How to get more done based on your productivity style

Over the past thirty years, science has uncovered a number of basic truths about how our brains function that are essential to enhancing your productivity.

One size does not fit all when it comes to productivity. I have developed a measurement tool called the Productivity Style Assessment inspired by the HBDI, the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, developed in 1979 to examine how the brain perceives and processes information.

The Productivity Style Assessment grew out of my original graduate research on cognitive thinking styles and how they inform an individual’s choice of workflow strategies to manage time, projects, and tasks.

In that research, I confirmed that there are discernible differences in individuals’ cognitive styles and that when you know your own thinking preferences, you can choose and use more effective and sustainable strategies for managing your time, your projects, and your tasks.

I’ve tested the Productivity Style Assessment with thousands of professionals from many areas of the business world, from CPAs and financial analysts to human resources managers, salespeople, consultants, and physicians.

They have confirmed its value and usefulness as a self assessment and coaching tool, due to both their intuitive sense of its accuracy in describing their own Productivity Style and the effectiveness of the working methods recommended to them based on the assessment’s findings.

This twenty-eight-item quiz, the Productivity Style Assessment, is a key part of the courses and seminars I lead at corporations. Take the quiz here.

Most people have a persistent pattern of behavior that shapes the quality of their teamwork—it’s very valuable to recognize yours.

Examine the following chart, and think about the information presented in light of your own experiences with teamwork.

Understanding the varying strengths that different Productivity Styles bring to a team can go a long way in helping you identify the teams to which you have the most to offer. And if you are in the position of recruiting or organizing a team, recognizing the variety of strengths that are needed to build a successful team can help you find the right assortment of team members to complement and support one another effectively.

Read more: http://uk.businessinsider.com/productivity-style-quiz-2015-2?r=US#ixzz3SHU5RYsW

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author:Carson Tate is the founder of Working Simply and an expert on workplace productivity.

Image: A meeting room, table and paper board. REUTERS.