Which Truity Team Workshop is Right for Your Team? Comparing the Typefinder® and Enneagram Workshops

Clinically Reviewed bySteven Melendy, PsyD.on October 20, 2022

Effective teams are the ones that recognize each other's strengths, weaknesses and communication style. They can adapt to each team member’s needs while also lifting each other up. Teams that can work effectively together become greater than the sum of the parts.

It can be tricky to figure out how to do this without a framework of some kind to assist. There are a range of tools that can provide these frameworks. The two we favor at Truity are theTypefinder®, based on the Myers-Briggs system, and the Enneagram.

For teams, we offer half day workshops that include in-depth reports, a team map and insights about the team, in order to help your team develop a better understanding of each other and a shared language you can use when working together.

As the Typefinder and the Enneagram are very different, our workshops offer teams very different experiences. So we put together this short guide to help you decide which framework to use with your team.

How does a personality-based workshop support your team’s productivity?

There are many benefits for hosting a team workshop after they have taken a personality-based assessment.

First, it gives each team member an opportunity to go deeper into the report, ask questions about their type, and see how they are applying it in the real world. Second, it gives them a chance to learn about the personality types of their colleagues, their preferences and tendencies – which provides context for why they find it easier to work with some people over others.

But the real magic comes when the team can apply the results not only to how each person works individually, but also how it applies to them as a team, including:

  • Improving communication
  • Increasing collaboration
  • Navigating conflict, and
  • 升值的多样性。

Improving Communication: Personality helps us see the different words and language people default to. When we recognize these differences, we can listen more openly, without judgment or confusion.

Increasing Collaboration: We all bring different skills to the table, but it can be hard to value other’s strengths unless we first feel that our own are recognized and valued. Personality helps everyone feel seen and heard. Knowing that you bring tactical, logistical, strategic and diplomatic skills to the table increases an individual's confidence and enhances a team's overall effectiveness.

Navigating Conflict: When we recognize that there are common core values for the different personality types, such as freedom, belonging, competence and significance, it is easier to get to the heart of the conflict and find a win/win solution.

Appreciating Diversity: We all bring something different to the table and cognitive diversity is a key attribute of high-performing teams. Yet sometimes we don’t recognize the value in the skills we have or we undervalue our strengths and overvalue our weaknesses. Fostering an appreciation for a team’s different approaches and cognitive diversity can help lessen conflict, increase cooperation and boost empathy.

Each team receives a team map that plots the individual personality types across all the options. This helps the team see their strengths, blindspots, values and biases, providing the team with a platform to discuss how that is helping or hindering their day-to-day operations and long-term goals. You’ll also see whether changes need to be made, and have a framework for how to make them.

Whether you choose the Typefinder or the Enneagram, both sessions help your team:

  • Value their individual strengths
  • Honor their colleagues’ strengths
  • Recognize the value in cognitive diversity
  • Increase self-leadership
  • Build a shared language to reduce miscommunication

Benefits of the Typefinder at Work workshop

The Typefinder in the Workplace workshop is interactive, practical, fun and engaging. It focuses on comparing and contrasting the strengths of each of the four dimensions of the Typefinder (e.g., Introversion versus Extraversion and so on) so team members can see the value of each.

The workshop focuses on helping the team work together effectively and applies the Typefinder to topics such as:

  • Effectively running team meetings
  • Problem solving as a team
  • Giving and receiving appreciation
  • Appreciating different working styles
  • Self-awareness and empathy for others in the workplace

This workshop is great for teams who:

  • Are newly formed and looking for a way to get to know each other
  • Want to explore better ways of working together
  • Are looking for a fun way to reconnect.

For teams that are new to personality type and personality assessments, we recommend that they start with the Typefinder and the Typefinder team workshop.

Note: This workshop is designed to be completely virtual and works best if each participant joins the workshop from their own device.

Benefits of the Enneagram at Work workshop

Truity’s Enneagram in the Workplace workshop provides your team with an opportunity to understand their colleagues' deeper motivations, strengths and challenges. The workshop explores each of the nine Enneagram types, and applies them to topics like communication, stress, teamwork and leadership.

It focuses on:

  • The lens through which each Enneagram type sees the world
  • The strengths and challenges for each type at work
  • Growth activities for each of the nine types
  • Applying those insights to the team’s communication and working style

This workshop is great for teams who:

  • Want to reduce miscommunication
  • Increase trust
  • Are focused on developing their emotional intelligence
  • Want increased empathy for their colleagues
  • Are ready to understand their motivations at a deeper level

This workshop is often run for in-person teams with the facilitator delivering it via Zoom. It can also be delivered as a completely virtual session.

An important note about the Enneagram: the Enneagram reveals why our strengths are also our challenges. It reveals the deeper motivation behind why we developed those strengths, based on strategies we developed to manage childhood challenges. For some people, this can be very confronting. It is common for people to feel uncomfortable reading the report. Unless your team is ready for this, they may find it hard to speak up and share about their type before and during the workshop. They may be uncomfortable saying they are uncomfortable.

While sharing your workplace experiences in the workshop is entirely optional, it is what helps build trust within the team. Hence, we recommend this session for teams who have done some personal development or team-building workshops previously, and/or are focused on developing their emotional intelligence.

How the process works

Once you decide to go ahead with the workshop, you’ll complete the form linked below, and we’ll be in touch to confirm availability. Ideally, your workshop will be scheduled 3-4 weeks in advance as that provides time to complete all the stages in a timely fashion.

Stage 1: Testing

The first step is to have your team complete their tests. Our Truity @ Work platform allows you to send tests to your team using test credits, monitor their progress and view their test results from within your own separate account. Test credits for your team are included with the workshop and we'll get you started with a demo of the platform, so you understand how the testing process works before you start sending tests to your team.

We recommend you allow plenty of time for your team to complete their tests. When deciding on a deadline, also factor in that we need to prepare your team’s map, insights and customize your workshop based on the results. Hence we prefer that the testing is complete a week before the scheduled session.

Stage 2: Manager/Organizer briefing (30 mins)

Here you’ll meet your workshop facilitator via Zoom. They will learn more about your team and its objectives, as well as take you through the session's agenda and slides. We’ll also confirm any technical logistics for running the workshop.

如果你的团队已经完成了他们的测试结果,facilitator will also share insights about the team. The Typefinder at Work session includes a detailed breakdown of the team’s results and what they reveal about the team, which we recommend taking the manager through before the workshop.

Stage 3: Tech Check (15 mins)

As every setup is different, unless we are using Zoom for a completely virtual session, we do a quick tech check to ensure everything works and will go smoothly on the day.

Stage 4: The Workshop (2-3 hours)

Depending on the size of your team, each session runs between 2 and 3 hours. We find this creates the right balance of theory and interactivity. People learn best when they can contribute to the discussion in both small and large groups. We want to maximize each person’s opportunity to learn about their type, that of their colleagues, and how to apply that in the workplace.

We also recommend that everyone have a copy of their report to hand during the session.

Stage 5: Post Workshop Info pack

We’ll email you a copy of the slide deck as well as links to other resources.

Next steps

If one of these sessions sounds right for your team, complete thisformto tell us more about your team, which workshop you are interested in and the date you want to run it. We look forward to supporting you and your team.

Samantha Mackay

Samantha is the Lead Trainer at Truity and is Enneagram Coach, certified by CP Enneagram Academy. She believes knowing your personality is the key to navigating life's hurdles. Samantha is an ENTP and Enneagram 7, who is always surrounded by a pile of books, a steaming cup of tea and a block of her favourite chocolate. Find her on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamackay/. Check out her course "Unlocking the Power of Your Personality" atwww.erweimayingxiao.com/training

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About the Clinical Reviewer

Steven Melendy, PsyD., is a Clinical Psychologist who received his doctorate from The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. He specializes in using evidence-based approaches in his work with individuals and groups. Steve has worked with diverse populations and in variety of a settings, from community clinics to SF General Hospital. He believes strongly in the importance of self-care, good friendships, and humor whenever possible.

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Myers-Briggs® and MBTI® are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., which has no affiliation with this site. Truity offers a freepersonality testbased on Myers and Briggs' types, but does not offer the official MBTI® assessment. For more information on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, please gohere.

The Five Love Languages® is a registered trademark of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, which has no affiliation with this site. You can find more information about the five love languageshere.

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