Work styles
MindScale describes work style with two axes. Pace runs from steady (taking time, weighing things up) to fast (deciding quickly, pushing ahead). People focus runs from task (attention on the work, facts and results) to people (attention on the people doing it and how they feel).
The four styles are the four combinations: fast and task-focused, fast and people-focused, steady and people-focused, and steady and task-focused. Every style is useful, and most teams work best with a mix.
See your own result
Your score and full report: $2.95 for 7 days of full access, then $29.95 every 4 weeks until you cancel.
Pace
How quickly and directly you act: deciding fast and speaking up, or taking your time and weighing things up.
- Toward the high end
- People here tend to move fast. They decide quickly, say what they think and like to get things going.
- Around the middle
- People here can move quickly when it matters and slow down when a decision needs more thought.
- Toward the low end
- People here tend to keep a steady, measured pace. They like to think things through before they act or speak.
People focus
Where your attention goes first at work: the people and how they feel, or the task and its details.
- Toward the high end
- People here put their attention on others first. They notice how colleagues feel and enjoy working with them.
- Around the middle
- People here pay attention to both the people and the task, depending on what the moment needs.
- Toward the low end
- People here put their attention on the task first. Getting the facts, the plan and the details right matters most to them.
How scoring works
Each statement has five response choices. They contribute from 1 to 5 points to the scale they describe, and every scale is converted to a position from 0 to 100. The position describes where the answers sit on that scale; it is not a percentile or a comparison with other people.
The two positions are read as axes. A value above 50 is on the high side, and a value close to 50 can also fit the style across that line.
The benefits of knowing your work style
Knowing your style helps you explain how you work best: whether you like to decide fast and adjust, or to have time to check the details first; whether you think out loud with others or prefer to work through a problem on your own.
It also helps with colleagues. A fast-paced teammate isn't being pushy and a steady one isn't stalling; they're approaching the same goal from different corners.
Work styles in everyday life
Small adjustments go a long way: giving a planner the facts ahead of a meeting, giving a motivator room to talk ideas through, asking a supporter directly for their view, or giving a pacesetter the short version first.
Your style can shift with the job and the situation, too. Many people are steadier in a new role and faster once they know it well.
How to take the test
MindScale's work style test has 36 statements and no time limit. Choose the response that best matches how you usually are, not how you would like to be.
You can go back and change an answer. When you finish, you can unlock your score and full report: $2.95 for 7 days of full access, then $29.95 every 4 weeks until you cancel.
Your score and full report: $2.95 for 7 days of full access, then $29.95 every 4 weeks until you cancel.
Conclusion
The four work styles, pacesetter, motivator, supporter and planner, come from two axes: pace and people focus. Each brings something different, and many people sit close to the line between two.
If you'd like to find your own style, the MindScale work style test has 36 statements on how you work with tasks and people. The price is shown before you start.
See your own result
Your score and full report: $2.95 for 7 days of full access, then $29.95 every 4 weeks until you cancel.