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Managing a DiSC-Mixed Team: Where D, i, S and C Rub Along and Where They Grate

October 30, 2026

Imagine the following scenario.....

Put four people in a room to solve one problem, and you’ll get four opening moves:

One wants a decision by lunch

another wants to talk it through

a third checks nobody gets trampled

and the fourth won’t budge until they’ve seen the numbers.

The 3rd has got me written all over it!

Or

Two colleagues sit through exactly the same meeting and walk away with completely different frustrations:

One wants a decision by end of play

The other would happily spend another three days checking the numbers.

(me, I sit between the two

Graphic outlining CIPD research suggests only 36% of employees felt their conflict had been fully resolved

And until somebody recognises and names that difference, they will potentially carry on quietly irritating each other.

Nobody there is being difficult. They’re just wired differently, and after twenty years at My Training Shop, running training sessions and coaching calls, we’ve watched it play out hundreds of times.

The teams that thrive aren’t the ones where everyone thinks alike. They’re the ones where people understand why a colleague reacts as they do, and stop taking it personally.

That's the reason Why I invested in the Everything DiSC® Authorised Partnership with Wiley.

A quick refresher on the four styles

The Everything DiSC® model assigns behaviour into four preferences. It is essential to know that everyone is a blend of all these styes, but most of us lean one or two ways.

Lead with D, and you want results at pace, which can come across as blunt when the clock is ticking.
A DiSC i profile brings energy and ideas, though follow-through sometimes slips off the edge of the desk.
A DiSC profile S holds the team steady, though they keep quiet when change unsettles them. The DISC C style brings accuracy and logic, a gift until the thinking outruns the deadline.

None of these are verdicts on character and neither should anyone be branded by their style. For example: A DiSC assessment D result doesn’t make somebody domineering, and an S profile doesn’t make somebody soft.

Understand more about the four styles of DiSC

Stats around UK workers and a lack of engagement in the workplace

The pairings that click

Some pairings hum along without much help from you. For example, D and i share a pace. Both like momentum, both dislike faff, and between them an idea gets off the whiteboard and into a plan before Friday. The risk is that they commit the team to something nobody else has looked at yet.

S and C are the other natural fit, as both prefer a measured tempo, both dislike surprises, and they hold the standards quietly while everyone else chases the shiny new thing. Hand them the process work, and they’ll build something that lasts.

i and S get on for a different reason, which is that neither wants the room to feel tense. The i brings the warmth, the S makes sure nobody is left behind, and people tend to enjoy working with them. The catch is that a hard conversation can go without for months.

D and C, oddly enough, work well once the standoff is past. The C’s questions sharpen the D’s decision, the D’s deadline stops the C’s analysis drifting, and a plan that survives both of them is usually sound.

The pairings that clash

Now for the honest part. D and C is the classic standoff. The D wants a decision; the DISC C style wants the evidence, and each reads the other completely wrong. To a D, the questions feel like foot-dragging. To a C, the urgency feels reckless.

D and S grate over tone. Somebody with a DiSC assessment D result fires off a two-line email meaning nothing by it, an S reads it as a telling-off and says nothing, and that silence costs more than the shortness ever saved. CIPD research found only 36% of employees who experienced conflict felt it was fully resolved, though 81% of employers thought their procedures were up to scratch.

i and C is the odd couple. The C hears enthusiasm and reaches for footnotes, the i hears questions and feels squashed, and left alone the i stops sharing while the C stops listening.

Watch S and D during change, too. You’ll get polite agreement in the meeting and little movement afterwards, because a DiSC profile S tends not to argue in public. Quiet doesn’t mean convinced.

Four things that actually work

Start by saying the quiet part out loud. Once a team can name behaviour, as in “that’s my C talking, I need the figures first”, the tension drops. It stops being about personality and becomes about preference.

Next, flex your opening rather than your standards:

Give a D the headline

a C the reasoning

an S some warning

an i room to think aloud.

Same message, four doorways in.

Build a pause into decisions as well. Fast styles settle things before slower ones have spoken, so a round-the-table before you commit pulls in the voices you’d otherwise miss. They usually spot the thing that would have bitten you later.

Finally, check your team’s balance. I've lost count of the leadership groups stacked with one style who believed they were diverse.

Something that is worth a moment’s thought: who do you find hardest going at work, and what do they need from you that they’re not getting? Speed, detail, reassurance or enthusiasm. That’s usually the whole answer.

How My Training Shop can help

We supply Everything DiSC® profiles as an Authorised Partner of John Wiley &; Sons, working with trainers, coaches, consultants and HR teams across the UK.

Our focus sits with DiSC on Catalyst™, giving you comparison reports on demand, ongoing access, flexible grouping of learners, conversation starters, tips to communicate better with others and the option to add Management, Agile EQ or Worksmart later.

Facilitation kits, and a growing set of resources some free to our clients are available, as is the official DiSC certification course along with our DISC learning foundations course too.

If you only need the odd report or two then Everything DiSC Workplace reports can be purchased directly

We allocate 30-minute time slots free of charge, for those who are unsure. Book today to get started.

Facilitation is a 'done for you option', should you not have an inhouse training team and wish for us to deliver your training.

FAQ's

Q: What exactly is Everything DiSC and how does it work withing teams?

A: Quite simply, Everything DiSC is a psychological behavioural assessment tool which produces personalised reports. Ideal for understanding self and others assisting with improving communication and team dynamics.