Building team connections – moving team personality sessions from a side show to a valuable tool
We’ve all been there. The team gets together for a strategy session or team connection session – and someone decides to bring personality into the mix. No one is quite sure why - it’s something vague about understanding each other or a bit of fun or we’re just told to do it. We take part in a moderated session, have a bit of a laugh at the one person who is the outlier, and then throw the report in a drawer and forget about it. Sound familiar?
This isn’t anyone’s fault – it's just human behaviour. Straight after a session people feel empowered, seen and excited... but then work happens, we’re busy again, stressed, time poor, and flooded with other important information we’ve got to hold onto.
Team sessions - powered by personality - can be hugely valuable. But it’s an expensive exercise if the learnings don’t stick. Globally, personality assessments were valued at approximately $7 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $16 billion by 2028. That’s a lot of money for what sometimes can feel like amounts to a short-term corporate exercise.
If considered intentionally, and planned long-term, personality does actually achieve what you want to for your team - more supported team members, better team dynamics and of course, better working outcomes.
At TALY, we make it easy to integrate these insights into your daily work. From recruitment to team dynamics, personality profiling is the key to unlocking stronger, more harmonious teams.
Curious to learn more? Let’s chat about how TALY’s tools can help you navigate the complexities of workplace conflict. Get in touch or book a demo today!
Today we’re going to explore how you can make that investment of personality sessions and team building really stick.
The key is intentional follow-through:
1. Make It Practical
The magic of a team building day shouldn’t stay in the theory. To make the learnings stick, they need to move out of the workshop and into the workflow.
For instance, it’s one thing to know someone is an “introvert”, or a "big picture thinker," but it’s another to change your behaviour because of it. Here are some ways to start doing this:
Make your insights small (but mighty!) tangible actions during the session itself
Think about how you could pull out 2-3 insights per person and brainstorm what the rest of the team could do to help support them. An insight about a team member needs processing time before responding. Actions such as sharing agendas early or creating a separate meeting for feedback, rather than straight after information was presented, can be great for some. Or perhaps an insight that conflict avoidance is common on your team could have an action around setting up structured ways to raise issues safely (e.g. anonymous surveys, weekly feedback prompts etc.)Build the insights into how you run a project
Every project the team works on together is a chance to reinforce what you’ve learned - and potentially to rethink how to structure your project team. Have a think about how you could:Assign roles based on strengths revealed during the team day. (This might be a great opportunity for you let the strategic thinker lead planning on the project, or asking the detail-oriented teammate to run QA or process tracking).
Check in with team preferences for communication and meetings. There are so many small tweaks you can make to a project based on what you learn about your team. Ask them about their meeting preference type (perhaps it’s for x3 quick sync ups per week vs. a written update, creating an open “drop in” session each week where people can join an open chat if they want, or maybe the team prefers quick voice memos/ video updates at the end of the week).
Bring “personality” into your day-to-day language
For personality impacts to stick, being conscious of the language you use is just as important as the changes in your actions. Think about how your words can demonstrate awareness of your own, and your team’s personality:Integrate key insights into team rituals by asking questions like “How’s your energy this week?” or “What support do you need based on your style?”. This not only shows your acknowledgement of their different working styles, but also prompts team members to also consider it.
The team building day should also give individuals language and permission to reflect on their own behaviour. So start by doing this yourself with statements like, “I noticed I jumped in before others spoke—next time, I’ll pause.” Vocalising self-awareness and acknowledging adjustment will help other team members feel more seen and (ultimately) more valued.
Don’t be afraid to also use the formal terms from any personality testing - “Openness”, “Agreeableness” or “Emotionality” shouldn’t feel scary or daunting- the more you talk about it, the more comfortable people will become with them, given the right amount of context.
2. Create Visible Reminders
People remember what they see often—and team building insights are no different. If your team learns something powerful about how to work better together but never sees it again, it will quietly fade into the background. Visible reminders are your team’s way of keeping the conversation alive, relevant, and accessible.
Here are a few ideas to consider:
Consider “working style tip of the week” into your Slack or Teams channel.
Create an easy to fill out “personality poster” or “Ways of working” PDF that can be pinned to group chats to help team members to remember each other’s working styles- this might go through things like what type of environment they thrive in or don’t strive in.
Rename meeting rooms (physical or virtual!) so they’re inspired by personality types or team strengths (e.g. “Focus Room,” “Collab Zone”).
CreatedDesktop or Zoom backgrounds that display team agreements or individual working styles.
Think about how Slack names or emojis can help people quickly remember how someone prefers to work... icons like 🔍 for detail-oriented, 🚀 for visionary, 🧠 for strategist, 💬 for communicator, etc.
These small touches make a big psychological difference—when you see it, you live it… sometimes without even realising it!
3. Recognise & Celebrate Change
It’s pretty well known that “what gets acknowledged, gets repeated” - and it’s no different when it comes to personality insights. Consider ways to celebrate those who have started leveraging and implementing personality insights into action:
Calling it out in the moment
The most powerful kind of recognition is immediate and specific. It doesn’t have to be formal, but really just intentional- “I noticed you gave space for Emma to process before weighing in—that’s great follow-through from our team session.”Build it in to team rituals
If you have a Friday team meeting, perhaps consider asking a question like “Who saw a teammate embodying our team insights this week?” Or, even consider creating a Slack or Teams #shoutout channel, where everyone is encouraged to give props to individuals who are supporting members of the team. And don’t forget to make it fun - add in GIFS and playful language to make recognition easy.Recognise progress, not just perfection
Learning to work differently takes time, and so effort and experimentation should also be just as equally celebrated. Highlight when you’ve noticed those attempts with things like “Hey, I saw you asked for clarification before jumping in—huge win for someone who normally dives straight into action.”Remember, recognition is how learning becomes culture!
4. Schedule intentional follow-ups
The best team building days create energy, connection, and clarity—but without follow-up, that momentum fades. Circling back ensures the insights are still relevant, the behaviours are starting to shift and the team has space to reflect, recalibrate, and recommit.
Here are some ideas to take into these sessions:
Send a feedback survey to get a quick pulse check on whether team members have seen improvements in their ways of working post-session. This can be anonymous, and send out regularly to have continuous metrics on team ways of working improvement scores.
Try to book the follow up during or immediately after your original team day to show the team how invested you are in understanding who you're becoming as a team. This could be a 30–60-minute session that helps to revisit the key learnings from the initial team personality session and address any gaps. Let team members reflect on how they’ve adapted their approach and give people a chance to write down and then share specific real-life examples!
Check-in with individuals informally. It doesn't take much to have a 5-minute conversation with a team member to ask whether they feel supported and what the team might be able to do to help them, based on what they know about themselves and the conditions that make them thrive.
Behaviour only changes when it becomes intentional, easy to use, visible, and rewarded.
Make the learning part of how the team talks, works, and supports each other every day, and not just a one-time “event.”