Understanding motivation for more effective behavior and teamwork

The FIRO-B personality assessment

It’s wartime and you work on a Navy submarine. Its cramped conditions are tough and stress levels are through the roof. You’re working with a team that, like most teams, is full of different personalities, values and work styles. Getting along can mean the difference between success and failure — and in this case, life and death.

So how do you improve your submarine team to work together most effectively in this harsh environment?

The U.S. Navy faced this very question in the 1950s and brought in psychologist Dr. William Schutz to solve it. Out of his research the FIRO-B assessment was born, which shines a light on what motivates you in your interactions with other people and what motivates them. Using the FIRO-B tool, the Navy increased the effectiveness of its combat teams on submarines by 50% (see the video on the Navy’s use of the FIRO B).

Three areas of interpersonal need

So how does this psychological model work? In any interaction with others, we have three interpersonal needs:

• Inclusion
• Control
• Affection

These needs are described as either ‘expressed’ or ‘wanted’. An individual with expressed needs for Inclusion, for instance, feels a need to include others in activities. This is the person that makes sure everyone is invited to the lunch event or planning meeting. On the other hand, someone with a wanted need for Inclusion wants to be invited to such activities.

The FIRO-B tool helps individuals and teams understand what their interpersonal needs are and those of the people they work with. With awareness of yourself and others comes behavioral change that will oil the wheels of teamwork and lead to better outcomes.

What does it look like when two members have high expressed Control?

For example, two people are working on a project together and both have high needs for expressed control and low needs for wanted control. This means both people want to be in control, but neither wants someone else to provide that structure.

In this situation, a likely scenario is that one person will end up controlling the project much more than the other person wants. The person in control, who’s getting their interpersonal needs met, will likely get the impression that the co-worker isn’t being a good team player. Meanwhile, the person not in control who isn’t getting their needs met will think the other one is micromanaging them.

What does it look like when two members have low expressed and wanted Control?

What about if a group has low expressed and low wanted Control? Their FIRO-B assessment results will show us that none of them need to be in charge to get their interpersonal needs met. At the same time no one on the team wants others providing structure or telling them what to do.

The group overall appears independent, and maybe even rebellious at times. They all prefer to do things their own way, at their own pace. The challenge for this group is coordinating their efforts, or enabling someone to step into a leadership role when appropriate.

A common language for working together

When people don’t understand the interpersonal needs underlying these motivations, they tend to jump to conclusions. He’s a micromanager. She’s not a team player. This team is being rebellious or that team’s not working well together.

However, if you give people a common language to interpret behavior, like the one provided by the FIRO-B, it helps everyone work together more effectively because understanding motivations guides people into choosing more effective behavior. This approach has numerous applications, ranging from team-building and conflict management, to leadership development, performance improvements and more.

In a recent survey, over 90% of FIRO-B customers said that teamwork improved within their organization, while 94% claimed to improve teamwork by 25% or more, and 89% of companies would recommend using the FIRO-B instrument.

Learn more about the FIRO-B assessment here.