISC training and his military background into a tactical approach to business that delivers results with measurable military precision and creative out-of-the-box solutions.

“Rico is a strong addition to our growing Data Dome family. I’m excited to welcome him to our DISC facilitation team,” said Art Schoeck, Founder and CEO of Data Dome. “Rico brings an international perspective – he’s delivered results around the world for Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial leaders.”

Rico’s positive attitude and military discipline make him a dedicated and sought-after trainer and speaker.

To find out more about Rico Pena and the rest of the Data Dome team, please visit his bio on our About the Team page.

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Whether you think they are the boon or the bane of the business world, one thing is certain, in corporate culture meetings are a fact of life. Some meetings are long and tedious, some are short and decisive, some involve the whole company, others just a task team of stakeholders. Google is famous for stand-up meeting where the lack of chairs are intended to promote an attitude of meet for only as long as is necessary. So what can we expect from our cast of DISC characters when it’s time for a sit-down?

Dorothy is a high D and the only meetings she really likes are the ones that she is running. When she’s directing the meeting (usually one she’s called on the spur of the moment) they tend to be short and to the point and they don’t happen unless there is a specific purpose to the meeting. Sounds great, but unfortunately sometimes Dorothy can be in such a rush to move the meeting agenda that she can overlook the input of quieter members of the team or gloss over important details. She sometimes falls into the habit of challenging and too-quickly dismissing ideas if they aren’t clearly presented or challenge her authority. Dorothy tends to dodge meetings if they aren’t ones she has initiated. When she does sit in a meeting she usually presses the agenda to nail down action items and generally “get on with it”.

Isaac is a high I and he loves meetings, or rather he loves the socializing that often happens just before and just after the meeting. If anyone is likely to linger in the conference room chatting with colleagues after the meeting is done it will be Isaac and his other high I friends. During the meeting Isaac’s interest will depend a lot on the style of the meeting if it is a lecture or company announcement with no interaction he’ll get bored, but will sit through it so as not to risk the social ostracism of sneaking out early. On the other hand if the meeting is very participatory Isaac will happily chime in to maintain status and will talk on subjects regardless of whether he is actually moving the agenda toward a conclusion. If Isaac calls a meeting it is seldom planned in advance, and sometimes it is hard to tell with all the talk and laughter if the impromptu gathering is a meeting or an office party.

Samantha is a high S and as such doesn’t give off a lot of signals whether she is enjoying the meeting or not, but she is loyal to her boss Dorothy and always backs her point of view. She also always sits in the same chair if she can, and gets a bit flustered if the meeting isn’t in the usual conference room or if someone has taken her favorite seat. The meetings she is most comfortable in are the regular weekly staff meetings, the ones that feel like a regular family dinner where the agenda and the cast of characters are all the same. On the other hand, when she is called into an unplanned meeting she gets stressed and worried that a new decision from management may change the status quo that she finds comfortable.

Chester is a high C and is always a stickler for following parliamentary procedures at meetings. If he calls the meeting, attendance gets taken and people are allotted a set amount of time for replies. Any question raised during a meeting is then reviewed by going around the room getting responses one person at a time. Chester’s meetings always start right on-time. He begins with a review of the minutes from his previous meeting and always end with detailed action items which he then repeats in his after-meeting memos to the staff. Nobody is allowed to leave until the meeting is officially adjourned. Dorothy particularly tries to avoid Chester’s meetings.

As we often do in our World According to DISC blog posts, we’ve shared with you here some one-dimensional examples to illustrate the traits associated with the core DISC styles. But meetings are a very multi-dimensional part of the fabric of a workplace. A recent study of more than 5000 CEOs conducted by the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School, has indicated that meetings are where CEOs spend as much as a full third of their time. The leadership of these companies usually only get about 6 hours per week in which they are able to work alone. CEOs often crave more alone time to build strategy and think creatively, but a lion’s share of their time is spent in meetings where they must contend with the communication dynamics of all the DISC styles. Learning to understand DISC behaviors and finesse the communication landscape of meetings can be vital to an organization’s success and overall culture.

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