Psychometrics…Challenge yourself by knowing yourself

Why use ‘measurement of the mind’ (psychometric) instruments?

Diagnostic and psychometric instruments are used widely in personal, team and organisational development. They are designed to show your type of personality and your potential. They are used by coaches and careers advisors to help you achieve your potential.

Personality questionnaires are designed to explore your preferred way of behaving; how you tend to relate to other people, your ability to deal with your emotions and those of other people and the way you make decisions. Psychometric testing is a positive way to find your personal style and an objective way to discover your strengths.

Diagnostic instruments can also help teams to perform better by understanding the diverse behaviours, skills and styles members bring and how to use these to best effect.

What they provide you with is a larger element of the jigsaw that makes up your personality, behaviour and performance. However, they are not an end in themselves and any particular personality trait, preference or behaviour that these highlight cannot be used as a justification or an excuse for acting in a particular way.

We have staff and associates who are qualified and authorised to use a wide-ranging number of these instruments, some of which are shown below. We hear stories of providers allowing you to take some of these tests on-line and then providing the results, without appropriate explanation of what the results tell you. In line with our code of ethics, we will NOT do that and we only recommend and provide these instruments when they will add value to your development and appropriate feedback comes as a part of the process.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator ® (MBTI) Step 1 is a personality questionnaire that looks at the preferences as to how a person perceives the world and how they interact with others. It examines four areas:-

• Where you prefer to get and focus your energy
• The way you prefer to gather information that you trust
• How you prefer to reach decisions
• How much you prefer to be planned or spontaneous

Understanding your own preferences and those of others results in tangible interpersonal performance improvements

Myers Briggs Type Indicator ® (MBTI) Step 2 goes deeper than Step 1 and looks at the underlying facets that contribute to each type preference. This helps people understand the diversity of the people they work with and improves their relationships.

FIRO-B ® is a questionnaire focuses on how individuals behave towards others and how they would prefer others to behave towards them. This tool can highlight mismatches between expressed behavior and wanted behavior, resulting in a more productive working relationship.

The 16PF5 personality questionnaire ‘does what it says on the can’. It looks 16 personality factors (traits) that predict how an individual will behave in different contexts. When properly interpreted it reveals your capacity to deliver sustained performance, your potential and identifies development needs.

The Strong Interest Inventory ® is an ideal instrument to help individuals considering a career change. It works through subjects that you’re good at and subjects that you enjoy and then maps these interests against a number of possible occupations. It can also help to assist how well an individual might fit with a particular organisational culture.

For a 360 degree feedback instrument, we favour the Hay Group Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI). It measures Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management. Because it utilises the views of managers, peers, staff and customers, it provides a comprehensive perspective, which clients often use as the subject for a powerful coaching session(s).

Belbin’s Team Role Inventory assesses how an individual behaves in a team environment. The instrument can include 360-degree feedback from observers as well as the individual’s own evaluation of their behaviour. This gives a team a good understanding of their diverse styles and how to use these behaviours to maximise the performance of the team.