Did you know that there are four types of personalities that dominate the world of work? Each type has strengths and weaknesses. It is therefore up to the project manager to take everything in hand and to ensure that the members of his team work together to complete the project. We'll come back to that a bit later. What type of person are you at work?

The role of the project manager

A good project manager has an unparalleled sense of organization, but must also demonstrate leadership. Much like a hockey coach, the project manager must take the time to assess the members of his team to make them evolve in strategic places.

Who works well with whom? Who has strengths that another does not? Here, the objective is to identify the types of personalities of these resources in order to pool their strengths. In this way, each employee operates in a better working climate.

Evaluating team members helps keep troops motivated and avoid unnecessary friction. In this way, the use of the given time is maximized and everyone can give the best of themselves.

What type of person are you at work?

Without wanting to put everyone in the same boat, there are generally four main personality traits. The characteristics of each will be discussed below. It should also be mentioned that a person often has only one dominant type and others that are more nuanced.

1 — Type: Prudent — Precise — Evaluator

These people analyze everything and need to know all the details before fully investing in a project.

These types of people ask a lot of questions in order to get all the answers they need. Moreover, with them, there is no improvisation. Everything is calculated, analyzed and planned! However, these people need close supervision. They need a guide to know where they are going but also to validate their initiatives.

The Careful - Precise - Evaluator type likes to take the time it takes to get it right. Time to identify the situations and elements of a project, time to better understand and time to act. They have a lot of difficulty managing urgent and unexpected situations and cannot conceive of the result of a product that is not flawless in their eyes.

Indeed, in a current situation where customers have major time and money constraints, where they are more likely to accept imperfect solutions, there is often a feeling of urgency. The type of person we are studying right now finds this approach highly unsatisfactory.

Their ideal location

The Careful - Precise - Evaluator type excels in complex and precise projects that are not urgent. Since managing their time is an everyday challenge, the project manager must ensure that the workload is well balanced. In this specific case, doing less work but giving more work often is a winning solution.

However, these people are a major asset in a team because they are able to understand and break down the most detailed details. When setting goals, their potential contribution is greatly taken into account.

2 — Driver Type - Cowboy

These people are the opposite of the first group. In fact, they are often incompatible when they work together. The Driver - Cowboy is a go-getter, even in a hurry, for whom detail is the least of his worries.

These people have their eyes on the goals to be achieved and will do EVERYTHING they can to get there. This may involve taking on the workload of others or even alienating some team members.

The Driver - Cowboy is an action-oriented person who likes to make decisions (which may or may not work for his colleagues). Always having the objective in mind, he will work and negotiate with his colleagues to help and motivate them to complete tasks more quickly.

When in the driver's seat and time is of the essence, that person may have a tendency to overlook quality. On the other hand, the Driver - Cowboy coaches his team perfectly when it comes time to figure out where to cut in the details. He thus allows his colleagues to save a lot of time!

Her attitude stimulates the team to surpass themselves and reach the initial objective in a timely manner. For this person, a meeting should not last forever: she appreciates people who are summary-minded and who don't get lost in the details. The Driver - Cowboy sees them as real heroes!

A person of action who thrives on challenges, high-level estimates are not a problem. Our Driver - Cowboy type will only be more flexible in reaching goals (CQFD).

Their ideal location

The Experienced Cowboy Driver is a fine negotiator. In addition, he excels in crisis management and is in a position to take charge of a project in order to deliver it on time. Based on a project axis, budget/time/objective, the Cowboy will be able to provide several deliverables at the same time. As has been said: it is effective, but it can also be effective at the expense of quality.

Our studied type has the capacity to receive large workloads. The desire to deliver the product on time has a lot to do with this. Our Driver - Cowboy will make sacrifices, compromises, and overtime to make it happen.

A project manager can mandate this type of person to guide a team working on a project that is not evolving at the desired pace. On the other hand, we do not recommend having your working documents reviewed by someone such as Prudent - Precise - Evaluator...

Their motto: “No need to talk, we have goals to reach! ”

3 — Supporter type

The supporter likes to work together. He wants consensus from all and is reluctant to question what was decided at the beginning. For him, it is important that his colleagues approve the solution interviewed. Supporters tend to waste a lot of time through consultation, which leads to budget overruns.

The Supporter likes to talk. He is a team person who does not like to work alone. We maximize the potential of a Supporter by making him evolve within a small team of 3 or 4 people, ideally other Supporters.

As mentioned earlier, this guy is looking for consensus from his peers. On the other hand, consensus is not always the best decision. It is then up to the project manager to intervene to stop the search for consensus, revisions and negotiations. Depending on the project axis, budget/time/objective, the project manager must be vigilant, because these consensus advocates can lose time through consultation, which can lead to significant budget overruns.

On the other hand, the supporter loves to lend a hand. This way, he can ensure that his colleagues agree with the decisions. He is often given the mandate to train new hires, and he loves that! The Supporter is the best at explaining the main lines of a project.

The latter will work to obtain consensus. Even if, sometimes, consensus is not the best decision. The project manager is sometimes forced to intervene to decide and say stop the search for membership. On the other hand, the Supporter is ready to help anyone. He enjoys lending a hand, which allows him to ensure that everyone agrees with the decision. He is excellent in a training phase or when speaking to new hires, and is second to none when it comes to explaining the main lines of a project.

Their ideal location

To ensure that a Supporter meets the deadlines, the project manager sometimes has to isolate the Supporter. For the Supporter it is a punishment, but it is more of a tighter framework. The objective is to deliver a product, a solution, so you have to work on it. The project manager therefore gives him a more precise guideline and thus prevents him from seeking consensus from all. That said, during the Out-of-Scope, the Supporter is someone who can be counted on to help the customer fully understand the objective.

3 — Promoter type

The Promoter is the happy person in the team: he likes to have fun at work. It relaxes the atmosphere even in the most difficult times. Her great strengths are listening and the ability to adapt. Indeed, the Promoter listens to his colleagues. He is also an excellent mediator who guides meetings and conversations in the right direction.

The Promoter is the ideal ally of the project manager. He can count on him to ensure that all teams work collaboratively, hand in hand. Why? Because this type of person uses diplomacy so that everyone can work in a pleasant working environment.

He is a person who always encourages his colleagues and who plays a key role from the early stages of a project (even before it is concrete). Her encouragement and work ethic allow her to guide the other members of the team in the evolution of the project.

It could be described as “creative.” He is a real innovator who appreciates novelty and likes to change the way things are done. Indeed, in order to be able to deliver a project within the established deadlines, the Promoter will be flexible in its actions and decisions. He will also adapt to others, always in order to achieve the goals.

Curious and working with his guts, the Promoter is the real seller of a project. Depending on the axis of the project, budget/time/objective, it is better to spare him work that is too detailed and too precise. He will lose interest in it.

Their ideal location

The Promoter needs escape, freedom. He is the artist on the team, the one who brings the concepts from among the three previous groups. Its needs for innovation and creation are strong. If he is asked to do redundant tasks, he will tend to exceed budgets because he will be bored.

The organization of time is not its strength. He likes to be guided and accompanied to finalize his tasks. The Promoter is quite good at explaining concepts to his team and to customers. Moreover, he likes to take the time necessary to bring them to a consensus, right where the Supporter enters the scene.

Conclusion - What type of person are you at work?

To be taken conditionally, this analysis grid (sprinkled with a zest of humor) is a four-dimensional model that allows you to see who this or that kind of deliverables is aimed at. Although an individual may have a multiple personality, this tool makes it possible to homogenize a team and to highlight the skills and talent of each individual by placing them in the place that suits them. Understanding a personality helps to manage it, to grasp it, but also to highlight it in an inhomogeneous group of a team.

When the project manager is able to highlight each unique person in the project, the strength of the team is increased tenfold. Finding the strength of the team is what I am passionate about. This is what I focus on in each of my projects to find elements that allow me to lead my teams to take on challenges.

And you, what type of person are you at work? I invite you to read the article by my colleague Nathalie Cusson on The importance of communication for a project manager.