Learning Styles and Personality Types in a Group Dynamic

Learning Styles and Personality Types in a Group Dynamic When working in a group environment, one will encounter different people who think, learn and act in different ways. In order to succeed, we must understand these differences and how to use them to our advantage while working with others. Multiple Intelligences When Gardner developed his Multiple Intelligence theory, it gave people a new insight to the way we learn. This breakthrough also helped us to work more effectively with one another as well as how to better communicate with each other. Verbal-Linguistic Someone who is Verbal-Linguistic is very simply good with language. A Verbal-Linguistic person will excel with writing, talking or listening. Therefore, to better work with this type of an individual, one should either write notes or have a face-to-face conversation. This way the Verbal-Linguistic person can best understand and contribute to the group. Intrapersonal Intrapersonal individuals excel at being alone and their own thoughts and feelings. They may at first seem to be a detriment to a group because of their tendency to want to be quiet and observe. This behavior may be seen by others as someone who does not want to work together or contribute, which can lead to conflict. To work with someone who is intrapersonal, one should be aware that they might not express their ideas openly. Any tasks that need to be done that don’t involve the group as a whole could be delegated to this individual. Visual-Spatial Artwork, design and formatting are all things Visual-Spatial people do best. When working with someone who is Visual-Spatial, it will help to not give long speeches. Visual-Spatial learners best learn and contribute through the use of pictures, maps and diagrams. To effectively make use of these individuals, any tasks that relate to this would be best. Personality Types According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, there are four types of personalities: thinker, organizer, giver and adventurer. When working in a group, it is beneficial and essential to understand what types of personalities lie within your group. Organizer If someone is an organizer, they tend to be focused on details. This is good for a group because they will be very thorough in each task making sure everything is complete and accurate. To best work with organizers, make sure each requirement is clear and defined and everything is understood and laid out in a clear manner. Adventurer Adventurers seek to do things in a non-conventional way. They may want to take a more active approach to the project as opposed to standard discussions and writing. In some groups this may be seen as a waste of time or unwillingness to complete the task up to the group standard. Allowing adventurers to take a different approach, even if it is not used in the final product, will not only allow them to understand the material better, but it could also add different elements into the group project that might not have been thought of that could raise the quality of the project as a whole. Thinker When working with thinkers, it is important to understand the need to work alone. Like individuals who are intrapersonal, thinkers work best by themselves. To help make them feel more at ease in a group environment, allow them to complete tasks that do not require the entire group. While working with the group at large, thinkers will be useful to solve problems the group may be facing during a task. Conclusion Assessing the learning styles and personality types of the members in your group is essential to the group’s ultimate success. Failure to use member’s strengths could result in conflicts and not achieving the goals the group has set. When each member is utilized in a way that they are strong in and in a way they are comfortable in, they will not only be productive and active within a group, but also achieve a higher quality of work which will only help the whole group succeed.