What is your productivity style?

A good leader will realize that employees are productive in different ways.

• Some people work well in the morning, whereas others “come to life” at other times during the day.
• There are those who achieve best when they’re given very clear-cut instructions, yet the opposite preference may see this as “micro-managing.”

It can easily be said that our staff members prefer different things that make them more productive.

How can I find out more?

According to research, how we learn and are productive is 65% biological and 35% behavior-based. Basically, our unique productivity styles are very much ‘hard-wired’. If we can understand how individuals and groups produce, then companies and managers can adjust their strategic approach to maximize productivity and learning.

Productivity Styles

What do people need to be (more) productive? They need to identify and accomodate their individual productivity styles (how we work as well as how we process, absorb and retain new and different information.

Each participant in the Improving Communications Leadership & Management Development training session completes the TruTalent™ Learning & Productivity (TTL&P) inventory, a 20-minute online survey of an individual’s productivity preferences and learning styles.

The TTL&P assessment identifies the individual’s work and learning preferences for 4 styles and 12 environmental and mindset preferences. These elements affect, positively or negatively, how each individual achieves and performs in work-based learning environments. They also affect the way in which individuals concentrate, make decisions, solve problems, process information, approach and complete tasks, retain new and complex information, develop new skills, and interact with others.

Results, Results, Results

Using the TruTalent™ Learning & Productivity (TTL&P) inventory allows leaders and staff to understand themselves better, and develop a greater appreciation for the learning/productivity diversity within the organization. TTL&P presents a comprehensive picture of unique learning/productivity strengths and preferences.

The TTL&P, based on the Dunn & Dunn Learning Styles Model, covers 16 variables within 3 categories:

·       Sensory preferences (traditional learning styles) – auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, visual

·       Environmental preferences – temperature, setting, sound, light, intake, time of day, mobility 

·       Mindset preferences – motivation, focus, collaborative/independent, authority figure motivated, structure

Reports show individual results and recommended strategies. Focus on any one of these elements (especially one that you felt strongly about when you saw it). 

When you are working, and that element is accommodated, according to your productivity style, it means that you will get more done! 

Learning & Productivity Styles are a vehicle, a tool for maximizing on-the-job performance. By using them in the right way, you and your organization may be able to discover ways to identify and capitalize on the diversity of styles you already have access to.

THIS INFORMATION IS FROM THE IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT CLASS. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS, REGISTER FOR ONE OF our PUBLIC CLASSES.

Photo Credit: Joel Dueck

Other Resources for Productivity Styles

Why Employers Use Personality Tests

Harness the Power of Your Productivity Style