A person’s innate propensity to behave and react to circumstances is referred to as their temperament. The most potent factor influencing how people conduct in both public and private settings, approach tasks, engage with others, lead others, and handle obstacles is their temperament.
Identifying and matching work to an employee’s temperament at work can improve productivity and job effectiveness in general.
The Four Temperaments:
The Sanguine person is full of life, gregarious, positive, and full of energy. They love engaging with others and enjoy socializing and having fun. When it comes to jobs and duties involving innovation, teamwork, and customer service, they perform better. For the Sanguine, having fun is everything. To keep a sanguine employee motivated, work should have some entertaining elements.
The choleric individual is self-assured, forceful, upbeat, determined, and goal-oriented. They perform well in roles requiring decision-making, strategic planning, and leadership. They are able to complete more tasks in a shorter amount of time. Playing fiercely, the choleric tries to win the game. It’s conceivable that he or she won’t play the game if they can’t win.
The melancholic is reticent, very introspective, profound, meticulous, and perfectionistic. They excel in jobs requiring meticulousness, investigation, and critical thought because they are analytical and thorough. Only when they are overwhelmed or emotionally paralyzed does their output suffer.
The phalegmatic person is composed, understanding, laid-back, and diplomatic. They sometimes have trouble making decisions, but they are good listeners and team players. They are sluggish individuals who dislike being forced to make repairs or take action. They work at their own speed. The Phlegmatic are excellent in positions requiring empathy, diplomacy, and handling conflict.
Task Assignment:
Each temperament has specific duties and assignments that suit them best. They can therefore quickly complete things with little to no training and effort.
It is crucial for managers or anybody assigning duties to take into account the tasks that each temperament is best suited for in order to maximize productivity and turnaround time.
Sanguine: Put them in positions that involve interacting with customers, working together with staff members, and working in sales and marketing.
Choleric: Give them project leadership responsibilities or tasks that call for making difficult or fast judgments.
Melancholic: Give them jobs that include planning, quality assurance, data analysis, social work, and research.
Phlegmatic: Put them in charge of jobs that call for assistance from customers or employees, instruction or training, counseling, handling or resolving conflicts, or jobs that need keeping a calm atmosphere.
Tips for Task Assignments
- It is imperative that managers and those in leadership positions intentionally learn about each person’s temperament and characteristics. This makes it easier for us to understand the personalities of the individuals we are managing.
- Recognizing that temperament is either innate or acquired, we ought to value and embrace the many combinations of temperaments, their respective advantages and disadvantages, and exercise some adaptability when delegating responsibilities.
- When giving someone a task in their area of weakness, we should exercise particular caution. It is imperative that we give our personnel the assistance, direction, and oversight they require to avoid setting them up for failure.
- Adjust communication tactics according to temperaments. For example, succinct explanations for choleric people and more in-depth ones for melancholic people.
- Strive to achieve a harmonious blend of temperaments within your team. Melancholic employees may be needed for some roles, but managers need to be careful not to have all Melancholic employees on the team. At some point, it may be necessary to draw on the advantages of the other temperaments, such as the Sanguine’s outstanding sales abilities or the Choleric’s project management abilities. Make a combination based on the position.
Assigning duties based on temperament types increases employee job satisfaction and fosters effectiveness and efficiency at work, which raises commitment and productivity.
The degree of cooperation and support among team members will also rise as they carry out their innate tasks since each temperament blends well with the others.
People are more likely to be productive while working on projects that play to their strengths.
