Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to assist you in reviewing your Plum Talent Guide with another member of your team to help you both understand how to work better with one another.

How should this information be used?

• To help you both understand what type of activities drive or drain you, including those in your current role.
• To identify where you may need additional support from each other.
• To bring insight into how you may work best with one another.
• To help craft your current job and goals on the team in a way that leverages both your driving Talents.

Helpful Tips When Exploring your Talent Guide with Team Members

When exploring your Talent Guide with team members it is helpful to:

• Assume the best of people. Working with others is not always easy and sometimes we can be quick to think others are intentionally trying to be difficult when in fact they think they are being helpful, or they simply have a different viewpoint. Assume good intentions whenever you can.
• Be open to new perspectives. The other person will be basing their observations strictly from the behaviors they see you exhibit. This can sometimes be different than what your preferences are and what was captured in the Plum Discovery Survey. This then provides a valuable and unique viewpoint that you may not be aware of on your own.
• Asks questions. Whenever you hear something you are surprised by or disagree with, start by asking questions to better understand why your team member may think that. This provides you with more information and can help you resist the desire to automatically defend your point of view before you fully understand theirs.
• Have both of you provide behavioral examples to illustrate points. It is easier to understand a point when we can show an example of it in action.
• Relate your conversation about Talents to how it may impact the team. Focus on how this information sheds light on how each person behaves within the team and how it may impact the team (either positively or negatively).

A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Start with a team member that you work closely with. Over time, meet with as many of your team members as you feel will be beneficial.
2. Book at least 30 minutes to discuss but an hour is preferable.
3. Share your Talent Guides with one another prior to the meeting through the Plum platform by navigating to the ‘share’ button at the top of the page in your Talent Guides and copying and sharing the Talent Guide links with each other.
4. Prepare by reviewing how to interpret the results (located in ‘Exploring your Talent Guide’). Remember, the order of the Talents is based off of how you prioritized in the Discovery Survey. Your drainers are not necessarily things you cannot do but likely prefer them less to your drivers.
5. Review each other’s Talent Guides ahead of your meeting.
6. Ask each other questions. You can create your own or use the ones provided below.
7. Follow up with the person after a set amount of time has passed to see if it would be helpful for you two to meet again. 

Team Member Questions

1. Take turns sharing with each other your top 3 Talents and your bottom Talent.
2. Was there anything in each other’s Talent Guides that you found surprising? If there was, what was surprising about it?
3. Are there similarities in your Talents?
   • Do you have any similar drivers or drainers?
   • How does this impact how you work together?

For example, “We both have Persuasion as a top Talent and this means we can both become passionate about our idea in a meeting which sometimes leads to conflict. However, this also means we may make an excellent pair when presenting our teams’ vision to senior stakeholders as we both love to sway others to our way of thinking”.

4. Are there differences in your Talents?
   • Do you have any drivers or drainers that are different from the other person?
   • How can you leverage these different strengths during projects?
   • Are there ways this may cause problems when you work together? (E.g., Think about how you approach projects or execute on them).
   • How can you help one another?

For example, “I have innovation as a top Talent and love coming up with exciting novel ideas whereas innovation is a drainer for my colleague. However, one of their top Talents is execution and this can be leveraged to help me practically manage the tasks that would be required to make my idea come to fruition, which is something I have struggled with in the past.

5. Take turns sharing what activities you do for the team that drive you versus the one’s that drain you.
6. How can the information shared in the meeting help you support one another and ultimately work better together?

For example, “I am drained by Persuasion. I find this sometimes means I will stop pushing my idea forward if someone pushes back but then can get frustrated because I feel like I am not being heard. It would be helpful when in team meetings to have you ask questions about my idea so I can explain more about it as, sometimes, I have a hard time making convincing arguments when someone makes a blanket statement such as, ‘I just don’t think that will work’.

Finish the meeting with these next steps

1. Each person share and write down 1 thing you learned during this meeting.
2. Each person share and write down 1-3 actions that you can take away that will help you build a stronger working relationship with the other person.

For example, “I will ensure that during meetings, I will ask my colleague questions about their ideas to allow them the chance to explain in more detail.” Or “I will make sure I respond to my colleagues emails to confirm that I have received the information, even if I don’t have a response yet.”

3. Schedule a second meeting when you are ready to review.

• Provide enough time in between meetings so you each have time to work on your actions.
• If you meet again, review your actions to see what progress you have made and update them if needed.
• Share any new learnings you have had of yourself or the other person since you last met. Any ‘aha’ moments?

Additional Helpful Resources

1. Exploring your Talent Guide– A guide to help you explore your Talent Guide on your own. 
2. Talent Guide Worksheet– Designed to support you in using your Talent Guide in your development planning.