Image: Christin Hume on Unsplash
Image: Christin Hume on Unsplash
The way we look at and understand the world around us can make a big difference. Take, for example, the choice to make a shift: from complaining to being thankful. The situation we’re in may stay the same, but as a result of this change of attitude, we start to appreciate more of what’s good & positive in our lives.
Simple things we learn can bring a whole new way of looking — both at situations, and people. People professionals who complete TBM (The Birkman Method®) Certification experience something similar.
From people problems to people potential
Without understanding the why of behaviour — both productive and reactive — you’re left navigating ‘issues’, ‘incidents’, ‘concerns’ and other ‘people problems’, all without a manual for reliably getting things back on track.
Birkman data provides a lens for making sense of what you are seeing, and why. Instead of being unfathomable and therefore unmanageable, behaviour becomes something predictable and manageable: with the right input and environmental support, stress behaviour eases, and positive, productive, usual behaviours come to the fore.
Instead of people being the problem we can start to see the problems people are experiencing, and what will help them return to an even keel. If we can get that right, we unlock the potential in each person; rather than having to relegate individuals to the “problem” box, we can discover what they are really capable of, under the right conditions.
Elevate every conversation
But Birkman isn’t just powerful for diagnosing issues and highlighting solutions.
It gives you a new way of thinking about, and therefore communicating with, people. When each member of a team or function has access to their own data it changes the way they relate and work together. Suddenly they have cues for what the other person will most need, what they will tend to prioritise, how they will tend to communicate, and how they may react when uncomfortable with a situation.
Every conversation becomes an opportunity to better understand and accommodate different ways of thinking, and to develop more effective communication across diverse perspectives.
Fluency in a framework that works
Birkman Certification equips you to become fluent in the language and framework of Birkman. You can quickly become an expert in:
understanding what makes people ‘tick’
how to align individuals for greater engagement,
how to get teams communicating better and appreciating each others’ perspectives and contributions,
how to support managers and leaders to manage themselves and others more effectively
what people-based strategies will deliver organisational outcomes.
This kind of fluency enables you to quickly recognise potential root causes for sub-optimal situations. Whether it's the individual who lacks engagement because their role is heavy on responsibilities they find draining, or the manager struggling to make the shift from having co-workers to direct reports, the TBM framework gives you quick insights into both why it's happening, and how to equip people for necessary change.
The business impact of understanding behaviour
Understanding the huge differences between how people behave (and why they do so) is not just a nice to have. It has real impact at an organisational level; whether you’re concerned with productivity, morale, employee engagement, retention of talent, change management, or developing the leadership pipeline — an awareness of the range of human behaviour, perspectives, and concerns you’re dealing with, will keep you from detrimental missteps that fail to meet the mark.
In the same way, recognising how each individual’s perspectives impact what they make priority (and what they tend to avoid), brings clarity to workload distribution, productivity, and why certain things may seem to be falling through the cracks on a regular basis.
Blindspots at the individual level can become magnified into serious gaps, if not counterbalanced by a diversity of perspective at the team level. And blindspots at the team level can become magnified too… The ability to map perspective at each level of the organisation is one of the most powerful aspects of the Birkman data at scale, as it allows you to see, and correct for, any skews or gaps in your workforce.
So yes, people professionals who attend The Birkman Method Certification learn about TBM data, how to accurately interpret a person’s scores across the different scales, how to have an impactful coaching conversation using Signature Report and how to analyse and identify strengths, potential issues, and levers for change in both individuals and teams… but the cascading impact of this new way of seeing people can go far beyond the immediate application.
Contact us today to discover how you can begin transforming your organisation with The Birkman Method.
Why every People Professional should have The Birkman Method up their Sleeve
Written by Sarah Mason
