Managing Introverts and Extroverts on the Real Estate Team

dotloop

August 17, 2018 | comments

Myers-Briggs personality assessment can help team leaders better organize and manage team members by playing to their strengths and weaknesses

A few clues about each of these team member’s personality types might give their team leader Justin useful insight into how to optimize Anne and Mike’s top potential.

When done right and a team leader plays to each person’s top strengths, the team functions like a well-oiled machine. On the other hand, the team dynamic can quickly run awry if the positions and procedures don’t fit each team member’s personality types.
 

Introducing the Myers-Briggs Assessment Test

 
There are a number of personality assessment tests that brokers and team leaders have found useful, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Inspired by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s psychological type theories, this personality test tool was developed in the 1940s by Isabel Myers Briggs and has been described as an introspective, self-report questionnaire with the purpose of indicating psychological preferences—more specifically, how people perceive the world around them.

There are multiple forms of the quiz available online. The answers to the questionnaire determine where a person fits on the four spectra: extroversion versus introversion; sensing versus intuition; thinking versus feeling; and judging versus perceiving. The answers are then used to identify the individual with one of the 16 basic personality types, each represented by a four-letter designation.

For instance, an ISTJ represents an individual with a preference for introversion, sensing, thinking and judging.

Someone who is an ENTJ (extraversion, intuition, thinking, judging) is most likely a driven extrovert who’s decisive and assertive. A team leader or broker as well as many executives and successful salespeople often bear this type of personality.

Real estate agents and brokers with ENTP (extraversion, intuition, thinking and perceiving) personality types also tend to gravitate toward this industry due to their preference for social communication, a focus on ideas and concepts versus facts and details, logic-based decision-making, and an ability to act spontaneous and remain flexible versus a rigid organized planning mindset.
 

Adjusting Personality Types to Tasks

 
The MBTI and similar tests are not scientifically rigorous personality assessments and should not be considered predictive or defining for an individual. The human personality is far too complex to be completely measured and analyzed from a 30-minute questionnaire. However, these types of tests are useful as a basic assessment of work style and preference. When a real estate team can share their personality type with each other, it makes a good starting point for identifying the difference in perceptions that cause people to respond differently under the same circumstances.

Many brokers and team leaders use the MBTI as a guide for filling roles. For example, a sociable, orderly, people-oriented organizer might make a better admin than an energetic, excitement-seeking extrovert who quickly tires of routine.

That said, a range of personality types can excel in real estate if they’re given the right roles and responsibilities. Take introverts, for example. While it’s true that extroverts tend to thrive in large social groups and selling real estate requires lots of people interaction, introverts bring powerful traits to the mix. For one, introverts tend to make great listeners and observers and can use this power of observation to remain calm in chaotic situations.

In addition, a tech-savvy introvert might bring great value to the team who’s looking to onboard on a team-oriented transaction management platform, like dotloop for Teams, which caters to admins with robust compliance features, agents with an end-to-end collaborative tool, and team leaders with reporting features that provide deep visibility into the team’s overall performance.

Clients also have diverse personalities and often prefer to work with those of similar, relatable traits. An agent who is more of an introvert will understand that a hard-charging, deal-closing approach can be a turn-off to many prospective clients. A INFP (introversion, intuition, feeling, perceiving) type, for instance, might know better than his extroverted counterparts how to get the listing without using pressure tactics.
 

Managing by Personality Type

 
Once more is known about the types of personalities on a real estate team, the team leader can tailor his or her management style to help each member reach their potential. Take, for instance, Anne the agent who’s energetic, spontaneous, friendly and happier out of the office, meeting new clients instead of sitting through another team meeting. Justin, her team leader, doesn’t necessarily need to exempt Anne from all team meetings—just find a way to make them relevant to her. Perhaps he could ask her to spearhead a role-playing training exercise in which she teaches other agents new presentation skills.

Paul Tieger, co-creator of the TeamWorks tool for managing the different personality types, suggests engaging the curious, problem-solving side of the ENFP (extraversion, intuition, feeling, perceiving) personality by giving these people opportunities to work collaboratively with other fun, creative people.

According to Tieger, team leaders can motivate focused and reliable ISTJs (introversion, sensing, thinking, judging) by giving them specific goals. Many introverts also find reward when they’re given roles of responsibility and authority.

ESTJs (extroversion, sensing, thinking, judging) extroverts want to hear logical reasons for your decisions and are motivated when you fully trust them to manage a process well.

While it’s good to be aware of each team members personality differences, it’s also equally important to not to let these traits override all other factors in business. After all, real estate is ultimately about meeting the needs of each client in the way that builds trust and makes them feel most comfortable interacting with the real estate team.