An Empirical Evaluation of Three Popular Training Programs to Improve Interpersonal Skills

As part of their talent development efforts, organizations implement training and develop-ment programs that often include some form of interpersonal or behavioral assessment. The study examined in this article compares three popular interpersonal skills training programs for measuring and understanding one’s interpersonal style: Inscape’s DiSC model, TRACOM Group’s Social Style Model, and Consulting Psychologist Press‘s Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The facilitators found that participants in each program held posi-tive reactions to training; participants in the Social Style training scored signifi cantly higher than did participants in the DiSC and MBTI programs on a learning measure; and participants in the Social Style training scored signifi cantly higher than did participants in the DiSC and MBTI programs on two measures of participants ’ skill at analyzing and responding to the interpersonal behaviors of others. Understanding and responding to the unique social or interpersonal styles of others is an important skill for working professionals. Extensive lines of workplace research establish that in addition to cogni-tive ability and technical knowledge, inter