Continuing our series looking at coaching tools and techniques, Coaching at Work road-tests Facet5 personality tool
1 The tool
What is it?
Facet5 is a personality tool that helps participants understand how people differ in their behaviour, motivation, attitudes and aspirations. It uses the ‘Big Five’ factors of personality generally considered by psychologists to be the building blocks of personality, and it follows the principle that we each have a certain amount of each. The pattern of scores gives coaches and participants an overall picture of their reactions, behaviours and preferences.
The factors are:
- Will Determination, assertiveness and independence
- Energy Enthusiasm, sociability, involvement
- Affection Openness, sincerity, warmth, generosity
- Control Structured, orderly, self-disciplined
- Emotionality The fifth factor interacts with the other four, indicating to what extent an individual will tolerate stress or demonstrate emotion or confidence.
How does it work?
Facet5 uses a web-based questionnaire to capture information; participants respond to an emailed invitation and are taken directly to the Facet5 website. Most can complete a Facet5 questionnaire in less than 20 minutes. Data is processed instantly and is immediately available for review by authorised users, with reports shown onscreen or produced as a fully formatted PDF for printing or emailing.
You do need to be accredited to give Facet5 feedback.
For more information, email Dawn Easy at Consulting Tools:
deasy@consultingtools.com
www.consultingtools.com
2 The administrator
Using the tool
One of the things I really liked about Facet5 was that the report produced after the online tests presented information in pictures, data and words. This meant it was easy to generate discussion during feedback with the participant because everything was clearly presented.
We used the accompanying blank ‘Personal Profile’ during feedback. It has big, simple images which we used interactively. For instance, the client plotted their self-view on an axis before comparing these with the results given from their online report. The five Facets are colour coded and broken down into more detailed areas that are clearly labelled.
Things become slightly more complex when you look at the 17 ‘families’ participants’ Facet5 profiles align to. Each family is shown using a picture. The ‘Architect’, for example, is someone who scores with high Will, but is lower in Energy, Affection and Control (slim diamond shape pointing north). Members of the Architect Family are likely to have a keen sense of purpose.
Polar opposite is the ‘Developer’ (low Will, high in all other factors: fat diamond shape pointing south). Members are likely to demonstrate a warm and sympathetic manner. Put Architects and Developers together in a team and things could get interesting.
The information revealed through Facet5 works at individual and team levels, which is useful. But you do need plenty of feedback time with the client.
The report is clear and comprehensive – perhaps a little too comprehensive towards the end, where there is a raft of information to absorb and draw conclusions from. Nevertheless it is written simply and there are areas such as the “Leading Edge Guide” which suggests ways to lead and manage the participants. This connects the participant’s feedback directly back to their work environment very neatly. Helping participants see and express how they would prefer to be managed really empowers and encourages them to have a conversation with their line manager about what they need.
The verdict
Facet5 is a well rounded tool, clearly presented and simple to use. For a 20 minute online test, the information you can pull is incredibly useful, both from a coaching perspective and for the individual to use with their team or manager. In my experience, the outcomes have had good face validity for participants and the areas for development have even raised a few wry laughs with comments like, “How did they know?” I like the tool very much and will definitely use it again.
Julie Drybrough is director of Fuschia Blue
3 The client
The experience
It was really easy to access online – straight into the questionnaire via the ‘click here’ link on email without login or password, which was great. The report was bigger than I expected, so I was a bit daunted when I saw it, but when I read it through, it made sense.
The descriptions were very like me. I was similar to the Architect but also the Idealist picture, which took a bit of discussion to sort out. I wasn’t happy at first about being put into a category, but it was valuable to work through what my style is and think about what others in my team might be.
The application
The language was very straightforward. It didn’t hold back. There were really clear development points and the suggestions about my communication or planning and organising styles were helpful. I like the, “You should watch for” section because I’ve recently been through a 360 and the Facet tool helped me understand some of the feedback from that.
The guide to managing me was spot on. It could have used my name a bit less often, but there were points made that were absolutely on the money.
The verdict
Easy to use and made sense, really. It had practical information which was good. The report gave me a lot to think about and I’ve agreed to share the information with my colleagues. This gave me a good sense of where my strengths lie and where I need to watch. I’m most interested in understanding what the bad bits look like, but happy to get the good as well. I’m sure my team would agree with most of it.
The client is finance director at Real Wood Studios, a small furniture design and production company
The pros and cons of Facet5 personality tool
UPSIDE
- Online tool is easy to use
- Very clear report with simple language
- Information given in words, pictures and data
- Simple five factors to cover
- Discussion generated about client, rather than tool
DOWNSIDE
- Very comprehensive report means a lot of time for feedback needed
- Need to be accredited to feedback the data
Coaching at Work, Volume 5, Issue 6