As you explore your Team Player Reports within imapMyTeam to better understand yourself and the others around you in the workplace, here are a few important principles in interpreting results

1.  You are not “normal.”   The truth is no one is “normal.”  You are “unique” We are all “unique.” Yet what sometimes gets in the way of productive relationships is we all think of ourselves as the baseline for “normal” and judge others against that baseline.

2.  People who are different from you are just different.  This will be much easier to understand and apply when you think in terms of principle number 1. When you look at others as “just different,” it’s tougher to be judge-mental.

3.  The best way of doing things may not be your way.  This may come as a surprise to some, but people are not always successful as a result of always having the best way or being right. It’s because they’re considered capable of discovering the best way and implementing it.  Individuals and teams have a much better chance at succeeding when they assess their tasks with an awareness of the attributes and skills of themselves and the team.

4.  There is no logical connection between the way someone behaves and the way they need to be treated.  When it comes to looking at Birkman results, this principle is really the key insight. This really shows up as you look at your “usual behavior, strength” scores represented by the diamond, (the way you behave when people treat you as you need to be treated), and the “need and stress” scores represented by the circle and square, (the way you need to be treated and the way you may respond if that particular need goes unmet)

5.  There is no perfect or ideal managerial model.  Different groups of people require different approaches, even when they are performing the same tasks.  As teams grow and new members are added to the team, successful managers adapt their styles when needed for the benefit of the business and the relationships on the team. 

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imapMyTeam.com's Team Player report is meant to be the gateway to understanding yourself and those around you in the workplace.

At the center of your imapMyTeam home page, you can see your symbols laid out on the four-color grid. Describing you on 11 different dimensions of analysis, the grid gives you a simple, top-level way of understanding how you are unique from others. You are able to click on the links in the center of the page to drill down into your team player report, understanding what each symbol (asterisk, diamond, circle and square) means and what it means for a symbol to be in one of the colored quadrants of the Team Player grid.

We encourage you to explore this information about yourself.

The symbols are laid out on a colored grid in the Team Player report. The symbols and grid work together to describe you and the people you work with.
Likes To: Think of these as energizers or what you’re passionate about. This is the first aspect of motivation. Am I doing what I love to do?
Is Usually: This is the person on the outside, or the “you” that has evolved as a result of your life experiences. Think of these behaviors as your strengths. These characteristics come easily to you, and you’re really good at them. Through these characteristics, you most easily achieve success.
Needs: These describe the person on the inside and what you expect from other people or your environment. These are often not as obvious to other people, particularly if they’re very different from your strengths.
Under Stress: This is how you react if you’re not getting your needs met. Your behavior might be somewhat out of control or an involuntary response to something perceived as negative.

People often ask: How does that Grid work in the Team Player report?

The starting point for understanding a grid report is to begin with its basic construct. While there are a lot of methodologies that are based on a grid construct, with various people claiming authorship, I give credit to Hippocrates, the “father of medicine.” 
Hippocrates developed the concept that people’s behaviors could be categorized into one of four types and that the way an individual will react in a given set of circumstances can be predicted. It is this Hippocratic model that serves as the foundation for introducing people to the Birkman methodology.

The two axes are what I think of as the “bones.” They establish a framework against which we measure four dimensions that are represented by unique symbols.

The vertical axis measures how people interact with each other. The higher the symbols appear on this axis, the more outgoing the person. You don’t have to wonder what this person is thinking because he or she will most likely tell you without you having to ask. People whose symbols appear high on the grid engage easily with other people and come across as somewhat assertive. The lower the symbols appear on this axis, the more thoughtful and low-key the person. People fitting this description are better at observing the action before jumping in and engaging. They may come across in groups as somewhat reserved.

The horizontal axis indicates the person’s focus. If the symbols are on the left side, the person is most concerned with accomplishing tasks and getting results. Something measurable and tangible is important to that individual. If the symbols are on the right side of the grid, then the person is more focused on people and process. How things are done matter to that individual, not just the results. This person typically places a higher value on relationships with people than the actual work being done. For example, this person could be performing boring work but stick with it because he or she enjoys the social interaction with colleagues.

A wide range of words can be used to describe the axes of the grid, and it’s important to avoid words that have too many biases associated with them. Each set of characteristics carries positives with it and can be positively perceived, so evaluations using The Birkman Method focus on those positives.

We'll discuss the symbols (the asterisk, diamond, circle and square) in a future blog post.

This blog will become one of the key resources you can use to gain a good level of expertise with imapMyTeam, the tool that gives you penetrating insight into yourself and those you work with.