Productivity and Resourcefulness

Productivity

Productivity, the last of the four main Team Profile factors, relates to Compliance in DISC terms, and indicates that the members of the team have an interest in the practical matters of efficiency and effectiveness. Individuals of this kind will prefer to concentrate on assigned tasks. 'Productivity', then, takes its name from the chief concern of the members of the team.

Productivity has much in common with Application, but there are differences. Productive teams, for example, will demand a clear definition of their goals, while Applied teams typically will not (although they may well benefit from such a definition). Members of Productive teams also have a great concern for the quality of their work, while again this factor is not necessarily present in an Applied team.

Productivity is an ideal factor to look for in teams where quality and efficiency are primary concerns. Productive teams, though, will often tend to neglect more personal issues such as working relationships, and so if team cohesiveness or effectiveness over the long term are important, then Productivity becomes a less relevant factor.

Resourcefulness (inverse Productivity)

Where a team shows low Productivity, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does suggest that the team will probably need to be managed more closely than other team types. DISC describes teams showing low Productivity as 'Resourceful'; the members of such teams have an independent and often original nature that allows them to work outside set parameters and guidelines, helping them to find unusual solutions to problems.

This very independence, however, can lead to difficulties in a team situation. People of this kind typically work better individually than as a group, and disagreements within the team will not be uncommon. As the lack of Productivity suggests, such individuals will also tend to focus on matters outside the specified aims of the team, and again this will call for close and careful management if they are to work together in an effective manner.