Enneagram – a tool for streamlining productivity in companies
Psychology Hour
Dr. Leli
I deal with business coaching and in my activity I use enneagram quite frequently, a powerful tool that facilitates the understanding of human behavior and that fascinated me, arousing my curiosity to deepen its use. In a company, the more an employee understands his own behavioral pattern and that of others, the more the results he obtains increase and as a result the whole team develops optimally. Thus, the more an entrepreneur invests in his staff, facilitating the use of efficient tools and methods, the greater the success of his company. I strongly believe in the permanent personal development of employees; this is one of the reasons why I use the enneagram, precisely because it is a model that allows behavioral analysis and evaluation within the company. The enneagram can identify employees’ strengths, but especially vulnerabilities (for example, where human resource energy is spent) and can intervene to transform, reshape, direct efforts so that employees become more productive and receptive. The enneagram describes nine different personality types, includes nine distinct views of the world and how they interact in their life context, yet offers a deep and very dynamic approach to any of the company’s employees. It encourages self-discovery and can promote self-reliance.
But what exactly is the enneagram? It is an ancient tool used to observe and explore human behavior and connected to modern neuroscience helps to understand different human behaviors. For example, it helps to understand how different types of people prefer to give and receive feedback, what their preferences are in dealing with conflict, what their decision-making strategies are and what motivates them. It is also possible to identify the different styles of negotiation that a person can use, the strengths and weaknesses that need to be improved in the process of organizational communication, etc.
Below are some of the areas in which the enneagram can be used:
Communication. All 9 human typologies analyzed through the enneagram have different strategies for filtering information and each has its own way of expressing its ideas. The enneagram teaches us the language of all 9 typologies, which leads to a more productive and conflict-free communication at work.
Lead. The goal is for the leader to understand their strengths and limitations, which will increase their ability to have multiple perspectives. The leader can benefit from knowing how his leadership style is perceived by others, can learn how to persuade, train and effectively support the different types of people he leads.
Team dynamics. The enneagram encourages people to observe how they interact with each other and how they engage in a team; this creates team awareness and cohesion. Thus, the team learns to adapt to what is important to each of its members and emphasizes how each of them is inclined to make decisions. Gaining this knowledge allows the development of an efficient team.
So, there are many advantages to working with enneagram in a company. It highlights how employees develop behaviors in the workplace. He also points out that no matter how open some people are, they all have behavioral patterns of thinking, which can make it difficult to recognize and accept other points of view. What I can add from my own experience is that, using this tool, I obtained particularly good results in the companies where I applied it. Basically, it made a difference in the competitive market. Employees felt more involved, their communication and collaboration improved and there was a clear increase in quality and performance in the sales sector. It is a tool that allows employees to better understand those around them, because being aware that everyone has their own inner challenges makes them more compassionate, more flexible in thinking and less rigid in judging. As the skeleton supports the body, our behaviors are supported by a psychological core from which thoughts come and where the beliefs, values, priorities and aspirations that make up our personality, each one, are established. Thus, we can consider the enneagram as an instruction manual of the human condition through which we can understand the deeper, often unconscious motivations behind our behaviors and attitudes.
