My sisters and I were recently sitting in a cafe, and I was discussing potential educational icebreakers that I could organize for the group of resident assistants that I will supervise this upcoming year. A bunch of different icebreakers were brought up, but the two that stood out to me involved discovering the different personalities within a group of people. These common personality tests are known throughout many communities as the Myers-Briggs and True Color tests.
These two icebreakers stood out to me for two reasons:
- I have taken both while working within a team.
- I felt that both of the tests would be a good way for all the individuals to be provided an initial and quick understanding about both themselves and the other members of their team.
So why is having an initial understanding of other members of your future team so important? It helps you:
- Gain respect for one another’s actions and feelings
- Get a basic understanding of how other members of the team operate
- Actively engage members of your community through different beneficial personality traits of team members
- Utilize fellow team members’ personality traits to achieve a goal
- Form a sense of community with in your team
- Set a standard for community among the members
To be a successful community, it is important to go back to the basics and remember that a successful team often starts with different forms of communication, understanding, and respect. And personality tests are a great way to do that!
