Self-knowledge is crucial to professional development and becoming a more effective leader. With those goals in mind, fourth-year psychiatry residents at Yale recently participated in an interactive session on workplace styles and how those styles influence professional relationships and work habits.
The session was organized by Monica Doyle, HRM, the department’s manager of faculty and postdoctoral affairs. In addition to her work responsibilities, Doyle is pursuing a master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology at the University of New Haven. Her graduate work focuses on identifying opportunities for organizational development. Given her experience with workplace assessment tools, Doyle felt that senior residents, who will soon join the workforce, could benefit from identifying their unique strengths and developing skills for communicating more effectively with colleagues.
The session was led by Linda Veronneau, a consultant in the Organizational Effectiveness and Staff Development group of Yale’s Office of Human Resources.
As part of the session, residents completed the DiSC assessment which categorizes workplace style based on four factors—dominance, in which a person strives to achieve results; influence, in which a person is passionate about influencing and persuading others; steadiness, in which a person is a collaborator and shows sincerity; and consciousness, in which a person places emphasis on quality and accuracy. Variations of workplace styles across the dimensions of the DiSC were presented, as well as how an individual with each workplace style communicates with individuals that have different styles.
Overall, the seminar received great reviews. In a follow-up survey, residents unanimously felt that they would apply the information they learned about themselves. Sample comments about the session and the DiSC assessment included “Great to discuss how different DiSC styles can get along better in the workplace. I really enjoyed learning about the workplace styles of my colleagues, and sharing what motivates/demotivates us, and how we can give each other feedback in more effective ways,” and “Helped me feel better about the way I think about work and interactions.”