The training needs of organisations are many and various. With so many variables, the hunt is always on for a responsive, reactive method which enthuses and engages learners fully in the process. A method which makes the delivery of knowledge easier, faster, and more cost effective. A method of improving productivity which is inclusive, immersive and appeals to all demographics across the workforce. To that end, it is essential to understand the audience. Leaders may well know what they wish to teach, and when. However, in order to gain the fullest possible benefits from Learning and Development programmes, it is key to know who we’re trying to reach, and to recognise the differences in those people.
We all live, learn, and work differently, and we all think differently. We have different demands from life, from our work and personal lives. Variables, again. Maybe the answer would be to look at some of those differences, and select a method of knowledge delivery which works for everyone. Or, at the very least, a method that can be easily adapted to work well for everyone. To begin that process, we need a way of understanding and mapping those differences in personality. How we recognise these differing personality traits will determine how we react with them and how they in turn will react with the training we look to deliver.
Personality Colour Theory helps in this, by splitting us into four colours, four quite different personality groups. And the good news is that because of the way Wranx is designed, around the key elements of Spaced Repetition and Gamification makes it the perfect tool in providing learning and development to all four groups. Learners from a wide range of personality traits can, and do, benefit from user experience of this one stop training solution.
So, lets look at this, and call it, rather grandly, The Palette Of Personalities.
Red Traits
Reds are naturally strong, dynamic leaders. Fast thinking, driven and determined, reds are formal, energetic, competitive and rational. They are confident in taking control of projects or ideas, and are focussed, direct and purposeful, and prefer to be in control of every aspect of each given task. They are naturally less patient, as they prefer to concentrate their attentions on delivering. They are comfortable and confident in taking risks, and welcome challenges ‘head-on’. Reds don’t appreciate waffle or unnecessary distractions. Their focus and drive determines that they think and react rationally. They need to get the point. And quickly!
Yellow Traits
Our friends the yellows live and thrive on positivity, optimism, enthusiasm. They are governed by their imagination, and are often the life and soul of the party. Often, their imagination can run away with them, as they think on their feet, fast paced and immediate. Yellows are sociable and enthusiastic workers, and are usually highly energetic, relationship focussed individuals. They don’t react well to corporate, business-like thinking, as they are so used to being fuelled by their creativity and imagination. Anything formal or official can sometimes be seen as a hurdle or obstacle to individuals with typical yellow personality traits. To suppress their creativity is to suppress their enthusiasm, often to the detriment of their work.
Blue Traits
Next on the palette is the blues. Blues are all about detail and methodical, analytical focus. They are deliberate, systematic and precise, as much so as they would expect every other colour on the palette to be. Their working methods may sometimes be seen as cold, unemotional, distant or overly serious, but this is as often just a result of their determined and intense focus. They are time critical and always punctual, putting good use to their time, and they expect the same of others. Reds or yellows, who tend to be governed by heart more that their head, may occasionally find this approach frustrating. Blues are heavily reliant on detail, everything in its place. Facts and figures are everything to our friends the blues. They are deep thinkers, and will use that fact to getting the job done methodically, and without the distraction of an overly emotional approach.
Green Traits
Last but not least, we have the greens. Greens are cool. They’re laid back, easy going and calm. Greens are patient and informal, good listeners and easy to get along with. They like to take time to think things through, usually because eventually, they want to agree. Greens are friendly, relaxed, accepting of others’ opinions. They are democratic, and like to say yes, even at the risk of actually meaning to say no. They don’t react well to being rushed into a decision, to pushy or demanding people, and they can spot insincerity from some distance. Something else they don’t like. Greens appreciate and function well in a friendly, relaxed working environment where they are trusted and enabled to work at their own pace.
Now we know about the full palette, have a look around your workplace. Obviously, we all have parts of each colour to our personality, but we’ll also all have a dominant colour. Can you identify what colour your colleagues are? What about you, what colour are you? Some may perceive themselves to be classed as one colour, while others would see them otherwise. And how does the structure between the colours work? How do they interact? In some cases, for instance, we may find greens acting as a link between reds and yellows. Some people may be a different colour outside of work than they are when in work. While it is broadly a very useful guide, it is by no means set in stone.
Wranx offers a learning and development solution for everyone, for all these personality traits. Positioned correctly at its launch, with the right questions, it really is a one stop answer to your organisation’s learning and development needs.
For our Red colleagues, Wranx offers bite size learning, concise, direct and focussed on the subject matter. Users access Wranx for just a few short minutes per day. It can link to the facts behind the questions if necessary. Wranx gives instant access to results, and through leaderboards, rewards and league tables, attainment and achievement drives the individual towards further learning.
The bite size learning aspect of Wranx will also prove popular with those we should describe as Yellow. Like them, its sociable, benefits from fast thinking and is informal. Through the gamification of the learning, yellows will react well to the social aspect of competition with their peers, as well as pushing themselves to achieve better results, and this feeds off their innate creativity and imagination.
What about the Blues? Well, they’ll appreciate the daily drills, linked to the facts behind the learning, and all based on a scientifically proven system (Spaced Repetition). Wranx provides action plans for future learning and growth, and personalised reporting for enhanced feedback. The blues will like this latter part particularly.
And finally, our cool friends, chilling over there in the corner. The Greens. Well, Wranx is designed to be low pressure and easily accessed. Wranx links to the facts, so can provide detail to back up the course. Again, it enhances social interaction between individuals and departments, which will appeal to Greens’ nature. And really, when it comes to cool, what could possibly be cooler than the work of 19th Century German psychologists like Hermann Ebbinghaus, Spaced Repetition, being digitalised for learning in the 21st Century?
We can use The Pallette Of Personalities to build and forge strong working relationships, as well as understanding how those relationships drive business forward towards growth and enhanced productivity. We also know that no matter the person, no matter what personality traits they have, Wranx works.
For the individual, and for the organisation, Wranx works.