Turning conflict into strength on your team maximize vs. retorative
Imagine this:
You’ve got a brand-new product idea. You want to beta-test it and get potential client feedback before you proceed. You task a 2-person team with putting together a game plan to explain the product to potential clients. Part of their assignment is to review a packet containing questionnaires for potential clients to provide feedback.
The first team member surges forward, excited about getting the packet into the hands of potential clients. She sees the possibilities, focuses on the strengths, wants to make a good product better, and is eager to get the packet into potential clients’ hands as soon as possible.
The other employee on the team, also excited about the new product, hesitates. She analyses the packet, thinks about which questions haven’t been asked, where things could go wrong, and how you could improve them before sending the information to potential clients. She’s obsessed with identifying potential problems and finding creative solutions before launching the feedback program.
With the potential conflict inherent in their different viewpoints, this small task force team could easily disintegrate into two unhappy employees, leading to job dissatisfaction and less-than-stellar results.
WHY DO THEY APPROACH THINGS SO DIFFERENTLY?
These employees have contrasting CliftonStrengths, which means they approach tasks from very different viewpoints.
The first employee has the CliftonStrength of Maximizer. To her, it’s important to maximize return on investment and to focus on strengths, and managing around weaknesses. Employees who are obsessed with fixing weakness drive her nuts—she sees it as a waste of valuable time. She’d rather spend the time transforming something strong into something superb.
By contrast, the second employee has the CliftonStrength of Restorative, which means she loves to find a problem and resolve it. Possible trouble spots don’t intimidate her. Instead, they provide fuel for her creativity and problem-solving skills. She has no patience for people who overlook problems and assume they’ll disappear if they’re ignored. Quite the opposite—she feels that if problems aren’t addressed now, they’ll be much worse in the future.
You can see how these strengths might conflict! As a manager, it’s great to have employees with both perspectives because both add value. But for them to function well together, they need to understand and appreciate the other person’s strengths, how that affects their perspective, and how those strengths can benefit the team as a whole.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
When employees have contrasting strengths, it’s imperative to help them see the value the other brings to the table. Millennial Guru can identify each employees’ CliftonStrengths and help them understand not only why they prefer to work the way they do, but why other people work differently—and how their different strengths benefit your company as a whole.
When people can understand and appreciate one another’s skill sets, it minimizes misunderstandings and conflict. That means they can partner on projects like the one above more efficiently and effectively, leading to better productivity and results for you.
Millennial Guru would love to help you get the most from your employees! Contact us today for a free consultation. We’ll walk through how we assess employees, the types of workshops we offer, and how we can tailor a program to meet your needs. Let’s work together to empower your employees to bring their A-game. Every. Single. Day.