How to Use Assessments for Team Building and Leadership Development
More organizations today are turning to assessments as part of their leadership and team development strategy. Tools such as the Big Five, DISC, Myers-Briggs (MBTI), CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder), and I² Skills Assessment have become common foundations for team workshops and retreats. When applied thoughtfully, they help teams understand themselves, appreciate differences, and improve how they work together to perform at a higher level.
But the real value of these assessments doesn’t come from taking them—it comes from how teams process, discuss, and apply the results together. When assessments are used as part of an experiential workshop, retreat, or ongoing leadership program, they can help teams strengthen communication, increase psychological safety, and foster innovation.
Why Assessments Work for Leadership and Team Building
In A Grounded Theory of High-Quality Leadership Programs, leadership development expert Darin Eich, Ph.D. identified self-understanding and experiential learning as essential attributes of high-quality programs. Participants in the most effective leadership programs gain deeper self-awareness—through personality, strengths, and values assessments—and then apply that knowledge through practice, reflection, and collaboration.
That same combination of reflection and application drives growth within organizations. When leaders and teams use assessments as a springboard for experiential learning, they build both individual insight and collective capability.
Teams that participate in assessment-based workshops often report that they:
Understand their individual strengths, styles, and communication preferences.
Develop empathy for others’ perspectives and work habits.
Build trust and psychological safety.
Identify ways to collaborate more effectively.
Feel better equipped to innovate and adapt together.
This kind of learning directly supports the goals of leadership and innovation programs like those we design at InnovationTraining.org.
Common Assessments Used for Team Building
Different assessments emphasize different aspects of human behavior, motivation, and performance. Understanding their focus can help you select the right tool for your program.
Personality and Behavioral Assessments such as the Big Five, DISC, or Myers-Briggs (MBTI) help participants understand how they communicate, make decisions, and interact with others.
Strengths and Talent Assessments like CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) and Working Genius identify what people naturally do best, encouraging them to use their strengths intentionally within a team.
Innovation-Focused Assessments like the I² Skills reveal an individual’s or team’s creative problem-solving capabilities, connecting self-awareness directly to innovation outcomes.
Motivation and Values Assessments such as the Birkman Method or Motivational Maps explore what energizes and drives people, helping align roles and responsibilities with intrinsic motivators.
Leadership and Feedback Tools like the Leadership Circle Profile or 360-degree assessments provide feedback on leadership impact, self-perception, and how one is perceived by others.
Emotional Intelligence Assessments (e.g., EQ-i 2.0) support development of empathy, self-regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness—all essential for collaborative, innovative work.
How to Structure a Team Workshop with Assessments
Across all of these assessment types, effective team-building workshops tend to follow a similar facilitation flow. This process helps participants move from insight to action in a meaningful, engaging way.
1. Prepare and Frame the Experience
Provide the assessment in advance and set expectations for how results will be used. Emphasize that these tools are designed for learning and collaboration, not evaluation. Clarify confidentiality, norms, and the session’s purpose—helping the team work better together.
2. Reflect Individually
Begin the session by allowing participants to review and reflect on their own results. Guiding prompts might include:
What insights or surprises do I see in my results?
What are my natural strengths and preferences?
What situations bring out my best work—or my stress?
Encouraging reflection sets a tone of self-awareness and curiosity before participants discuss results with others.
3. Share and Connect
Move into small group or paired discussions where participants can share their results. Ask them to identify commonalities, differences, and what they appreciate about each other’s profiles. This phase helps the group develop empathy and connection, which are foundational for trust.
4. Map the Team
Facilitators often create a visual map of the team’s collective assessment results—for example, placing each member on a DISC quadrant, MBTI grid, or strengths board. This makes the diversity of the team visible. Teams can discuss patterns such as:
Where are we strong?
Where might we have blind spots?
How do our different profiles affect how we communicate and make decisions?
5. Apply Insights Through Practice
Put the learning into action through a team challenge, simulation, or innovation exercise. This could include a design thinking activity, a case study, or a real project discussion. The goal is for participants to practice applying their diverse strengths and styles in collaboration. (See our design thinking workshop guide for inspiration.)
6. Reflect, Commit, and Reinforce
Close with reflection and discussion. Ask participants:
What did we learn about ourselves and our team?
What will we do differently moving forward?
How can we use these insights to improve collaboration or innovation?
Encourage teams to commit to one or two concrete actions and build in follow-up check-ins or reflection prompts. This reinforces learning beyond the workshop.
Examples of How Different Assessments Are Used in Teams
Each assessment has unique workshop traditions and facilitation practices:
DISC sessions often include communication role-plays where participants practice flexing their style to others.
StrengthsFinder workshops encourage participants to share their “Top 5” strengths and explore how they can partner to cover gaps.
MBTI retreats might group participants by type to discuss how they approach decisions differently.
I² Skills or innovation assessments often lead into brainstorming and prototyping sessions, where the team applies its creativity profile to real challenges.
Predictive Index workshops focus on understanding behavioral drives and aligning them with team roles or strategic objectives.
No matter which assessment you choose, the format is consistent: reflect, share, map, and apply.
Designing Leadership Programs That Use Assessments Effectively
The best leadership and innovation programs integrate assessments as recurring learning tools, not one-time activities. Consider embedding them into a broader leadership journey that includes:
Coaching or mentoring, where participants revisit their assessment results over time.
Innovation labs or workshops, where teams apply what they’ve learned to solve organizational challenges.
Leadership retreats, where assessments spark conversations about vision, strategy, and collaboration.
Follow-up sessions, reinforcing insights and measuring growth in team dynamics or innovation capability.
For more examples, explore our Self-Assessment Coach AI tool as well as guides on combining multiple self-assessments for a better profile and personality assessments for employees.
Final Thoughts
Assessments are valuable because they make the invisible visible. They give teams a shared language to discuss personality, motivation, and strengths in a constructive way. When paired with experiential learning and facilitation, they help individuals and teams transform self-awareness into collective performance.
Whether you’re leading a short team retreat or a year-long leadership program, assessments like DISC, MBTI, StrengthsFinder, Big Five, Predictive Index, or the I² Skills Assessment can spark conversations that build understanding, trust, and innovation.
The most effective teams are those that don’t just take assessments—they live their insights. By using assessments as a foundation for reflection, dialogue, and action, you can help your team learn to work—and lead—better together. Contact us if you’d like a custom workshop for your team.