Motivate me

Objective: Engage learners more deeply with the Everything DiSC styles

Prerequisites: Introduction to general DiSC concepts and knowledge of their own style. While this information is part of the Everything DiSC Management profile, you can do this with any of the other Everything DiSC profiles.

Materials: Shared recording space such as a whiteboard (virtual or physical) or easel pad

Time: ~45 minutes
15 minutes for group discussion, 20 minutes to share with larger group, 10 minutes for group discussion/reflection

Instructions:

1. Separate your group into the four DiSC styles. (If you have a larger group of one style, you can have them separate into the eight styles: D, Di/iD, i, iS/Si, S, SC/CS, C, CD/DC. If a group has only one representative of a style, you can join them or ask them to join the most similar group.)
2. Ask: What motivates you? Is this different when you’re working from home, in the office, or on-site? One person should record the group’s answers so they can share them with the entire group.

Use these prompts as needed or relevant.

• • At work, when do you feel most productive? Think of a time or two when you went home or finished the workday feeling really good about your accomplishments.
  • What sort of environment is motivating? Consider lighting, noise, people around you, etc.
  • What behaviors, actions, or attitudes of others help you become or stay motivated? Think of your boss, your co-workers, your customers or clients.
  • How does conflict influence your level of motivation? What type of conflict is motivating and what kind is not?
  • How do you like to be recognized and rewarded?
  • What could be said to encourage you if you’re feeling unmotivated?
  • How can teammates and supervisors help you get and stay motivated?
  • What type of tasks or behaviors do you need help getting motivated to do?

If there is time, you can ask the groups to discuss what demotivates them.

3. Ask each group to share their results with the group.
4. As a group, discuss what surprises were revealed about what motivates another style. How can what we learned about different motivations help us work better with each other? What motivations do we have in common? What steps can we take to remember the motivational needs across styles?

Follow-ups

Learners can fill out this form and share with colleagues.

• A Guide to Me: Download the fillable PDF or Download as a Word docx

These articles can be shared after the session to keep the learning going.

• How To Motivate And Inspire Your Team To Achieve Better Results, Forbes
• Five Ways to Motivate Your Team With Empathy and Authority, MIT Sloan Management Review
• How to Stay Motivated When You’re (Still) Stuck at Home, Harvard Business Review
• How to Stay Insanely Self-Motivated, According to Science, Mission.org