How to use Enneagrams for Team Building

A practical team-building workshop that uses the Enneagram to turn self-awareness into empathy and empathy into better collaboration.

Why facilitate an Enneagram-based team-building workshop?

Enneagrams are a personality typing system.

Personality tests are often approached with skepticism. While for some, they are so accurate and insightful it feels like a soul-read; for others, they feel like a horoscope. We've all heard about people who identify strongly with one personality type and then discover that they share these traits with a serial killer or despot. So why base a team-building workshop on personality types? Enneagrams are valuable because they provide a common language for teams to discuss strengths, stressors, and ways of working. For newly formed teams, this activity helps move team members beyond surface-level introductions more quickly. For teams that are already well-gelled, it is an opportunity to reflect together. For all teams, this workshop provides a way for peers to connect over commonalities and build empathy for differences.

As a manager, I found this workshop useful because it helps me understand the composition of my team. It is an opportunity to reflect on the diversity of personality and motivations of my team. Do I have a team that tends to bias for action at the expense of collaboration, or do I have a team that tends to bias for cohesion at the expense of bold ideas?

About this workshop

• Remote-friendly
• Duration: ~2 hours
• Group Size: 6 to 10 participants. If the group is larger, the group share activity may take too long.

Facilitator: How to prepare

If you are the team manager and the workshop facilitator, you should also take the Enneagram test and prepare the self-reflection questions.

I chose not to participate in the pair and group work because I wanted the team to bond with each other. Do what makes sense for your team.

Enneagram Team Building Workshop Guide

Purpose (to share with participants)

We'll use the Enneagram to build empathy and create practical ways of working.

It's a lens, not a label. Participation is mandatory.

🧭 Pre-Work for Participants

Action: Take an Enneagram assessment (RHETI if available).

👉 Enneagram Institute RHETI Assessment

• Do not pick what you feel you align with best — actually take the test.
• This takes about 1 hour and must be completed ahead of time.
• If you've already taken an Enneagram test, you may use your existing results.

Bring: 3–5 notes from the prompts below.

📣 Questions to Consider

(Short bullet answers encouraged.)

• Which 2–3 lines from your type description most resonated? Why?
• What surprised you or didn't fit?
• Under stress, what do others see first? What actually helps?
• One real work moment recently that looked like your type at its best.
• A collaboration pet peeve you have — and what to do instead.

📘 Workshop Agenda (to share with participants)

1. Enneagram Self-Reflections
2. Enneagram Pair Interviews
3. Company Values Review
4. Real Scenarios Practice
5. Team Agreements
6. Wrap-Up Reflections

🧭 Facilitator Guide

If in person, arrange the group in a circle.

Introduction (2 min)

🗣️ Script

"We're here to strengthen how we work together by understanding our motivational patterns through Enneagram types. The point is practical empathy: noticing our own patterns and what our teammates need, so we can collaborate with less friction and more trust.

We're not here to box anyone in. The activity works best if we are open to some vulnerability. That said, everything is an invitation; share only what you are comfortable sharing."

📘 Explanation

• The Enneagram is a self-reflection tool, not a diagnostic test.
• It helps spark conversation and provides shared language to discuss patterns and needs.

📣 Agreements to Open With

• Speak for yourself.
• Curiosity over certainty — types are hypotheses.
• Share at your comfort level.

Quick Check-In (2–3 minutes)

🗣️ Prompt

"In one sentence: one thing I hope we get from today."

Activity: Self-Reflection (5 minutes)

🧭 Facilitator Notes

Give participants time to revisit their pre-work and take quick notes before discussion.

📣 Journaling Prompts

• Which 2–3 lines from your type description most resonated? Why?
• What surprised you or didn't fit?
• Under stress, what do others see first? What actually helps?
• One real work moment recently that looked like your type at its best.
• A collaboration pet peeve you have and what to do instead.

Additional prompts (optional):

• At my best, you'll see me…
• When I'm stressed, my tells are…

🧭 Note: Some participants may have multiple closely aligned types. Encourage curiosity and exploration rather than certainty.

Activity: Structured Pair Interviews (15 minutes)

🧭 Facilitator Notes

Put team members in pairs. Pairs should discuss their self reflections. Encourage the following behavior for participants:

• Interviewer mirrors back: "I'm hearing that… Did I get that right?"
• Ground rule: Ask for consent before offering reflections.
• Avoid labeling (e.g., "you're definitely a 3").

📣 Interviewer Questions

• What most resonated about your type? What surprised you?
• What's one recent example at work that fits that?
• What support really works for you when you're stressed? What should teammates avoid?

Activity: Group Share (45–60 minutes)

🧭 Facilitator Notes

• Pairs present each other to the group.
• During each share, check in: "Anything you'd like to add?"
• Facilitate curiosity and empathy.

🗣️ Facilitator Follow-Up Questions

During presentations, prompt the rest of the group:

• From what you heard, what resonates with you?
• What questions do you have for this teammate?
• What would you like to understand better?

If you are the manager, share your own type to model vulnerability. Share yours last, after your team.

Use this moment to segue into the next module on Company Values.

Module: Company Values

📣 Resource

👉 Share your company or team's relevant resource on values.

🗣️ Prompt

"Reflect on the Company Values. Which of these comes most naturally to you?

Which feels more challenging? Why?

How do these values relate to your Enneatype?"

🧭 Facilitator Notes

• This is where we connect self-reflection to real work behavior.
• Acknowledge that this may require some vulnerability.

Module: Team Reflection — Bringing It Into Real Work (15 minutes)

🗣️ Facilitator Intro

"With these values and your Enneatype in mind, let's bring this into some real-world practice. Each group will discuss a real scenario."

Break into groups of 3 or 4. Put people in different groups than the pair activity.

📣 Scenarios

Update these scenarios to what is relevant to your team.

• Scenario A: A teammate shipped something that doesn't meet the quality bar.
• Scenario B: Leadership requests a last-minute scope change on a 2-month project.

📣 Discussion Points

• What feels challenging or natural for you in this scenario?
• How does this relate to your Enneatype?
• What counterintuitive actions might help you better align with Company Values?
• Have you encountered a similar scenario recently?

Module: Group 3–2–1 Reflection (15 minutes)

📣 Prompts

• 3 things you've learned
• 2 questions you still have
• 1 action you're going to take

🧭 Facilitator Notes

Have participants write responses on sticky notes and post them on a board. Then:

• Everyone gets 3 dots to place next to the reflections that resonate.
• Debrief key patterns together.

[Alternate] Reflection (5 minutes)

This alternative is preferred if you are running short on time.

📣 Prompt

Each person shares one of the following:

• One thing you've learned
• One question this exercise raised
• One action you're going to take

✅ End of Workshop

Thank everyone for their openness and participation.

Encourage ongoing curiosity and check-ins as the team continues working together.

Manager follow-ups

Check in with your team individually.

• Ask about what they thought of the activity. Allow them to reflect in a private space.
• Share your type again and ask them if they have other questions. Team members may find it helpful to understand how to work with their manager.

Reflect on your team

• Try to understand your team's motivations
• Try to understand your teams' biases.
• Try to understand how you can lean into people's natural tendencies and help them leverage that in their work.