Recently the New York Times published a short quiz to help folks discover their “office personality”. Based on two elements of the Big 5 personality traits - extroversion and openness - the quiz is tailored to workplace behaviors.
As the NYT details in a separate article, personality quizzes have become de rigueur in professional settings. While arguments can be made about their efficacy in hiring or promotion decisions, using this type of quiz to ask questions of yourself and your colleagues about your inclinations or aversions can be illuminating. Understanding how your teammates might score themselves can give some insight into how folks might work together or their preferences for communication.
There are many different types of quizzes, from pop culture (What is your Hogwarts House?) to more scientific (What are your Clifton Strengths?). Perhaps the best way to use any of these is simply to encourage deeper conversations - not actually to be validated as a certain type, or to take seriously the animal you supposedly match with. Any shared experience and conversation starter with your team can be a good one.
STAND-UP EXERCISE
Encourage your team to take the office personality quiz from the New York Times (or another personality quiz of your choosing that is quick and useful). In your stand-up, ask the team to anonymously indicate their final results on a board. Speak to the distribution across the answers - this is especially helpful with a quiz like the office personality quiz that essentially maps your answers across two axes. Ask if anyone disagreed with the result they were given, or if they took it multiple times and received different results. Anything about the results make them uneasy? Or proud?
To take it a step further, create some quick questions where team members can plot themselves. Use these questions to address challenges or tensions within the team - perhaps addressing preferences regarding remote work, group projects, or novelty. Ask the same questions as above.
Encourage the team to do similar activities with their product teams to create a point of connection.
