How to Inject D.I.S.C. Into the DNA of Your Business

Are you thinking about introducing D.I.S.C. in your workplace? Here are three ways you can get started and make the learning relevant for your team.

D.I.S.C. can be a powerful business tool in the right hands, but unfortunately, only a fraction of teams realize its full potential.

The situation that tends to happen is this: someone within your organization becomes interested in D.I.S.C., and decides to share the concept with your team. It sounds like a useful resource, so you all sit down one day to complete the D.I.S.C. assessment. This part is easy enough – after all, personality quizzes are fun!

Here’s the problem though…after you get the results back, nobody knows what to do next.

Sure, you’ll read through the different D.I.S.C. profiles, and everyone will nod along as you go through the different behavioral traits. But by the time the meeting is over, employees will already be thinking about other things. And by the following week, you’ll be lucky if your team even remembers what all the letters in D.I.S.C. mean.

So how do you keep D.I.S.C. alive, and inject it into the very DNA of your organization?

This article will outline three steps you should take during the implementation process to keep D.I.S.C. relevant within your company:

• Take the Right Quiz for Your Team – Not all D.I.S.C. assessments are the same! Explore all of your options before you take the test with your colleagues.
  
  
• Dig Deeper as a Group – Unpack the results by going through some group exercises. This stage is crucial for helping your team connect with their D.I.S.C. results.
  
  
• Identify D.I.S.C. Advocates – Seek out a few members of your team to help keep D.I.S.C. top of mind over the long-term.

Three Steps You Should Take to Effectively Implement D.I.S.C.

1. Take the Right Quiz for Your Team

Within any organization, the first step you should take to implement D.I.S.C. is to sit down and take the self-evaluation test. But how do you know which quiz is right for your group? Here are three of the most common solutions you might want to consider:

2. Dig Deeper as a Group

Remember, taking the quiz is only the first step! Once every member of your team knows what their D.I.S.C. profile is, you’ll want to help them unpack the results.

Immediately afterward, your team should:

• Learn more about themselves – Go through the profile assessment, and highlight parts that seem to line up with how you see yourself. Be sure to review your motivators and stressors, and plan out a time to talk about these items with your manager or supervisor. If there’s anything you think doesn’t apply to you, take note of that as well and check with a peer to see if they agree.
  
  
• Learn more about their colleagues – Obviously, it can be a challenge to memorize the D.I.S.C. profile of every member of your team. But you may want to choose two or three of your closest colleagues, and take a look at how they differ or are similar to you. Look for potential points of conflict between the ways that you approach things, and discuss how you could use this information to collaborate better in the future.

You can also bring in a third-party professional to help unpack your D.I.S.C. assessments, while tackling your group’s unique challenges. When it comes to D.I.S.C. profiles, working with a facilitator can help provide your team with:

• Expert analysis and a breakdown of your results
• Unbiased perspective on your team dynamic
• Custom guidance on your group’s issues

“Anytime you get an outside perspective, it really helps,” says Lyndon Friesen, Lead Skill Development Facilitator at Outback. “Somebody who understands what the actual dot means within the graph or chart. Someone who then allows you to begin to see where your teammates are, and gives you the understanding as to why somebody might react one way to a situation, and you might react very differently.”

3. Identify D.I.S.C. Advocates

So, how do you keep D.I.S.C. alive in the weeks and months following your initial session? Ensure that your team has a few advocates within the company to help keep D.I.S.C. assessments working for you.

One of the best ways to do this is to identify someone who is passionate about the topic, and willing to lead the charge within your organization. They will be responsible for keeping D.I.S.C. visible, and will make an active effort to keep it top of mind for employees.

For example, your company’s advocate could organize:

• Coffee Dates – Encourage people with different profiles to go out for coffee during the week, and discuss how they approach things in unique ways.
  
  
• Make a Mural – Have someone artistic create a huge display on one of your prominent office walls, and showcase your team’s D.I.S.C. results within the quadrants.
  
  
• D.I.S.C. Name Tag Day – Encourage everyone in the office to proudly wear their profile on a name tag for one day, to help celebrate your unique strengths.

Learn More About D.I.S.C. in the Workplace

Download A Practical Guide to Using D.I.S.C. in the Workplace for more expert advice and step-by-step instructions. Simply click the button below for access to your free copy of this all-in-one PDF document.