The Analytical personality type
The analytical personality is a reserved and logical hard worker. They're systematic, persistent, and diligent, but can come across as a perfectionist.
- Analyticals are polite but reserved, logical, fact-based and focused on precision.
- Their strengths are persistence, diligence, caution and a systematic approach.
- Apparent indecision is usually a need to assess all the data before deciding.
- Prepare thoroughly, keep it task-focused, and be ready for a lot of “how” questions.
What is an Analytical personality type?
Let's start by looking at the traits of an ‘Analytical’ person at work.
- They're usually seen as polite but reserved
- They're extremely logical in their thought processes
- They're fact-based and task-oriented
- They're focused on precision and perfection
The Analytical personality is often described as a ‘perfectionist’.
There are a number of pros and cons to having an analytical personality on your team. Their strengths include persistence, diligence, caution, and having a systematic approach to tasks.
On the flipside, the Analytical can often be perceived as withdrawn, quiet, or even sullen at times. If they seem indecisive, it's usually because they feel the need to assess all data before reaching a conclusion or deciding a way forward.
Now that we have a better understanding of the analytical personality traits, let's look at ways to give an analytical person feedback effectively.
How to give feedback to a perfectionist
While it might sound great to have someone on your team dedicated to making sure their work is perfect, it can often be the cause of tension in the office.
We've all interacted with a person like this. They always need to be right. They won't openly discuss ideas until they're confident in their decision. This can mean they're less likely to accept others' ideas, and when it comes to deadlines, a bit of negotiation is often required.
Giving feedback to a perfectionist who is “always right” might sound like an exercise in futility, but selling feedback to a perfectionist in a coaching environment is fairly straightforward for clear thinkers.
Five tips to help you coach the Analyticals on your team
1. Be systematic
Deliberate, thorough, precise.
This is how your analytical team members operate, and this is where they place value in a manager.
Take time to make sure you're well prepared before your coaching session, so that you know exactly which points you want to cover and why you want to cover them.
2. Focus on the task
For perfectionists and analytical minds, the devil is in the detail.
They're highly task-oriented, and they like to complete all their tasks with a high level of accuracy. That's why, when you're coaching them, it's best to focus on the task at hand and keep the session as black-and-white as possible.
This will help them to understand exactly what you expect from them, and what steps they need to take in order to improve.
3. Be prepared to answer lots of “how” questions
Understanding “how” to perform a task is all about being thorough, deliberate, and precise.
If you're asking them to perform a task or modify a behaviour, they will want to know exactly which steps need to be taken to achieve this.
If you've prepared well enough for your coaching session, you'll be ready with examples of how a task should be performed, or what a particular outcome might look like.
4. Don't get too personal
Similar to the Driver, the Analytical personality doesn't hold much stock in the niceties.
Keep it cordial, but stick to the facts and the task at hand if you want to keep them engaged in your coaching session.
5. Don't rush unnecessarily
Sometimes, being systematic, deliberate and precise takes time.
The great thing is that this often means tasks are completed to a very high standard, but it also means that it can take a little longer to get things done.
In summary
It's great to have an analytical mind on your team. Their high standards mean that you can trust them to do a job well.
When it comes to giving them feedback, however, it can feel like an uphill battle if you're not properly prepared. As we've discussed, an analytical person is often perceived as a perfectionist and, as such, it can feel like they have a difficult time accepting feedback.
The great news is that giving perfectionists feedback is pretty straightforward if you keep it task-focused and you're clear about the steps they need to take in order to improve. Make sure you take time to prepare examples of how they can improve a task or modify a behaviour, so that they have a good understanding of what's expected of them.
Check out the other personality types
Or take the communication style quiz (opens in a new tab) to discover your own style.
