The Clifton Strength Of Arranger
The Go-To Person When Your Business Or Project Is Thrown A Curve Ball
The CliftonStrength of Arranger is an interesting one. It’s an executing skill, which means it refers to how you best get things done – and I have it in my top 10 CliftonStrengths. People with this CliftonStrength like to organize, delegate, and rearrange resource for maximum productivity, all while remaining flexible. How does this work in real life?
A few years ago, I’d prepped for a half-day client workshop. I’d spent hours preparing a number of materials to help the team discover their strengths and how best to use them, individually and as a group, to benefit the team.
Half an hour before the workshop was to begin, the manager called me. It turns out that since contractors comprised the entire team, the department wasn’t authorized to provide “personal development” training.
Contrary to what you might expect, I didn’t panic. In fact, I felt energized by the challenge of coming up with something new – and effective – in such a short timeframe.
I started with questions, asking the manager what her goals were for this particular group of employees. She told me that they were working on marketing plans for the summer and really needed to brainstorm some new ideas.
I took that information and ran with it. Out went my carefully constructed plans for the day. Instead, I facilitated a half-day session, without a single prepared slide or handout, and helped the group brainstorm marketing ideas for their upcoming projects.
They divided into two teams and each team physically drew their ideas. When they were done, each team devised a game plan and pitched their ideas to the other group.
After all of the ideas had been presented, they chose 10 they loved and planned to use them in the digital marketing for their upcoming projects.
The manager was thrilled with the outcome and the Arranger talent in me was exhilarated to have juggled, rearranged, and organized an entirely new and successful workshop on the fly.
For some people, receiving the call from that manager only half an hour before the workshop was to begin would’ve felt disastrous.
But people with the CliftonStrength of Arranger love a dynamic and ever-changing environment. They’re incredibly nimble in terms of flexibility and have a strong desire to arrange resources for maximum efficiency and productivity. They’re the people you want to call when you need a change agent: they excel at helping turn situations around and adjusting priorities.
POTENTIAL CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE
Because people with a strong CliftonStrength of Arranger like to move the pieces around, rearranging things for maximum efficiency, they can frustrate employees who don’t like change. People can feel confused at times. Depending on their own strengths, they might find constant change (or last-minute changes) confusing, asking questions like, “Wait, what did we change? Why are we changing that? What else changed?”
By the same token, people with a strong CliftonStrength of Arranger are easily frustrated by naysayers or employees that want to do things the same way…again! They see change as an opportunity to upgrade, to do things better, and when people resist, it can feel like they’re setting up unnecessary and unhelpful roadblocks.
MANAGING EMPLOYEES WITH DIFFERENT STRENGTHS: ARRANGER AND RESPONSIBILITY
An employee with a strong strength of Responsibility may potentially butt heads with someone who has a predominant Arranger strength. People with the CliftonStrength of Responsibility want to be totally in charge of any project they manage, overseeing (possibly micromanaging) all aspects, and having every major decision come through them. When they’re in charge of a project they feel completely responsible for the entire thing.
People with a predominant Arranger strength, on the other hand, don’t need or want everything to come through them when they’re in charge of a project. They’d prefer to delegate responsibility to people they feel are best suited to the task and are okay with other people making decisions, as long as the entire process is moving forward.
These two strengths can function well together, but it’s imperative to discuss how they handle things differently before putting them on a project together. You’ll want to address who’s in charge of what, so they can have clear lines of delineation.
The Arranger is often a good leader because they tend to delegate well, while the person with Responsibility is excellent at seeing a project through to completion (they can be good leaders, as well). The Arranger will need to understand that he needs to communicate what’s happening and changing, clearly and regularly, so others don’t feel blindsided or confused.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE ARRANGER CLIFTONSTRENGTH
As you assign roles and responsibilities, keep in mind that employees with a strong Arranger talent thrive on change. They like spinning plates, and juggling balls – however you want to phrase it, handling complex assignments excites and energizes them. They love constantly changing environments and using their skills to positively affect outcomes.
Put them in situations where:
There are many things happening at once. They have a strong ability to handle multiple projects or pieces of projects.
Something isn’t working. They thrive on change and finding creative, new solutions for existing problems.
You have a long-standing process that works but could be improved. They’re great at optimizing solutions.
You have projects or events that need to be effective and efficiently organized.
LET MILLENNIAL GURU HELP YOUR COMPANY MAXIMIZE PRODUCTIVITY
At Millennial Guru, we use CliftonStrengths to help employees understand their strengths. But more than that, we help them understand how they can use their strengths, as individuals and together, to be more productive at work.
Schedule an informational meeting today to talk to us about how we can help you create a positive culture where your team works together to optimize strengths, boost productivity, and meet your goals.