[This article is part of a SERIES – Managing A Tech Team: How to Succeed When Everyone is Overextended ] 

Do you have an “outcome-focused” person on your team?  You know – the one who is direct, to the point, and a great negotiator?

This article is part of a series about managing teams and exploring different personality aspects and how they appear when overextended.  But what IS overextension? Overextension happens anytime there is stress, change, and pressure – both from external and internal factors.

The “Outcome Focused” quality is one of the 24 core qualities of behaviour identified by the Lumina Spark assessment. Psychometric assessments are one of the cornerstone pieces when teaching coaching as a leadership style to high tech teams.  These personality tests provide a unique portrait and describe various aspects of a personality so that leaders can help their teams improve working relationships and productivity.

So what does it mean if your assessment indicates you are ‘Outcome Focused’?

This term applies to people who are objective, rational and who enjoy working hard to outperform their colleagues. In the face of a challenge, those with this aspect take a logical and direct approach and then communicate in a very linear, to the point fashion. 

Outcome focused people are not afraid of voicing their opinions; they are not afraid of conflict and can be tough negotiators. Outcome focused people appreciate the well-considered ideas of others however they dislike conversations where there is waffle, indecision or talking for the sake of talking. 

The keywords to describe the qualities of this aspect are tough, competitive and logical.

When An Outcome Focused Team Member is Overextended

Like all of the human qualities, when a person is coming from their underlying or everyday persona, these personality traits show up as a positive influence on the team.

However, when the outcome-focused aspect is in overextension, the qualities will reveal their shadow sides.

When the outcome-focused person is overextended they become overly focused and driven by their projects. Their energy pushes people away as they forget to listen to others or consider their feelings.

They seem cold, rational, argumentative and overly competitive. They can be skeptical of other people and can be so focused on logical views that they undermine the confidence of others.

How Can A Leader Help The Outcome Focused Team Member?

As a leader, it’s important to keep your eyes and ears open to be able to spot these signs and then intervene.

Is your outcome-focused team member seemingly “not listening” to the rest of the team?  Or perhaps behaving like the proverbial “bull in a china shop” – only listening to rational viewpoints that mesh with their own, and dismissing all other opinions.

It’s important to set aside time to talk to this person and together figure out what is causing the overextension and what can be done to resolve it. In the state of overextension, the ability to deliver results and contribute to the success of organizational goals will naturally be extremely limited.

Your outcome-focused team member can benefit from both understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, and taking some time to realize how that affects the team as a whole.  

An outcome-focused person will ultimately want to work towards the best performance, and when you can help them to realize that their own behaviour might be negatively affecting their desired outcomes, it can help to shift them back towards their own positive attributes.

How Can Psychometric Assessments Help Tech Teams?

Raising your emotional intelligence by improving your self-awareness and your awareness of the people around you can be both fun and extremely effective in creating an organizational culture that drives performance.

As we have been discussing in this series, a Lumina Spark assessment can be taken virtually for both you and your team, and a debrief can be given online. I use these assessments as a cornerstone first piece when developing an organizational culture change strategy, with great success. 

Do you think you or one of your team members has the “Outcome Focused” aspect?  What tips do you have for working with this kind of team member? Let me know in the comments below.

Interested in Learning More?  This article is part of a series on managing personality aspects in a tech team when everyone is overextended.

SERIES – Managing A Tech Team – How To Succeed When Everyone Is Overextended

Is Your Team Overextended – How To Recognize The Signs
Managing A Tech Team – Your “Down To Earth” Team Member
Managing A Tech Team – Your “People Focused” Team Member
Managing A Tech Team – Your “Outcome Focused” Team Member