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- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and Communicating with ENFPs
- About the Strong Interest Inventory®: 2004 Social Theme Scores
- About the FIRO-B™: Team Development – Expressed Inclusion
- The 16PF®– The 16 Personality Factors: Factor Q1 – Openness
- Group Testing
- Have Brian Speak to Your Group About Myers-Briggs
This month we'll continue with the series on how to best communicate with each type.
It's quite common for ENFPs to focus on people and their feelings more than data, facts, numbers, or analysis. When speaking with ENFPs, you will want to show support, to cooperate, collaborate, and build rapport. Many of them prefer people who are enthusiastic, and who openly display their feelings. ENFPs are often vocal people, so they will need time and opportunities to express themselves as well, and not just listen. They are highly likely to participate in group activities or speak up in meetings. Positive feedback is most effective when working with ENFPs. They usually prefer those who help them, and provide suggestions or tips instead of people who want to order them around military-style. Most ENFPs will strongly resist efforts to control them. They will often respond well to people who are inspiring and focus on the future and possibilities for improving the lives of others. It pays to get to know ENFPs personally, as they usually appreciate the effort and will reciprocate. Many ENFPs want to be acknowledged as individuals with unique talents and contributions to the group.
On the other hand, people who are very competitive, demanding, or judgmental will have a difficult time communicating with ENFPs. They dislike those who use their position to make demands, regardless of how it affects people. E.g., "You have to do it my way because I’m your boss and I'm ordering you to do it." Likewise, ENFPs dislike it when people purposely withhold information or new ideas. Focusing exclusively on tasks will not make ENFPs happy. Similarly, stating that something is "logical" or "obvious" will alienate many ENFPs. What’s logical to one person might be nonsense to another. Adhering rigidly to structure, rules, or procedures is not something most ENFPs like to do. Many of them are quite sensitive to criticism, and do not enjoy a "rigorous" debate, or long lists of facts or details. Isolation is hard for many ENFPs, as is indifference, or being ignored by others. Finally, be careful not to dismiss their feelings or emotions.
Next month we'll look at communicating with another type.
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The latest version of the Strong was released in December 2004. There were a number of changes to the test questions and the resulting reports. One change was the ranking of the different professions for men and women in each general occupational theme code, according to the most and least likely to choose that theme. This month the Social theme is our focus.
Let’s start with the men. The occupations most likely to choose Social as the top theme included Rehabilitation Counselor, School Counselor, Minister, Recreation Therapist, Corporate Trainer, School Administrator, and Nursing Home Administrator. The least likely included Artist, Investments Manager, Medical Illustrator, Bookkeeper, Financial Analyst, and Farmer/Rancher.
For women, the list was almost identical. Among the most likely to choose Social were Rehabilitation Counselor, School Counselor, Minister, Recreation Therapist, Nursing Home Administrator, Special Education Teacher, and Foreign Language Teacher. Among the least likely were Investments Manager, Artist, Research & Development Manager, Medical Illustrator, Computer Systems Analyst, and Geologist.
Of course, it's possible to have Social as your top theme on the Strong Interest Inventory and not like any of the above occupations. This information shows the general trend, and is not a reason to either choose or eliminate any option from your career search.
When working with teams, the FIRO-B can provide useful insights into how each person likes to work with others. The items below are quite likely to be true for you the higher your score on a scale is. If you scored at seven or above, you probably demonstrate these behaviors very often. If you scored two or less, you probably rarely do these things. Of course, those in the middle will likely do them to varying degrees, depending on the situation.
This month we'll discuss Expressed Inclusion and how people with high scores are likely to act on a team.
Some common behaviors associated with this scale include spending a lot of time networking with other team members, sharing information freely, and interacting often with others. People of this type tend to summarize discussions for the rest of the group, and will make an effort to get everyone to participate, even the quieter group members. As such, they will usually strive to make meetings an event people will want to attend, instead of an unavoidable chore. They will probably make introductions so others get to know each other too. These people tend to look for ways to increase participation in all the group's activities, and try to expand the group's influence to those outside the team. They will look for common ground or areas everyone can agree upon, instead of looking for problem areas. They will ask questions to clarify points, rather to challenge someone's ideas or facts. Fairness will probably be high on their list of wanted styles. Collaboration is another key word for people of this type, as is the desire to include or incorporate as many people, ideas, and contributions from beyond the group.
Most people will share the above traits to some degree. However, it's likely that this style will dominate for some people more than others. Your score on the scales should indicate which style is the preferred one for you.
The next 16PF scale for discussion is the Factor "Q1" scale, which is Openness to Change (Open to Change vs. Traditional). What exactly does this scale measure?
High scorers tend to like change instead of the old ways of doing things. They enjoy experimenting and finding ways to improve operations. If the current system seems dull or unsatisfactory, they will want to change it. They report that they enjoy thinking about new and better ways of operating. They like people who have different viewpoints, as they are interesting. Routine and the familiar become boring for them, so they like to do new things. They often believe any system can be improved.
In contrast, low scorers tend like the tried and true ways. They rarely question the way things are done. They prefer a familiar and predictable life, even if it’s not perfect. When it comes to work, low scorers report they feel confident and secure when they perform acts that are routine and familiar. They dislike people who are unusual or different. In their view, it's better to reject potential new ways of operating rather than to change the status quo, particularly if the current system works okay. Another way of saying this is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Factor Q1 is related to the Myers-Briggs Sensing/Intuition scale. High scorers on Q1 tend to come out as Intuitives on the Myers-Briggs. This scale also contributes to the
As with all the 16PF scales, major insights come from the interactions among the 16 scales, and not from each scale in isolation.
It's easy to test your group online. There is a discount for groups over 10 people. We can set you up and have your people take their tests in a short while. Their results will come via e-mail, as for regular clients. If you'd like to find out more, just send an e-mail with the number of people and which test(s) you'd like. Write to or call (858) 571-3931. Past clients have included U.S. Post Office, Bank of America, Dow Chemical, Kaiser Permanente, and others. Click here to see a list of clients.
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