“After the DRiV workshop with our HR team, I came away with a deeper understanding of what drives and drains everyone,” says Chuck Watts, Human Resources Director with Commercial Metals Company (CMC) in Irving, Texas. “I also learned how to better interact with my team members.”
This was CMC’s first exposure to the DRiV; Leadership Worth Following (LWF) consultants facilitated a DRiV workshop with the HR leadership team of about a dozen people. Many of them were new or newly promoted. The DRiV workshop involved three steps: completing individual DRiV reports, pairwise speed relating, and discussing team-level DRiV results.
In pairwise speed relating, two colleagues overlay their DRiV results to see areas of similarities and differences; the process is repeated through all possible 1:1 colleague combinations.
“The speed relating sparks discussion because it really highlights the delta between the two DRiV profiles,” says Watts. “It helped me think about how to communicate better with my team members. Through that exercise I was often surprised to learn the commonalities we shared, even someone I felt was a complete opposite. That was very eye-opening.
“Learning how to adjust your approach is very helpful, because each person is different,” Watts adds. He believes the DRiV workshop enhanced his use of situational leadership strategies with his colleagues, including his leader. Understanding each other’s style, along with drivers and drainers, can help facilitate and accelerate improved communication and collaboration.
“We’ve experienced the benefits and now consider the DRiV an important tool in our HR toolbox.”
LWF facilitators encourage participants to take notes in their DRiV workshop playbook, both during and after this pairwise exercise, as a guide for future interactions. Also, participants often find that having a common language for drivers among the team helps make them more memorable and applicable moving forward.
When considering team-level DRiV results, Watts says reviewing the factor ranking – from highest to lowest – spurred some productive discussions. Focusing the team’s attention on these key outlier areas helped the group – and the company – responsively shift resources to create positive changes.
Watts says CMC would “definitely consider” additional DRiV workshops in the future. “We’ve experienced the benefits and now consider the DRiV an important tool in our HR toolbox.”
To learn how the DRiV can help you understand the why behind the what, contact us.
