Using the MBTI Assessment for You and Your Team’s Benefit

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can be a powerful tool—not for boxing people into types, but for increasing self-awareness, improving communication, and building a more effective, cohesive team. Here’s how you can make the most of it.

1. Understanding Yourself

MBTI offers insight into how you naturally prefer to operate. It looks at how you:
• Make decisions (Thinking vs Feeling)
• Gather information (Sensing vs Intuition)
• Recharge your energy (Introversion vs Extraversion)
• Structure your world (Judging vs Perceiving)

This understanding helps you recognise your strengths, anticipate stress triggers, and become more conscious of how you behave under pressure—especially in situations where your emotional response (thanks to the amygdala) might override logical thinking. The more you understand your defaults, the more you can consciously choose how to respond rather than react.


2. Understanding Others

Everyone operates with their own preferences, which often explains differences in how people approach work, relationships, and stress. MBTI allows you to:
• Understand and value different perspectives and communication styles
• Avoid unnecessary conflict by recognising that differences aren’t personal
• Build trust by adapting how you relate to others based on their preferences

For example, someone who prefers structure (Judging) may get frustrated with last-minute changes, while someone who prefers flexibility (Perceiving) may find strict plans limiting. MBTI opens the door to conversations that allow everyone to meet in the middle.


3. Team Application

Team Profiles
By mapping out your team’s MBTI types, you can identify common strengths and potential gaps. If everyone prefers big-picture thinking, who’s keeping an eye on the details? If everyone’s a Thinker, who’s considering the human impact of decisions?

Communication
Introverts may prefer time to reflect before speaking; extraverts may process ideas by talking. Understanding these preferences can dramatically reduce miscommunication and frustration.

Problem Solving
A balanced team draws on the strengths of each type. Use Sensors for precision and practicality, Intuitives for future-oriented thinking, Thinkers for logical clarity, and Feelers for empathetic awareness.

Managing Stress and Conflict
Each personality type shows stress differently. MBTI can help identify when someone is overwhelmed or behaving outside their usual pattern. This complements Human Factors training by helping teams understand how to support one another when the emotional brain is dominating the rational one.


MBTI and Human Factors

MBTI gives a framework for understanding personality; Human Factors provides insight into how those personalities behave under pressure, especially when the amygdala overrides the prefrontal cortex. When used together, they:
• Improve communication
• Build trust and psychological safety
• Reduce friction and error
• Enhance team performance and resilience


Final Thought

MBTI works best as a starting point for conversation, not a label. It’s about understanding, adapting, and growing—both individually and as a team. When paired with Human Factors insights, it becomes a powerful tool for creating safer, smarter, and more collaborative environments.