The 5 'work personalities' in every team, according to Slack
If you've ever worked in a collaborative environment, you'll know that work teams are comprised of people with different strengths, approaches, and personalities. Now, a new Slack survey shows all those different workplace characteristics can be grouped into five different personas.
Slack partnered with YouGov to survey over 15,000 desk-based employees to learn about different "work personalities".
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The results of the survey show the emergence of five distinct workplace personas: the Detective (30%), the Road Warrior (22%), the Networker (22%), the Problem Solver (16%), and the Expressionist (10%). To see which persona you identify with, read on.
The most prominent person, the Detective, is an investigative individual who is "reliably in the know". This type of coworker searches for as much knowledge as possible, and then shares their solutions with others.
The Detectives identified themselves as being organized (93%) and preferring to figure out tasks on their own (91%).
The Detective attributes.
Slack describes the Road Warrior as an individual who can be found working from different locations at different times, with flexibility being a key factor to their success.
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As a reflection of their desire for flexibility, 89% of Road Warriors work away from their desks, compared to 60% of all workers. This group identifies themselves as adaptable (81%) and is best at creating connections with colleagues from anywhere (28%).
The Road Warrior attributes.
The Networker is described by Slack as an easy conversationalist who is highly collaborative, always taking notes, and happy to communicate their findings with everyone to make sure the team is up to speed and has what they need to succeed.
A majority of this group (67%) describes themselves as being extroverted, compared to 44% of all workers. Unsurprisingly, 78% of Networkers believe you can be friends with your colleagues.
The Networker attributes.
The Problem Solver refers to someone who has a strong aversion to repetitive tasks and has tips and tricks for everything, being drawn to tools that help them and their colleagues be more efficient, according to Slack.
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Because this group is fixated on saving time and finding new tools, 92% of Problem Solves are early tech adopters, with 77% being excited about AI. Furthermore, the study found that 43% of Problem Solvers seek opportunities to use AI in the future.
The Problem Solver attributes.
Lastly, the Expressionist is an individual who has a strong preference for less formal engagement and prefers to rely on fun, visual alternatives, resulting in a reliance on emojis, GIFs, and memes at work.
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Many Expressionists (46%) believe that workplace communication should be fun and lighthearted, with a whopping 72% using emojis and GIFs to communicate.
The Expressionist attributes.
According to the study, most teams hold a mix of different personas, and understanding each teammate's persona can help you to find communication methods that meet their specific needs.
"This new research shows that regardless of industry or country, no two employees work exactly alike -- which makes it even more crucial to enable people to play to their unique strengths with a flexible productivity platform, like Slack," said Christina Janzer, SVP of research and analytics at Slack.