The Birds Personality Preferences Survey
I’ve just been talking about The Birds Personality Preferences Survey on my social media and I thought I would share in more detail how The Birds works in practice.
The Birds is a very useful team building tool. It starts the conversation about different ways of working and communicating and allows the team to improve how they work together. The Birds is a fun exercise and generates lots of light-hearted discussion. It’s always surprising how much people enjoy it and how well it works.
How you could do it!
Each member of your team needs to complete the survey which allows them to identify which Bird they are. Based on their chosen preferences, they will be a Dove, an Owl, a Peacock or an Eagle.
See the Appendix for a copy of the survey.
The Doves are Amiable. In health, around 70% of staff will be Doves. They are:
Peaceful and soft spoken
Persuaded by empathy and social conscience
Sensitive, people focused, team players, consensus seekers.
The Owls are Analytical – they are often the Business Analysts. They are:
Conscientious and deep thinkers
Persuaded by detail and analysis
Precise, logical, and structured, analytical, detailed, objective.
Peacocks are Expressive – they run the Social Club. They are:
Open, witty, colourful
They get excited and involved – they love stories, metaphors
They are big picture people
Energetic, interactive, passionate, anecdotal.
Eagles are Drivers – they are often the Managers. They are:
Powerful, decisive, organised
Persuaded by one clear, reasoned decisive message of action
Brief, bold, candid, to the point, positive.
If a team member is fairly evenly split between 2 birds, ask them to choose which one feels most like them.
The next step is to get them to split into groups and go to the four corners of the room -
Doves and Eagles opposite each other
Owls and Peacocks opposite each other.
And you are going to ask each group in turn -
1. what annoys you about the group opposite?
2. what do you appreciate about the group opposite?
This generates a lot of conversation and you’ll notice things like – the Doves will all hold back at first, reluctant to say anything and the Eagles will chime in with comments like “They think we’re too bossy!”. The Peacocks are more likely to be dressed in colourful clothes.
Once everyone has had a turn to comment and have a laugh at each other, you can point out that while there are differences, no bird is more important than another and you need the strengths and skills of each bird to make a great team. The key to success is learning to work with those strengths not against them.
Now let’s look a bit deeper at aspects of the four Birds
The Doves are confirming, less rushed & easy going. They seek appreciation and dislike insensitivity & impatience. They are steady, supportive, and loyal, driven by harmony and good relationships.
The Dove’s personality traits
Cooperative
Patient and a good listener
Relationship focused
Calm and conflict averse.
How to get the best from a Dove
Create a stable, low conflict environment
Give them clear reassurance and consistency
Allow them time to adjust to change
Ask them directly for their opinion – they will rarely volunteer it!
What Doves struggle with
Confrontation and conflict
Asserting their own needs and opinions
Making fast decisions under pressure
Initiating or embracing change.
The Owls are formal, measured & systematic. They seek accuracy/precision and dislike unpredictability & surprises. They are conscientious and deep thinkers, driven by detail and analysis.
The Owl’s personality traits
Logical and structured
Formal and systematic
Detailed and objective.
How to get the best from an Owl
Let them plan – they are technical specialists
Don’t put them in situations of unpredictability or surprises
Let them do it right from the start
Explain HOW things are going to work.
What Owls struggle with
Not having enough information
Making a wrong decision
Being forced to decide
Slowing down for feelings or fine detail.
The Peacocks are flamboyant, fast & spontaneous. They seek recognition and dislike routine & boredom. They are expressive, sociable, and optimistic, driven by connection and ideas.
The Peacock’s personality traits
Enthusiastic and persuasive
Optimistic and energetic.
How to get the best from a Peacock
Give them space to brainstorm and share ideas
Offer recognition and social interaction
Keep energy and pack high
Avoid boxing them into rigid structure.
What they struggle with
Following through on details
Staying organised and on schedule
Sticking to routine and repetitive tasks
Handling criticism and rejection well.
The Eagles are business like, fast & decisive. They seek control and dislike inefficiency & indecision. They are dominant, direct, and decisive, driven by results and the big picture.
The Eagle’s personality traits
Fast-paced
Competitive and confident.
How to get the best from an Eagle
Give them autonomy and ownership then step back
Lead with the big picture and end goal, not the process
Be direct and efficient, keep communication brief
Let them make decisions and move quickly.
What they struggle with
Patience with slower people or processes
Delegating control and trusting others; approaches
Listening to input that challenges me view
Slowing down for feelings or fine detail.
How do the birds work together?
The Doves say We’re great! They are relationship specialists. They want to know WHY and they are cooperative & loyal.
The Owls say Do it right or not at all! They are technical specialists. They want to know HOW and they like to plan.
The Peacocks say Let’s do it all! They are social specialists. They want to know WHO and they are energetic & optimistic.
The Eagles say Just do it! They are command specialists! They want to know WHAT and they like to take charge.
Owls and Eagles control their emotions whereas Doves and Peacocks express their emotions.
Owls and Doves ask questions, ask for permission whereas Eagles and Peacocks tend to tell people what to do.
What do the birds fear about change?
The Doves fear damaged relationships, confrontations. They fear that their efforts will not be recognised.
The Owls fear not having enough information , making a wrong decision, or being forced to decide.
The Peacocks fear being ignored, being asked for details or being linked with failure.
The Eagles fear loss of control, failure, and lack of purpose.
How do the birds act under stress?
The Doves will submit
The Owls will become picky
The Peacocks will become offensive or sarcastic
The Eagles will become autocratic.
But under extreme stress, the behaviour flips!
The Doves will become autocratic
The Owls will become offensive or sarcastic
The Peacocks will become picky
The Eagles will submit.
At the conclusion of the exercise, it’s good to think about
What implications do the team’s personality preferences have for you in your interactions with others?
What can you do to improve the way you communicate with other personality styles?
How can you use the Birds exercise to improve how you and your team / colleagues / managers interact?
Full disclosure – when I first did this exercise myself, I learned that I am an Eagle. And of course, working in health, I had lots of Doves in my various teams. I always struggled with their need to tell me a whole long story about what was going on, I wanted them to get to the point – what did they need me to do? Finding out that I was an Eagle helped me to understand my Dove colleagues and to slow down giving them time to share their feelings. Result – happier team members, more effective team!
Rate yourself across each horizontal line where 4 is most like your preference and 1 is least like your preference. Then add up your scores vertically for each column & circle the numbers in the table.
Highest score in
Column 1 – you’re an Eagle
Column 2 – you’re a Peacock
Column 3 – you’re a Dove
Column 4 – you’re an Owl
Interested? Want to learn more?
I can a workshop or a webinar on the Birds. Get in touch!
