Behavior Why is it important to measure it?

Although personality is one of several factors that affect behavior, it is not the only factor. Therefore, personality cannot be synonymous with behavior. It is important to make a clear differentiation between these two concepts.

Personality is a set of traits and qualities that make up a person 's way of being and differentiate them from others. These are translated into thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Personality is classified into types. Personality characteristics are generally stable.

Behavior versus personality

In contrast to personality assessments, behavioral tests do not reveal basic personality types. Instead, it reveals how a person acts in an environment . Behavior varies greatly to adapt to changes or different situations in life. We can adapt our behavior depending on what is required of us in a given situation or role. Behavior varies depending on numerous factors such as experience, values, the people with whom we interact or the environment in which we find ourselves. As a result, if we talk in terms of behavior we avoid labeling people and pigeonholing them into a certain area .

The importance of observers

On the other hand, information about personality is obtained from a single source of information: your own point of view. Instead, behavior is observable and is measured not only from your own perception but from the observations of people around you . There can be many reasons to trust self-perception – how I see myself – but this is only half the story. People may have limited knowledge of your behavior; they may wish to be seen in a certain way – to fit in with a group for example; may have unrealistic expectations...

Finally, based on the behaviors identified, we can provide constructive feedback on the way a person behaves in the workplace. Personality is unlikely to change, so to get the ball rolling and get people and teams to work more effectively, we need to focus on where change can happen: our behavior.

How do you share yourself at work?

Is it really that important to define whether you are an introvert or an extrovert? Or what really matters is whether you are able to pick up the phone and make that sale? What really matters is not who you are, but how you behave in your workplace .

Behavior is critical as research conducted by Dr. Meredith Belbin and her team has shown that success and failure of a team does not depend on factors such as intellect. But rather behavioral.

These investigations detected that there are different patterns of behavior in a team that they called «Team Roles». A Team Role is defined as:

A particular tendency to behave, contribute and relate to others

All of us carry out all the Team Roles, although with different degrees of intensity . The Belbin Team Roles language allows us to talk about strengths and weaknesses in behavioral terms to communicate effectively. This offers numerous advantages such as the improvement of the work environment and the increase in motivation, commitment and productivity.

There are therefore great differences between personality and behavior. A person can be extroverted and yet show introversion in her workplace.

If we use methods to measure personality in order to manage people in our work environment, we will be spending a lot of energy on very impractical aspects. On the other hand, if we focus our efforts on measuring behavior we can apply this knowledge. Since we will be able to predict how a person will behave before a certain task. We will be able to recognize in which areas her contributions will be most valuable.

Ultimately, a person's behaviour is the best predictor of potential success in a given position.