Mind Tools Newsletter 161: A Good Decision - Every Time!

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You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. Contents Decision Making Manager Dependency Getting Noticed Managing Upwards Organizing People Delivering Happiness How Well Do You Delegate? Building Rapport Talent Management Managing Part-Time Staff A Final Note At Mind Tools... About Mind Tools Membership Corporate Services Tool Explorer Contact Us Mind Tools Newsletter 161 - August 31, 2010 A Good Decision - Every Time! Many of us make important decisions every day. But how good is your decision making? Do you make the best decision every time? Have you even thought about how you make decisions? We've got a multitude of decision making tools and resources in the Career Excellence Club, and in this week's newsletter, we're looking at one of simplest and most powerful decision making techniques - Grid Analysis. Find out how to use it to weigh up several different factors quickly, so that you can make the best decision. This newsletter also looks at making sure you get noticed in your organization, and shows you how you can train your team to be more independent in our article on preventing manager dependency. Enjoy the articles! James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career! Featured Resources at Mind Tools Grid Analysis Making a Good Decision Quickly and Effectively All Readers Learn how to make good decisions by weighing up the relative importance of different factors. All Readers' Skill-Builder Preventing Manager Dependency Teaching Your Team to Be More Independent All Readers Does your team depend on you too much? Learn how to train team members to rely less on you to get things done - and more on themselves. All Readers' Skill-Builder Getting Noticed Staying "Visible" at Work All Readers Is your hard work overlooked by your boss or colleagues? Find out how to get noticed and stay in their thoughts, so you can keep moving toward your goals. All Readers' Skill-Builder How Well Do You Delegate? Discover Ways to Achieve More All Readers Assigning work to others is an important part of getting things done efficiently. Take our test, and find out how to improve your delegation skills. All Readers' Featured Favorite   ... And from the Career Excellence Club Managing Upwards Club Members Learn how to develop the skills you need to work effectively with your boss, and other important people in your organization. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ Organizing Disorganized People Motivating Your Team to Change Club Members Do you work with people who are disorganized? If so, discover some effective strategies to help them organize themselves - so that your life can be easier. All Members' Skill-Builder Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh Club Members This book, by Zappos CEO Tony Hseih, looks at how promoting happiness within your organization can produce passion and engagement - from employees, and from customers. Find out more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight Building Rapport in Coaching Developing Mutual Understanding and Trust Club Members Building trust and rapport is vital for developing effective relationships. Find out how you can build and maintain rapport with the people you're coaching. All Members' Coaching Clinic One Page Talent Management: Eliminating Complexity, Adding Value, by Marc Effron and Miriam Ort Club Members This book looks at how to create a talent management plan that's simple and easy to use. Learn more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight Managing Part-Time Staff Strategies for Your Flexible Workforce Club Members Find out how to deal with the challenges of managing a team that includes part-time staff. All Members' Skill-Builder Editors' Choice Article Grid Analysis Making a Decision by Weighing Up Different Factors Also known as Decision Matrix Analysis, Pugh Matrix Analysis, and Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) Imagine that your boss has put you in charge of taking on a new outsourced IT supplier. You've already identified several different suppliers, and you now need to decide which one to use. You could decide to go with the low-cost option. But you don't want to make your decision on cost alone - factors such as contract length, underlying technology, and service levels need to be taken into consideration. So how can you make sure you make the best decision, while taking all of these different factors into account? Use Grid Analysis to make better decisions. ©iStockphoto/cogal Grid Analysis is a useful technique to use for making a decision. It's particularly powerful where you have a number of good alternatives to choose from, and many different factors to take into account. This makes it a great technique to use in almost any important decision where there isn't a clear and obvious preferred option. Being able to use Grid Analysis means that you can take decisions confidently and rationally, at a time when other people might be struggling to make a decision. How to Use the Tool Grid Analysis works by getting you to list your options as rows on a table, and the factors you need consider as columns. You then score each option/factor combination, weight this score by the relative importance of the factor, and add these scores up to give an overall score for each option. While this sounds complex, this technique is actually quite easy to use. Here's a step-by-step guide with an example. Start by downloading our free worksheet. Then work through these steps: List all of your options as the row labels on the table, and list the factors that you need to consider as the column headings. For example, if you were buying a new laptop computer, factors to consider might be cost, dimensions, and hard disk size. Next, work your way down the columns of your table, scoring each option for each of the factors in your decision. Score each option from 0 (poor) to 5 (very good). Note that you do not have to have a different score for each option - if none of them are good for a particular factor in your decision, then all options should score 0. The next step is to work out the relative importance of the factors in your decision. Show these as numbers from, say, 0 to 5, where 0 means that the factor is absolutely unimportant in the final decision, and 5 means that it is very important. (It's perfectly acceptable to have factors with the same importance.) Tip: These values may be obvious. If they are not, then use a technique such as Paired Comparison Analysis to estimate them. Now multiply each of your scores from step 2 by the values for relative importance of the factor that you calculated in step 3. This will give you weighted scores for each option/factor combination. Finally, add up these weighted scores for each of your options. The option that scores the highest wins! Example: A windsurfing enthusiast is about to replace his car. He needs one that not only carries a board and sails, but also one that will be good for business travel. He has always loved open-topped sports cars, but no car he can find is good for all three things. His options are: An SUV/4x4, hard topped vehicle. A comfortable "'family car." A station wagon/estate car. A convertible sports car. Factors that he wants to consider are: Cost. Ability to carry a sail board safely. Ability to store sails and equipment securely. Comfort over long distances. Fun! Look, and build quality. Firstly he draws up the table shown in Figure 1, and scores each option by how well it satisfies each factor: Figure 1: Example Grid Analysis Showing Unweighted Assessment of How Each Type of Car Satisfies Each Factor Factors: Cost Board Storage Comfort Fun Look Total Weights:               Sports Car 1  0  0  1  3  3   SUV/4x4 0  3  2  2  1  1   Family Car 2  2  1  3  0  0   Station Wagon 2  3  3  3  0  1   Next he decides the relative weights for each of the factors. He multiplies these by the scores already entered, and totals them. This is shown in Figure 2: Figure 2: Example Grid Analysis Showing Weighted Assessment of How Each Type of Car Satisfies Each Factor Factors: Cost Board Storage Comfort Fun Look Total Weights:  4  5  1  2  3  4   Sports Car 4  0  0  2  9  12  27 SUV/4x4 0  15  2  4  3  4  28 Family Car  8  10  1  6  0  0  25 Station Wagon  8  15  3  6  0  4  36 This gives an interesting result: Despite its lack of fun, a station wagon is the best choice. Windsurfing really matters to him! Key Points Grid Analysis helps you to decide between several options, where you need to take many different factors into account. To use the tool, lay out your options as rows on a table. Set up the columns to show the factors you need to consider. Score each choice for each factor using numbers from 0 (poor) to 5 (very good), and then allocate weights to show the importance of each of these factors. Multiply each score by the weight of the factor, to show its contribution to the overall selection. Finally add up the total scores for each option. The highest scoring option will be the best option. Note: Grid Analysis is the simplest form of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), also known as Multiple Criteria Decision Aid or Multiple Criteria Decision Management (MCDM). Sophisticated MCDA can involve highly complex modelling of different potential scenarios, using advanced mathematics. A lot of business decision making, however, is based on approximate or subjective data. Where this is the case, Grid Analysis may be all that's needed. A Final Note from James Grid Analysis isn't the only method of making a decision where multiple factors need to be taken into account, but it's quick and simple, and it's very effective. Give it a try the next time you have a difficult decision to make - I'm sure that you'll be pleased if you do! Next time, we're looking at how to be more productive when working from home. We're also tackling fear of failure, and looking at how overcoming it can help you be more successful. And don't forget - you can also keep up-to-date with the latest from Mind Tools on Facebook and Twitter. Best wishes James Manktelow email us Mind Tools Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! Privacy Policy: Mind Tools will treat your email address with complete respect and will not circulate it to any third party. If you are not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you would like to be one, you can sign up at http://www.mindtools.com/subscribe.htm If you have enjoyed this issue, please do email it on to your friends and co-workers. To find out about new tools on the Mind Tools site the moment they're uploaded, click here to subscribe to the Mind Tools RSS feed (you'll need an RSS newsreader installed). We welcome appropriate reprinting and reuse of Mind Tools material, but , you must get our permission first! To do this, please visit our Permissions Center. © Mind Tools Ltd, 2010. This newsletter is published by Mind Tools Ltd of 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, UK. You have received this email because you have confirmed that you want to receive it using our confirmed opt-in process. To unsubscribe, please use the link at the bottom of this email. Mind Tools Ltd (Company Number 04829074, VAT Number: GB 840 1273 62) and Mind Tools (North America) Ltd (Company Number 05610859) are companies registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom.

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Mind Tools Newsletter 160: From Expert to Manager - Successfully!

You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. Contents Tech Expert to Manager How to be Patient Managing Suppliers Project Management Strategy Execution Keep It Simple Strategic Speed Managing in the UK Performance Coaching A Final Note At Mind Tools... About Mind Tools Membership Corporate Services Tool Explorer Contact Us Mind Tools Newsletter 160 - August 17, 2010 From Expert to Manager - Successfully! For many ambitious technical people, there's only so far they can go by working as an individual or as a member of a team. To progress their careers, they need to get work done through other people - that is, they need to become managers. When this happens to you, it's all too easy to get caught unawares: as a top individual performer in your organization, you obviously possess the right technical expertise to be successful. But managing and leading your team is a brand new challenge, which requires a completely different set of skills. The good news is that we can all learn leadership and management skills. And we show you how in this week's article on making the transition from Technical Expert to Manager. (You can learn even more about leadership and team management within our Career Excellence Club, as you'll see below.) Our other free article looks at How to be Patient. In it, find out how to put a stop to impatience and build better relationships - at work, and at home. Enjoy these articles! James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career! Featured Resources at Mind Tools From Technical Expert to Manager Developing Leadership and Management Skills All Readers There can be many unexpected challenges when you first move into a management position. Find out about the skills you'll need to succeed as a manager, and a leader. All Readers' Skill-Builder How to be Patient Learning to Stay Calm All Readers Impatience damages relationships. Learn how to become more patient at work and at home. All Readers' Skill-Builder   ... And from the Career Excellence Club Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Managing Suppliers Effectively Club Members Find out how to categorize your internal and external suppliers, so that you can get the best from your relationship with them. All Members' Skill-Builder What is Project Management? Club Members Managing projects effectively requires a great deal of time, skill, and finesse. Learn what project management is, and discover the skills you need to manage projects successfully. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ Strategy Execution Heroes: Business Strategy Implementation and Strategic Management Demystified, by Jeroen De Flander Club Members This book is full of ideas on successfully executing your strategies. Find out more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight Keep It Simple Avoiding Confusion and Complexity Club Members Simple is memorable and understandable. Discover why "less is more," and how you can make complex information easier to understand. All Members' Featured Favorite Strategic Speed: With Jocelyn Davis Club Members Learn how the right kind of speed can help your business do better, faster. Jocelyn Davis outlines the components of what she calls "strategic speed," including how to motivate people to speed up success. Premium Members' Expert Interview Managing in the UK Working in a Different Culture Club Members Working in the United Kingdom can be quite different from other countries. Find out what to do, and what not to do, with your new team. Premium Members' Skill-Builder High-Performance Coaching Achieving Full Potential Club Members Learn what high-performance coaching is, and find out how you can use it to help people to be at their best. All Members' Coaching Clinic Editors' Choice Article From Technical Expert to Manager Learning Management Skills So, you finally earned the promotion you dreamed about. Because of your technical expertise and your ability to reach performance goals consistently, your organization made you a manager. You're thrilled with the idea of advancing your career ... until reality hits you. After a few weeks, you start to realize that you're spending very little time doing what you used to do best - that is, using your technical skills. Instead, you're spending a lot of your time dealing with "people problems," navigating office politics, and coordinating projects and team members. Excel as a leader and manager in your new role. ©iStockphoto/Yuri_Accurs You knew things would be different, but it's exhausting compared with your previous role. Have you made a mistake in accepting the promotion? What can you do to improve your new situation? Any management promotion can be a challenge, but it's especially hard on people with strong technical skills, but who have little or no management experience. In this article, we'll explore how to make the transition, and what you can do to excel in your new role. We'll also include links to several other resources that can help you strengthen the skills you need for success. Management Challenges Technical experts are often promoted because they have recognized knowledge and skills in their field. Whether it's IT, finance, sales, or marketing, they know their jobs very well. After all, that's what got them noticed! The problem is that organizations often promote people based on these technical skills, not on their management skills. And many organizations offer very little support to new managers. This is why it's up to you to teach yourself the skills you need! You first need to recognize that your technical knowledge may not help much in your new management role. Why? Because instead of just focusing on your own skills and successes, you now have to focus on the skills and successes of your team. Your mindset has to change. This is where many technical managers make their biggest mistakes. Instead of paying attention to the "people aspect" of their new role, they continue to do what they've always done: work on their own projects and technical skills. But if you ignore your team and their needs, you're going to alienate them quickly. Another challenge is that your identity in the organization changes. You may have been a superstar in your previous role, but now you're starting at the beginning again. It can be difficult for new managers to cope with this "identity demotion." To fight this, focus on gaining some early wins - small victories that you can achieve quickly - in your new position. This will give you, and your new team, a great sense of accomplishment, as well as the motivation to keep moving forward. To help you identify opportunities for early wins, see our article on Pareto Analysis. Skills You Need The good news is that you can succeed - and succeed spectacularly - in your management role. To do so, however, you must learn a new set of skills, including: Delegation - As a manager, you must know how to delegate tasks to your team effectively. This will keep you from spending time doing things that should no longer be your responsibility. Briefing - You need to keep your team up to date on their progress, what you expect from them, and what will happen in the future. Motivation - Your team is now your responsibility. This means that you must keep them motivated and moving forward. Our article Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors will teach you how to discover what truly motivates your people. Communication - In your previous role, good communication might have been helpful, but not vital. But now, as a manager, the ability to communicate well is essential to your success. Discipline - At some point, you'll probably have to discipline someone on your team. Whether a team member is breaking rules, under-performing, or upsetting others, it's up to you to restore peace. Knowing how to discipline effectively (members only) and diplomatically is key to keeping your team's trust and respect. Recruitment - If your team is changing or expanding, then you'll have to hire new people, but finding the right people can be difficult. Our Recruiting Skills Bite-Sized Training session will help you get better results with your recruitment efforts (members only). Tips for Making the Transition to Manager Do a personal SWOT analysis - Make a list of what you must improve to be a better manager for your team. Many managers let others assess their skills, and then wait until their performance review to discover what skills they lack. Don't make this mistake – spend time now identifying your weaknesses, so that you can start improving on them immediately. Stay away from technical work - Resist the temptation to get involved with technical projects that aren't your responsibility. Yes, you probably enjoy this type of work and want to feel successful doing something you know well, but this is now your team's responsibility. Spending too much time doing technical work will only hold you back as a manager. Sure, it's good to pitch in when you can, but make sure that you do the managing part of your role first. Find a mentor (members only) - Look for someone in your organization who has made a transition similar to yours. A mentor can offer you some great advice on succeeding in your new role, and help you avoid some of the mistakes that he or she has made. Meet with every team member - Make it a priority to meet with everyone on your team personally. Find out what interests and motivates them, and check that they have everything they need to be happy and successful in their role. This shows that you're taking an interest in them, and it helps you get to know the people you're managing. Find out what your team expects from you - These expectations are often unspoken. Our article on The Psychological Contract (members only) will help you learn how to discover these hidden expectations. Learn one skill at a time - Acquiring a whole new set of skills for your new management position can be overwhelming. Don't try to learn everything at once. Focus on one skill at a time, so that you can learn each skill well. Tip: You can learn more valuable tips for making the transition from technical expert to manager with our Book Insight on "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" by Marshall Goldsmith (premium members only). Key Points Making the transition from technical expert to manager can be challenging, especially if you have little or no management experience. Look at the key skills you need to be an effective manager, and focus on learning one new skill at a time. Do a personal SWOT analysis, and try to find a mentor who has experienced the same transition. Also, don't do tasks associated with your previous role - your job now is to manage your team. A Final Note from James Whether you've already made the change from technical expert to manager, or you're just thinking about career direction, consider using the ideas and tools in this article. Then you'll be best prepared for those inevitable leadership and management challenges, whenever they occur. I hope you've found this newsletter useful. Next time, we're showing you how to use Belbin's Team Roles to create a more balanced team. We're also highlighting how you can stay noticed within your organization. Best wishes James Manktelow email us Mind Tools Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! Privacy Policy: Mind Tools will treat your email address with complete respect and will not circulate it to any third party. If you are not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you would like to be one, you can sign up at http://www.mindtools.com/subscribe.htm If you have enjoyed this issue, please do email it on to your friends and co-workers. To find out about new tools on the Mind Tools site the moment they're uploaded, click here to subscribe to the Mind Tools RSS feed (you'll need an RSS newsreader installed). We welcome appropriate reprinting and reuse of Mind Tools material, but , you must get our permission first! To do this, please visit our Permissions Center. © Mind Tools Ltd, 2010. This newsletter is published by Mind Tools Ltd of 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, UK. You have received this email because you have confirmed that you want to receive it using our confirmed opt-in process. To unsubscribe, please use the link at the bottom of this email. Mind Tools Ltd (Company Number 04829074, VAT Number: GB 840 1273 62) and Mind Tools (North America) Ltd (Company Number 05610859) are companies registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom.

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Mind Tools Newsletter 159: Making Hiring Easier!

You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. Contents Psychometric Testing Persuasion Tools The Iron Triangle Stress and Meditation What is Coaching? Better Processes What We Hate About IT Fascinate A Final Note At Mind Tools... About Mind Tools Membership Corporate Services Tool Explorer Contact Us Mind Tools Newsletter 159 - August 3, 2010 Making Hiring Easier! Imagine that your boss has put you in charge of recruiting graduates for trainee management positions. As opportunities like these are increasingly rare, you receive hundreds of applications for only a handful of jobs. On paper, it looks as though many of the candidates have exactly what it takes to succeed with your organization. But there's no way you can possibly interview all of them! So how you can you narrow down your choices, quickly and efficiently, and still end up shortlisting the best people? One way is by using psychometric testing, and that's what we're looking at in this week's free article and in depth in the Career Excellence Club. Recruitment, Training and Career Development Find out how you can use psychometric tests as a recruitment tool to measure "hidden attributes" such as personality, attitude, and beliefs objectively. We also show you how you can use the tests in team building and training, and in your own career development. This newsletter also takes a look at the Persuasion Tools Model. This model looks at your intuition and influencing ability, and matches these up with the approach that's likely to work best for you in negotiations. Enjoy the articles! James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career! Featured Resources at Mind Tools Psychometric Testing Measuring "Hidden" Traits All Readers When you're hiring, it can be difficult to assess traits such as personality, attitude, and values in an objective way. We look at how psychometric testing can help you measure these "hidden" attributes. All Readers' Skill-Builder Persuasion Tools Model Finding the Right Negotiation Style All Readers Are you an effective negotiator? This model can help you improve your negotiation skills, by highlighting approaches that may be useful. All Readers' Skill-Builder   ... And from the Career Excellence Club The Iron Triangle of Project Management Balancing Your Budget, Scope, and Schedule Club Members In project management, the three constraints of budget, scope and schedule are closely linked. Find out how to deliver your projects successfully within this "iron triangle." All Members' Skill-Builder Meditation for Stress Management Simple Meditation Techniques Club Members Meditation can be an effective way of dealing with stress. Learn some meditation techniques that you can use in the workplace. All Members' Skill-Builder What Is Coaching? Understanding Workplace Coaching Club Members Coaching is great for developing people's skills and abilities. Find out what it is, and how you can use it to boost performance. All Members' Coaching Clinic Better Processes Club Members We all want to do more, with less. Discover how to improve the business processes that you and your colleagues use at work. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ Eight Things We Hate About IT: with Susan Cramm Club Members Why do business leaders and IT leaders seem to live in different worlds? Susan Cramm shares her views on why that disconnect is so common in organizations, and tells us what people can do about it. Premium Members' Expert Interview Fascinate - Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead Club Members This book is a comprehensive guide to becoming more captivating and more persuasive. Find out more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight Editors' Choice Article Psychometric Testing Measuring "Hidden" Traits Measuring attributes like height, weight, and strength is reasonably simple. These are all physical and observable traits that you can assess objectively. But what about factors that aren't so easy to measure? Traits such as personality, intelligence, attitude, and beliefs are important characteristics to measure and assess. Whether you're hiring people, helping team members understand themselves and their relationships with others, or trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, it's useful to assess these types of "hidden" attributes. Psychometric testing can assess "hidden" traits objectively. ©iStockphoto/olm26250 One way to gather this information is through psychometric testing. This article looks at what psychometric tests are, what they measure, and how they can help you in both recruiting staff and developing your own career. What Are Psychometric Tests? Psychometric tests include personality profiles, reasoning tests, motivation questionnaires, and ability assessments. These tests try to provide objective data for otherwise subjective measurements. For example, if you want to determine someone's attitude, you can ask the person directly, observe the person in action, or even gather observations about the person from other people. However, all of these methods take time, and can be affected by personal bias and perspective. By using a psychometric test, you make best use of interviewers' time, as well as making a more objective and impartial judgment. Since objectivity is key to using these assessments, a good psychometric test provides fair and accurate results each time it's given. To ensure this, the test must meet these three key criteria: Standardization – The test must be based on results from a sample population that's truly representative of the people who'll be taking the test. You can't realistically test every working person in a country. But you can test a representative sample of that group, and then apply the results to the specific people whom you test. Also, a standardized test is administered the same way every time to help reduce any test bias. By using a standardized test, you can compare the results with anyone whose characteristics are similar to those of the sample group. Reliability – The test must produce consistent results, and not be significantly influenced by outside factors. For instance, if you're feeling stressed when you take the test, the test results shouldn't be overly different from times when you were excited or relaxed. Validity – This is perhaps the most important quality of a test. A valid test has to measure what it's intended to measure. If a test is supposed to measure a person's interests, then it must clearly demonstrate that it does actually measure interests, and not something else that's just related to interests. Note: Psychometrics is the study of educational and psychological measurements. The adjective "psychometric" is used to describe psychological tests (typically those used in educational and occupational settings) that are standardized as well as proven to be reliable and valid measures of areas such as personality, ability, aptitude, and interest. Beyond these criteria, effective psychometric tests must be relevant to the modern workplace. Before using one of these tests, make sure the test has been validated and updated recently. What Do Psychometric Tests Measure? Psychometric tests can measure interests, personality, and aptitude. Interest tests measure how people differ in their motivation, values, and opinions in relation to their interests. Personality tests measure how people differ in their style or manner of doing things, and in the way they interact with their environment and other people. Aptitude tests measure how people differ in their ability to perform or carry out different tasks. Advantages of Psychometric Tests Psychometric tests can help to make personnel and career-related assessments more objective. These tests also save a great deal of time. They're typically very easy to administer, and they can be given to a group of people easily. (Some other types of assessments must be given individually.) Psychometric tests are also easily scored, so results come back quickly and reliably. Many of these tests are completed using software programs, and some can even be completed online. This, again, provides a time advantage, and it can reduce costs significantly compared to other methods. People can take the tests from anywhere, and the results are accurately scored each time. Using Psychometric Tests Psychometric tests can be used for a variety of purposes. Some of the most common uses are as follows: Selection of personnel - Here, tests can help recruiters and hiring managers determine candidates who best fit a position. Personality, aptitude, and knowledge tests are all very common in this type of testing situation. For a detailed discussion of these types of tests and how to use them for hiring, see our article on Using Recruitment Tests (members only). Individual development and training - Psychometric tests can help you determine how best to improve current skills and performance. For example, if your department is going to introduce a new type of technology, it might be helpful to assess people on their interests and motivations related to new technology. The Business Attitude Inventory and the California Measure of Mental Motivation are psychometric tests available for training and development purposes. You could also use aptitude and skills tests to determine a person's ability to perform certain tasks. Team building and development - This area can provide many uses for psychometric tests. The better people understand themselves and others, the better they can build and maintain positive workplace relationships. Tests like FIRO-B, DiSC, and the Hogan Development Survey are designed specifically to uncover potential sources of relationship tension (members' articles). General personality assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Typology Indicator (MBTI) and the California Personality Inventory (CPI), are also very helpful for team building and strengthening (members' articles). The Values in Action test can help you gain insights into group behaviors and dynamics that relate to people's values. Career development and progression - Psychometric tests can help you uncover values and interests that are fundamental to overall career satisfaction. For those starting out in their careers and those who are looking for the right career path, interest surveys like the Holland Code Assessment and Schein's Career Anchors Questionnaire (members) are also useful psychometric tests to consider. Note: There are costs involved in purchasing tests as well as in hiring or training someone to administer and evaluate them. It's important to consider these costs against the advantages that the tests may bring. Key Points Assessing and appraising people is a highly complex and subjective process, and psychometric tests are a good way of objectively assessing people's "hidden" traits. From recruitment to long-term career development, these tests provide a great deal of reliable information to make important personnel decisions. If you use the tests, ensure that they are appropriate for you needs, and that they've been rigorously evaluated. A Final Note from James Next time your team is hiring, consider using psychometric testing. You'll be more likely to recruit the right people, and you'll save time and energy too. And remember, we've got many more recruitment, training, and career resources in the Career Excellence Club. Keep an eye out for our next newsletter in two weeks' time. We'll be looking at the challenges behind making the move from technical expert to manager, and highlighting ways to be more patient in the workplace. Best wishes, and have a great two weeks! James Manktelow email us Mind Tools Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! Privacy Policy: Mind Tools will treat your email address with complete respect and will not circulate it to any third party. If you are not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you would like to be one, you can sign up at http://www.mindtools.com/subscribe.htm If you have enjoyed this issue, please do email it on to your friends and co-workers. To find out about new tools on the Mind Tools site the moment they're uploaded, click here to subscribe to the Mind Tools RSS feed (you'll need an RSS newsreader installed). We welcome appropriate reprinting and reuse of Mind Tools material, but , you must get our permission first! To do this, please visit our Permissions Center. © Mind Tools Ltd, 2010. This newsletter is published by Mind Tools Ltd of 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, UK. You have received this email because you have confirmed that you want to receive it using our confirmed opt-in process. To unsubscribe, please use the link at the bottom of this email. Mind Tools Ltd (Company Number 04829074, VAT Number: GB 840 1273 62) and Mind Tools (North America) Ltd (Company Number 05610859) are companies registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom.

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