FIRO-B: Team Development – Expressed Inclusion

When working with teams, the FIRO-B can provide useful insights into how each person likes to work with others.  The items below are quite likely to be true for you the higher your score on a scale is.  If you scored at seven or above, you probably demonstrate these behaviors very often.  If you scored two or less, you probably rarely do these things.  Of course, those in the middle will likely do them to varying degrees, depending on the situation.

This issue we'll discuss Expressed Inclusion and how people with high scores are likely to act on a team.

Some common behaviors associated with this scale include spending a lot of time networking with other team members, sharing information freely, and interacting often with others.  People of this type tend to summarize discussions for the rest of the group, and will make an effort to get everyone to participate, even the quieter group members.  As such, they will usually strive to make meetings an event people will want to attend, instead of an unavoidable chore.  They will probably make introductions so others get to know each other too.  These people tend to look for ways to increase participation in all the group's activities, and try to expand the group's influence to those outside the team.  They will look for common ground or areas everyone can agree upon, instead of looking for problem areas.  They will ask questions to clarify points, rather to challenge someone's ideas or facts.  Fairness will probably be high on their list of wanted styles.  Collaboration is another key word for people of this type, as is the desire to include or incorporate as many people, ideas, and contributions from beyond the group. 

Most people will share the above traits to some degree.  However, it's likely that this style will dominate for some people more than others.  Your score on the scales should indicate which style is the preferred one for you.