7 Ways to Use the Enneagram at Work

The Enneagram is a powerful tool to help individuals understand themselves and others better.

It can be used in the workplace to help foster better relationships between team members, create a better understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses, and improve communication and collaboration.

Here are just some ways to use the Enneagram at work:

1. Use the Enneagram to help team members understand each other better. By looking at the Enneagram, team members can gain a deeper understanding of the motivations and behaviors of their colleagues, which can help to create more successful collaborations and navigate conflict more productively. 
2. Utilize the Enneagram to give you the language for creating job descriptions and interview questions that are more descriptive of what you're looking for. This can help to ensure that job roles are filled with people who are well-suited to the role, team, and/or company culture.
3. Use the Enneagram to identify areas for improvement in the workplace. By looking at the strengths and areas of opportunities of each team member, it can be easier to identify where the team needs to work on and where each individual can add their own strengths. (In our Enneagram Experiences workshops at Enneagram MBA we use Team Maps to help see a clearer visual of this).
4. Use the Enneagram to improve communication between team members. By understanding the different communication styles of each team member, it can be easier to ensure that everyone is heard and respected in the workplace.
5. Use the Enneagram to create team building activities that are tailored to the various personalities of team members. This can help to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable time and that the activities are varied to meet different team members' preferences and needs. 
   
6. Use the Enneagram to give better feedback. By understanding more about each members' type and what they resonate most with, you can more clearly see their strengths to leverage and continue to help grow, while also identifying specific actions for their personality to overcome recurring challenges and obstacles. 
7. Use the Enneagram to improve your leadership skills. It will give you insight about your natural leadership style and how others on your team benefit from it as is and how you might need to tweak it to more effectively mentor and work with others on your team. 

To learn more about how to use and benefit from the Enneagram in your workplace, check out the Staff Development Day and Team Training experiences here. 

Sarah Wallace is the owner of Enneagram MBA, a team training company, host of the Enneagram MBA podcast, speaker, and workshop facilitator. Companies and organizations hire her to help them use the Enneagram to develop confident, effective, and emotionally intelligent leaders with powerful, productive, and happy teams.