Four Behavioural Styles Workshop

Purpose

This workshop introduces the four behavioural styles — Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness — so team members can recognise their own style, appreciate differences, and adapt communication for better collaboration and less friction.

At a glance

How to run

1. Welcome & context (10 min): Explain the four-style model’s origin and purpose. Emphasise that no style is better or worse.
2. Self-assessment (15 min): Each participant completes a behavioural styles questionnaire (official or simplified). Identify primary and secondary styles.
3. Style deep-dive (20 min): Divide into four corners by primary style. Each group lists: "What energises us", "What drains us", "How to communicate with us effectively".
4. Gallery walk (10 min): Groups rotate to read and comment on each other’s posters.
5. Cross-style dialogue (20 min): Pair people from contrasting styles (e.g., D with S, I with C). Each pair discusses a recent miscommunication or friction point and identifies what the style difference explains.
6. Team application (10 min): Collectively answer: "What is one team habit we could change now that we understand styles?" Capture commitments.
7. Close (5 min): Each person names one thing they will do differently this week.

Materials needed

• Behavioural styles questionnaire (printed or digital)
• Four large poster sheets (one per style, colour-coded)
• Markers
• Timer

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Stereotyping: "You’re a D, so you must be aggressive" — prevent this by framing styles as situational preferences.
• Over-simplifying: Most people are blends. Do not force a single label.
• No follow-through: Style awareness fades fast without practice. Schedule a check-in 2–4 weeks later.
• Using the style model for hiring decisions: The model is a communication tool, not a predictive selection instrument.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Provide the questionnaire in advance for participants who need extra processing time.
• Use shapes alongside colours for accessibility.
• Let people self-select corners rather than publicly announcing styles.
• Avoid implying that introverted styles are less valuable.

Variations

• Conflict lens: Focus the cross-style dialogue entirely on conflict patterns.
• Customer-facing version: Map the four styles to customer interaction styles and practise adapting pitch or support conversations.
• Shortened version (45 min): Skip the gallery walk and pair dialogue; go straight from corner work to team application.

When NOT to use this

• When the team is actively in conflict that requires mediation, not a personality model.
• When participants have style-model fatigue from prior workshops — consider a different model or format.
• In cultures where personality categorisation is perceived as reductive or invasive.

Source & further reading

• William Moulton Marston, *Emotions of Normal People* (1928)
• Tony Alessandra, *The Platinum Rule* (Warner Books, 1996)