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.