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AgTexas Reinforces Culture and Values with DiSC for Intact Teams

Communication is the lifeblood of any project and any organization. From concept and planning through execution and success, strong communication among team members helps define and deliver optimal results. But communication styles vary, complicating any group effort and reducing the benefits of collaboration.

Enter DiSC for Intact Teams, a new thought-provoking and engaging workshop offered by FCCS, online and in-person.

DiSC for Intact Teams relies upon the DiSC assessment tool, which reveals individual communication preferences defined within a family of communications styles, each of which has strengths and challenges. Through a personalized, in-depth DiSC profile, people learn about themselves and what communication approaches energize or frustrate them. They can then use these insights to manage and adjust their responses and reactions.

Individually, a DiSC assessment provides valuable insight for self-awareness; in a team setting, the value is amplified immeasurably. DiSC for Intact Teams provides the same valuable individual assessment with the addition of transparency: individuals are invited to share their results with team members to foster understanding of others’ communications styles.

Through this process, employees learn how best to communicate with their colleagues, so those communications are more effective, making the team more efficient and productive. The team also learns about its group culture and how that impacts communication and results, and begins to establish a team commitment to improvement.

“DiSC for Intact Teams helps identify the team culture and how each individual relates to it, their preferences and tendencies, which helps people work together more effectively,” says Jeannie Clinkenbeard, Director and Senior Consultant in FCCS’ Learning and Consulting Services practice area. “This isn’t about putting anyone into a box, but by understanding communications and personality traits of their colleagues, employees can learn to communicate in ways that will be most effective for each interaction.”

AgTexas Farm Credit Services fully embraced DiSC starting several years ago, turning to FCCS to administer the assessment tool to every employee. In addition to delivering individual coaching sessions, FCCS facilitated workshops with managers about how to share and apply the insights within their teams, a precursor to DiSC for Intact Teams. The AgTexas commitment is ongoing: DiSC is reinforced at quarterly meetings and new employees complete the assessment as they’re brought on board, including one-on-one coaching sessions with FCCS Recruitment and Selection Specialist Beth Oliphant. Most importantly, all employees are encouraged to share their DiSC results with their colleagues, to whatever degree they’re comfortable.

“Sharing our DiSC profiles is voluntary, but all of our AgTexas employees have chosen to be open with this information because we all recognize that it works, it really does smooth our communication and therefore our collaboration,” says Kayla Robinson, AgTexas COO. “DiSC is about knowing yourself, and also about how to alter your approach to treat people how they want in order to achieve the best outcome. That’s what everyone at AgTexas wants, so DiSC has become pretty central to our process.”

With the self-awareness and awareness of others that DiSC provides, AgTexas has strengthened its culture, especially important given the 2015 merger that created the organization. Bringing disparate groups together is always a challenge, but AgTexas found that employees being open about themselves has helped forge a positive cultural identity.

“DiSC has strengthened our relationships, made our teams more effective and given us a common language to talk about communications issues,” says Kayla. “It’s helped us recognize that we’re all different but we’re all valued, which has helped build a diverse and inclusive environment.”

For more information about DiSC or DiSC for Intact Teams, contact Jeannie Clinkenbeard at 303.721.3289.

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