Project Management

and Personality Type

Personality Type

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Measures personality on 4 scales

1. Orientation

Extraversion (E)

Gain energy from the external world of people, objects, and events

Introversion (I)

Gain energy from the internal world of thoughts, ideas, and emotions

2. Gathering information

Sensation (S)

Trust facts and focus on detail

Intuition (N)

Trust insight and focus on the big picture

3. Making Decisions

Thinking (T)

Seek to objectively remove themselves from a situation when making decisions

Feeling (F)

Seek to empathetically project themselves into a situation when making decisions

4. Attitude

Judgment (J)

Seek closure and make decisions as soon as sufficient facts are known

Perception (P)

Keep their options open as long as possible in case new facts or opportunities arise

Extraversion: Project Mgmt Style

Brainstorm and present ideas off the top of their head

Communicate regularly with other team members to discuss ideas and check on status

Prefer verbal to written communication

Extraversion: Conflict Sources

May spend more time communicating about tasks than working on them

Risk scope creep by verbalizing impulsive ideas that sound like decisions

To avoid conflict, ask, “Will this discussion move the project forward?”

Introversion: Project Mgmt Style

Consider their ideas carefully before discussing them with the group

Focus their time and energy on completing their tasks as individual contributors

Prefer written to verbal communication

Introversion: Conflict Sources

Fail to adequately communicate decisions and delays to the entire team

Take action without considering the effect on the team

To avoid conflict, ask, “Do I need to discuss this with anyone first?”

Sensation: Project Mgmt Style

Think in terms of present needs and the practical benefits of the product

Rely on past successes to build approaches to future projects

Break projects down into an assortment of small tasks

Sensation: Conflict Sources

View tasks at such a granular level that they overlook opportunities to combine them

Fail to develop an overall vision that they can succinctly articulate to management

To avoid conflict, ask “What are the implications? What patterns are emerging?”

Intuition: Project Mgmt Style

Take a long-term view and consider how current changes will affect future iterations

Innovate new and better ways of approaching the project

View the project from a high level and fill in the details as the need arises

Intuition: Conflict Sources

Underestimate needed resources because they haven’t documented all tasks involved

Fail to articulate specific benefits to management and customers

To avoid conflict, ask, “Does this solution address today’s practical needs?”

Thinking: Project Mgmt Style

Focus on an objective set of criteria Consider problems before people Challenge statements made by others,

looking for holes and opportunities for improvement

Thinking: Conflict Sources

Assign tasks without considering needs of team members, leading to alienation

Risk failure by developing a product that meets specs but that no one wants to buy

To avoid conflict, ask “What would customers and stakeholders think about this?”

Feeling: Project Mgmt Style

Focus on pleasing customers and stakeholders Assign tasks based on the skills and

preferences of the individual Encourage a team spirit and praise individual

contributions, stating disagreement indirectly

Feeling: Conflict Sources

Maintain harmony by leaving tasks unassigned or not pointing out when deliverables are late

Discourage debate that could lead to hurt feelings but also better solutions

To avoid conflict, ask, “What would I do if I weren’t worried about people’s feelings?”

Judgment: Project Mgmt Style

Measure progress based on whether tasks are completed

Organize meetings according to an agenda and stick to it

Avoid scope creep, which could place the deadline at risk

Judgment: Conflict Sources

Focus more on project management than on the end product

Appear inflexible to customers, stakeholders, and other team members

To avoid conflict, ask, “Can I adapt the schedule to accommodate new information?”

Perception: Project Mgmt Style

Recognize that conditions evolve, so they focus on the ultimate goal rather than a schedule

Work intensely as the deadline approaches rather than steadily throughout the project

Develop informal projects when gaps are identified in existing projects or product offerings

Perception: Conflict Sources

Take action without getting buy-in, leading to questions of who agreed to what

Focus more on the learning process than on completing tasks on time

To avoid conflict, ask, “Will exploring this option place the deadline at risk?”

Examples

ESTJ Questions

“Will this discussion move the project forward?” “What are the implications? What patterns are

emerging?” “What would customers and stakeholders think

about this?” “Can I adapt the schedule to accommodate new

information?”

INFP Questions

“Do I need to discuss this with anyone first?” “Does this solution address today’s practical

needs?” “What would I do if I weren’t worried about

people’s feelings?” “Will exploring this option place the deadline at

risk?”

Bibliography

Baron, Renee. What Type Am I? New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1998.

Myers, Isabel Briggs with Peter B. Myers. Gifts Differing. Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing, 1980, 1995.

Tucker, Jennifer. Introduction to Type and Project Management. Mountain View, CA: CPP Inc, 2008.

Jung Typology Test at https://www.humanmetrics.com

Contact Info

Andrea J. Wenger

President, STC Carolina Chapter

Membership Mgr., Technical Editing SIG

awengerstc@yahoo.com

www.WriteWithPersonality.com