WorkStyle Patterns® (WSP™) Inventories

By Mark Jefferson

The WSP™ Inventories determine WorkStyles. The WSP™ Individual Inventory identifies how a person prefers to work (WANT), and what he or she is actually doing (IS).

The degree of alignment or misalignment of WANT to do and IS doing creates what is called WSP™ WorkStyle Stress. Large misalignments create either personal stress (the performer wants to do more of that kind of effort) or organizational stress (the performer wants to do less of that kind of effort). These stresses are indicators of potential waste. When WSP™ WorkStyle Stress is small there are happier and higher performing employees — or in other words, you have a fit between the work and the workstyle of the individual performing that work.

These results provide a vital foundation for improving work performance, reducing stress, and more. The WSP™ Inventories can augment client organizations’ internal development, performance, and organizational effectiveness programs, but they are most effective when coupled with coaching from a certified WSPTM facilitator. The facilitator can help the individual and the organization better design the work and help the individual adjust when options for change are limited.

The companion WSP™ Position Expectation is the inventory where the employer establishes what the content of the work effort SHOULD be. That provides three views of work that can each be designed and adjusted for the available resources at hand. Additionally, it can be used to identify and specify what may be missing and should be sought. The coaching conversations using this framework allow for insight and appreciation that build relationships and commitments to improved performance, both individually and organizationally. Supplemental WSPTM processes for group feedback are the Team and 360 Feedback Inventories. These further the definition of organizational expectations about what is required (SHOULD) in the work.

WSP™ Alignment products, processes, and data are helping a wide range of organizations in a variety of industries and professions develop exceptional workplaces. Their goals are to achieve market prominence, reduce costs, keep superior employees, and improve output and quality. They demand superior results because their success depends upon it.

So, yes, organizations should have vision, mission and value statements, goals, work breakdown structures, and work descriptions. What WSPTM does in the hands of a skilled facilitator is take that Strategic Work Alignment further to the individual performer of required work.

Please contact Strategy1 to talk to a certified WSPTM facilitator for more information and/or to define possible next steps for your organization’s challenge at hand.

As you read through this article, what scenario or challenge facing your company came to mind?
Contact Mark Jepperson to discuss your situation.