Why We Love Crystal Knows For Understanding Personalities
There are thousands of personality tests available to learn about your own and your coworkers’ working styles: Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, DISC, etc. At Seer, we’re big on using data vs. trusting our gut, and getting to know our team members and clients is no different! That’s why our team was stoked to find Crystal Knows, an app that is different than any other personality test out there.
Keep reading to learn how just the free version has helped us get to know ourselves better, work with team members better, and understand our clients better.
Before We Begin - What Is Crystal Knows?
Crystal Knows uses AI to assess millions of data points to not only assign you a personality profile but also teach you how understanding your personality (as well as other peoples’) can improve your day-to-day life. Just take a short quiz-based personality test (~15 minutes) to create your personality profile.
Get To Know Your Own Working Style
I’ve never been more astonished (okay, maybe a little creeped out) by how accurate my results were. The tool first assigned me 3 descriptors and a title (which aligns with the DISC assessment). I am a “Supporter” characterized by the terms “thoughtful”, “patient” and “steady”. So far, so good. But it gets better…
The app then provides 4 answers based on your personality data to answer the following questions:
- What comes naturally to you
- What energizes you
- What drains you
- What to do when speaking to you
- What to do in a meeting with you (my results shown below)
Not only were all of the answers disturbingly on point, but they also helped me understand a lot about myself! While part of me wants to feel like this is giving away all of my secrets (muahaha), I’m glad the people I work with have access to it since it will set them up for success when meeting with me. I’ve since incorporated these as speaking points whenever meeting with a new coworker for the first time.
The last thing I’ll say about how Crystal Knows can be used to help you learn about your own working style is the scenario feature:
Want to be more productive? Want to communicate better? The app can provide customized advice for things to keep doing, start doing and stop doing:
Maybe
Again, scary accurate. There are more scenarios available with the paid version such as how to negotiate better, how to handle conflict and how to lead better.
Get To Know Your Coworker’s Working Style
Once you create your own personality profile, you can search for anyone’s personality profile as long as it’s set to public. Crystal Knows even groups individuals working at the same company together so you can easily find any coworker.
Just select a name and you have access to all of the same information you just learned about yourself! As an account manager at Seer, I work with multiple associates, all with different personality types and working styles. For instance, compare the following “what to do in a meeting” recommendations for my associate Dan, and my other associate, Jessica:
Dan and Jessica prefer completely opposite interactions in meetings. Armed with this information, I’m able to tailor our meetings to ensure both are getting what they need in order to feel comfortable and productive.
Note: Notice the “print” icon in the corner - you can print out each list and keep it somewhere handy, ready to whip out whenever an unexpected meeting is dropped on your calendar.
Lastly, if you really want to understand where your similarities and differences lie, the app will visually show you in their personality comparison chart:
Another reason I love this chart is because I can find people similar to me who I can go to with challenges knowing they can easily empathize with how I’m feeling. On the flip side, I can also find people different than me who I can go to when I need out-of-the-box ideas or solutions.
In my experience, it’s best to review the profiles of those you work closely with once a quarter because it’s easy to forget small details that make a huge difference.
Get To Know Your Client’s Working Style
While communicating well with internal team members is super important, communicating well with your clients is what pays the bills. Because of the search feature, you’re able to find anyone’s personality profile - even clients (as long as they have created one).
You can leverage all of the same tips from above to inform client calls. If you’re meeting a new point of contact for the first time, Crystal Knows has a handy Chrome extension that allows you to view their personality profile from LinkedIn.
Additional Helpful Features
Here are a few final thoughts on cool features Crystal Knows offers that you can experiment with:
- Learn your Enneagram, DISC and Myers-Briggs results directly in the app in case anyone you work with isn’t on Crystal Knows, but is familiar with one of these other personality tests
- Take a “Job Fit” test to help you understand how your current job aligns with what you need to feel fulfilled
- Visualize how your personality compares to others in your role at your company (i.e. not against another individual, but rather a group of coworkers with the same responsibilities as you)
Conclusion
You’d never present a presentation without looking over the slides first - so why would you walk into a meeting with a new person without stalking their Crystal Knows results?
If you use Crystal Knows in your workplace or have other tips to share, let us know in the comments below! Want to learn more about how to better communicate with clients? Check out our guide to answering difficult client questions.
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