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Components ChartThe Birkman Components offer insight into a person’s behavior and motivations. Individually, the Components are very descriptive of individual’s Usual and Stress behavior, as well as their Needs. However, people do not exhibit just one behavior at a time. The eleven Components combined make up the total person. Therefore, when learning about an individual, it is important to look at Component combinations, not just isolated Components. Birkman has created a group format called the Components Chart. This format allows you to plot a group/team on various Component Combinations. In addition to being able to see where the individuals in a group are plotted, there are also descriptors for each quadrant (i.e. High/High, Low/High, High/Low, and Low/Low). You can access this format by going to the Group or Single Format section of BirkmanDirect®. This format features six critical Component Combinations: 1. Esteem & Acceptance– People Relations High Usual scores on Authority relates to the willingness to verbally direct and/or debate; whereas low Usual scores on Authority can indicate an avoidance of open conflict. High Freedom Usual scores indicate a willingness to take initiative by showing personal independence. Low Freedom Usual scores show a desire to conform and cooperate with others. This is a critical combination to review when working with teams. |
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Issues Impacted by Authority (Verbal Dominance)
- Cooperation/Conflict management
- Use of authority
- Listening skills
- Openness to others’ ideas
- Emphasis of delegation
Issues Impacted by Freedom (Personal Independence)
- Conforming and cooperating with the team
- Willingness to take initiative
- Resistance in work/social situations
The combined effects of the Authority and Freedom Components are critical to a team and its ability to develop and implement new processes. It is important for the team to feel comfortable verbally challenging the old ways of doing things to stimulate discussions around creating new and improved methods. At the same time it is important for the team members to be willing to reach a common ground and show the cooperation necessary to coalesce into a team working together to implement the new processes. In this situation it is important to remember to utilize the positive aspects of the Usual scores while managing the negative aspects of the Stress behaviors.
Below is a graph showing the descriptors for the Conflict Management Component Combination. We have shown the Authority/Freedom Component Combinations for Usual, Need and Stress.
