The Enneagram & Workspace: Designing for Personality over Job Function

Research featured in Harvard Business Review reveals that while 95% of people believe that they’re self-aware, only 10% to 15% of people actually are. A more shocking revelation, though, is that colleagues who lack awareness of themselves cut their team’s likelihood of success in half. When leaders develop self-awareness, they unlock an abundance of benefits for their organization. 

Developing self-awareness also sets the foundation for leaders to feel empathy for team members, particularly while designing the functionality of the workplace. Organizations often allocate workspace based on cost savings and prestige—you’ll usually find the C-Suite in corner  offices and everyone else working in the same repeatable setup. However, self-aware and empathetic leaders design virtual and physical workspaces with an understanding of the diversity of personalities in the office rather than simply taking job functions into consideration.

Self-aware and empathetic leaders design virtual and physical workspaces with an understanding of the diversity of personalities in the office rather than simply taking job functions into consideration.

The Enneagram, which is a model rooted in ancient philosophy and modernized by the Bolivian philosopher Oscar Ichazo, is one path toward developing self-awareness and empathy that empowers dynamic, successful teams in the workplace. Leaders can leverage the tool to support the growth of every team member and to design adaptive workspaces (and digital experiences) that support everyone’s creativity and ingenuity.

The Enneagram as a Tool for Workplace Empathy

Beatrice Chestnut, a licensed psychotherapist and consultant, summarizes the power of the Enneagram to foster self-awareness in her book 9 Types of Leadership. “As a holistic framework for understanding personality, the Enneagram serves as a roadmap you can consult any time you find yourself lost or confused by what is happening between you and the people around you,” she writes. 

Most people and teams don’t use this tool on their own; they work with an expert to ensure they’re applying the concepts effectively and empathetically. Ashlee Sikorski, CEO of Sway Leadership, guides leaders and their teams to develop emotional intelligence skills that enhance workplace success, boost team productivity, and humanize the work experience with the Enneagram model.

Before you consider applying the Enneagram to your work life or to optimize your physical space for creativity, it’s essential to work to discover your Enneagram type or personality, based on nine archetypes. The success of members of each archetype hinges on their ideal environment.

Through this discovery process, people also learn about their blind spots and habits, which allows them to adjust the way they respond to demanding situations and conflicts.

Empathy grows between team members, which leads to candor and psychological safety. You see a trickle-down effect that transforms relationships — and that saves a lot of time and money.

Sikorski has found that teams that use the Enneagram as a guide report higher levels of trust, awareness and well-being as individuals, as well as greater cohesion and collaboration as a team. “Empathy grows between team members, which leads to candor and psychological safety. You see a trickle-down effect that transforms relationships — and that saves a lot of time and money,” she says.

Designing Dynamic Workspaces for Every Personality

The Enneagram can also be a powerful tool for understanding the needs of teams in physical work environments. According to the first edition of Organizational Behaviour and the Physical Environment, 1st Edition, a recent survey of the latest developments in the field, physical environments that support perceptions and feelings of freedom help the “free flow of ideas and sense of ‘play’ at work that is important to divergent thinking and creativity.” Likewise, one U.K.-based research project revealed that employees who express satisfaction with their workplace are 33% more likely to deliver products or services effectively.

People are not machines. Certain types of people are drawn to certain kinds of workspaces. For example, people who are ‘Type 5’ need not to be interrupted, while ‘Type 6’ team members need to feel physically safe.

Sikorski believes that when people have the freedom to choose or co-create their work environment based on their personalities, they’re far more likely to thrive. As she puts it, “People are not machines. Certain types of people are drawn to certain kinds of workspaces. For example, people who are ‘Type 5’ need not to be interrupted, while ‘Type 6’ team members need to feel physically safe.” The research backed that idea up, too. One study indicated that when individuals can make choices in their physical work environments, they feel an increased sense of control and well-being, as well as a reduction in stress. 

Leaders who prioritize optionality in the workplace cater to people’s different personality types and give team members the support to innovate in a networked economy. Organizational Behaviour and the Physical Environment suggests that there are three key kinds of spaces that can foster choice and creativity in the workplace: common workspaces with public displays of work, dedicated project rooms, and private “work caves” or one-person quiet areas, where people can work undisturbed. 

At EQ Office, we believe that this kind of optionality enables the 4C’s of effective work: concentration, collaboration, convenience and community. In dynamic workspaces, people can find each of these characteristics when they need it, where they need it. With optionality as a key feature of an office, people play to their personalities rather than work against them — on a moment-to-moment basis, shifting as needed between each option to optimize their contributions. 

Extending an Empathetic Culture to ‘Phygital’ Work

With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we work, leaders also need to adapt the “phygital” or hybrid digital and physical workspaces, to help team members with different personalities thrive when working from home. Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach, managers benefit from asking team members what would help them succeed during intense periods of remote work.

With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we work, leaders also need to adapt the “phygital” or hybrid digital and physical workspaces, to help team members with different personalities thrive when working from home.

As Sikorski sums it up, “Maybe one team member needs more social engagement. In that case, plan a happy hour, but feel free to tell another team member with ‘Zoom fatigue’ that they don’t have to come.” Likewise, Sikorski recommends breaking out of the conventional approaches, to adapt to different personalities in virtual settings. For example, a leader could play an uplifting song as people sign into a meeting, send beer or chocolate to team members for a virtual get-together, or plan breakout sessions, so people can connect one-on-one.  Leaders can also flex their creativity by offering team members more time and resources to tackle the unique challenges of this time in their own way. Success for an organization isn’t about doing everything; it’s about giving everyone something that works for each of them, like meeting-free days and mental health support, for example. Most of all, create a feedback loop, so that team members can report back on what they need, given the demands of their life. 

With the Enneagram, team members develop self-awareness that empowers them to innovate. When leaders use the same model to understand the diversity of personalities within their organization, they can build an empathetic workspace and digital environment that empowers, rather than constrains, people’s creativity and ingenuity.

According to Ashlee Sikorski, here’s how each type connects to an intelligence center, leadership style and ideal workspace:

Type 1

• Intelligence Center: Body type

• Leadership Style: Mission-driven

• Ideal Workspace: Requires a strong organizational structure with clear rules and shared physical spaces

Type 2

• Intelligence Center: Heart type

• Leadership Style: Relationship-focused

• Ideal Workspace: Works together with people in physically comfortable and soothing environments

Type 3

• Intelligence Center: Heart type

• Leadership Style: Marketing-oriented

• Ideal Workspace: Needs space to accomplish goals and work with agility alongside other people

Type 4

• Intelligence Center: Heart type

• Leadership Style: Creative 

• Ideal Workspace: Access to aesthetic freedom and input, as well as real works of art, plants and authentic spaces

Type 5

• Intelligence Center: Head type

• Leadership Style: Collected and direct

• Ideal Workspace: Thrives with limited or no interruptions and only particulates in meetings on important issues

Type 6

• Intelligence Center: Head type

• Leadership Style: Team-oriented and cautious 

• Ideal Workspace: Prefers a mix of being with their team and on their own; needs to feel physically safe with clear emergency plans

Type 7

• Intelligence Center: Head type

• Leadership Style: Imaginative 

• Ideal Workspace: Desires visionary and open-plan offices with games and socializing hours that make work feel fun

Type 8

• Intelligence Center: Body type

• Leadership Style: Strong, present and 100% engaged

• Ideal Workspace: Benefits from access to people and fast-paced activities

Type 9

• Intelligence Center: Body type

• Leadership Style: Harmonious, sees all sides

• Ideal Workspace: Wants both access to the team and solo work time; appreciates a beautiful aesthetic but cares most about positive collaborations