Why Colour Energies are a Powerful Team Building Tool

Thought leadership
roll of colourful stickers
Insights Discovery is a tool we use at Broadsword to help us better understand our everyday behaviour and how we communicate in the workplace. It’s a powerful tool to engage employees, improve communication, and increase awareness of how our behaviour may be affecting those around us that are different to us. 

You will have most likely heard of being an introvert or an extrovert, and have an idea of which one you are. But, what if you could dive deeper? Being aware of things like our strengths, challenges, preferences, communication styles, and how others perceive us means we can evaluate ourselves objectively, make decisions easier, as well as communicate and react with intention. Without this self awareness, we tend to underestimate, doubt, and limit ourselves.

It’s also crucial to understanding your team and enabling positive, productive relationships within the workplace. 

Insights Discovery does this through a four colour model that highlights key personality preferences and the associated behaviours that come with them. Everyone has a unique mix of the 4 colour energies within them, but they prefer, or are more comfortable with, some over others. These are the ones you’ll recognise in them most often. 

Cool Blue (introversion and thinking)

People that lead with a Cool Blue energy preference want to know and understand the world around them. They appreciate accuracy and reflection and make careful and logical decisions. To their colleagues they may appear formal, analytical, and independent.

Fiery Red (extroversion and thinking)
People with this colour energy preference have a strong determination and are results driven. They may appear direct and straightforward and appreciate action, efficiency, control, and tangible goals.

Sunshine Yellow(extroversion and feeling)

People with this colour energy preference are enthusiastic and enjoy participation, and interaction with others. They do well in group situations, are inspired by ideas, and like to be appreciated and involved.

Earth Green (introversion and feeling)
People with this colour energy preference have a focus on their values and relationships and seek to maintain harmony. They have a quiet determination and appreciate sensitivity, pleasantness and time to reflect. They make considered decisions with a democratic and collaborative approach.

At Broadsword, everyone in the team completes an online evaluation to receive their personal profile outlining their unique colour mix. It has been an instrumental guide to how we tailor our leadership, communication, one-to-ones, feedback, and review meetings to make everyone feel valued. We can minimise stress triggers and conflict for our employees and we can all communicate with each other and collaborate more effectively. 

It has been clear that individual team members get their energy from different places correlating with their profiles. As a remote team, some of us are energised from using a co-working space with a group regularly and team socials, and some thrive with independent time to think by themselves. Overall, it has helped to embed our mission to facilitate the right to speak and be heard within our agency culture. Everyone can be themselves. 

Understanding one another enables respectful relationships, removing harmful labels such as loud’ or too quiet’, and creating an overall appreciation of the diversity within our organisation. It’s a reminder that everyone is a unique individual that brings diverse perspectives. 

Insights Discovery is a powerful team building tool to engage employees, and bring people together especially useful for induction, graduate, and internal events. Group workshops on the tool open up discussions around team dynamics, relationships, communication, and conflict. It’s a process that has long term, bonding effects that allow everyone to better understand the motivators and demotivators of our colleagues, and how our behaviour can affect those around us.

The result? A happier, healthier, and more productive team!