Team Member Assessment
Individuals may possess a high level of skill but unless that skill can be harnessed within a group it is of little benefit to an organization. One reason managers may need to understand group dynamics and make it a priority is to ensure that individuals with high skill levels aren't working as individuals when participating on teams. An individual with a high level of skill who is uncooperative and unable to work with others is of little value to the team.
Personality and assessment tests are often given to members of a group or team to show how people have different habits, values, behaviors, interests and communication styles. Most reports generated from these tests caution people to not judge a particular style as good or bad. However, every individual may have to be more accepting of the fact that adaptation may be needed of the individual's personal style to work effectively with others. It may also be possible that people will begin to adapt on their own once aware and informed of their own style's advantages and disadvantages.
Bentley (2007) discussed the Myers-Briggs assessment which is widely used in hiring and employee selection, employee training and development and in team building. Myers-Briggs measures one's personality on four dimensions based on answers to an assessment questionnaire. The results show if a person is an extrovert or an introvert and how one uses the senses and intuition. It also shows whether a person has a tendency to behave based on how they think versus how they feel and measures judgment versus perception. Bentley (2007, para.7) reported on a consultant's findings that the Myers-Briggs tests are said to be "75% accurate." Others however, feel that the test is overused and mistakenly used as a starting and ending point for people to delve into their own styles of communicating and working with others. Instead, it is suggested that Myers-Briggs be the starting point and perhaps indicate a need to turn to other methods of assessing behavior and style. One method of augmenting assessment tests may be to provide individuals with feedback on their performance in a group. Additionally, the results of Myers-Briggs assessments can potentially be applied to determine which combinations of personality types lead to the most effective groups or teams (Ki-Young, Bozkurt, & Sunkara, 2012).