This week I was in discussion with a group of representatives from several different client organizations. The gathering was not initially about Predictive Index, and yet PI is where the conversation went! What a great feeling when a leader who is using PI to communicate better with staff brings those PI examples to the group.
In this particular example, the participant described the Relationship Guide from PI to others in the group and suggested that if they are not using it, they SHOULD be!
Relationship Guides in PI allow you to enter the names of two employees (it could be YOU and someone else) and get a report that tells you these things:
Relationship Strengths — behavioral strengths between the two employees.
Relationship Cautions — cautions of tricky working behaviors between the two.
Relationship Tips — tips for bettering the working relationship between the two.
The guide gives real, research-based information for better communication between two people. You don’t have to guess or try to figure out what might work.
If you are using the information yourself, you can learn how to best approach a topic with the other person in order to be the most productive. You can learn how direct to be, how much the other needs praise or approval, how they might need time to think and consider.
If you are helping two direct reports get better at working together, you can point out what each of them needs in a work relationship, and you can also point out cautions and help them choose words, avoid triggers, or check their own opinions until the time is right.
Since relationships are what we need to get work done, move projects ahead, grow others, the PI Relationship Guide can be a great tool! And, it is one that is so simple and easy to use, it sometimes gets overlooked. If you have not (or have not recently) experimented with it, you SHOULD!
Marlene Sprouse
