Use DISC when you need to understand individual behavioral styles—how someone communicates, makes decisions, and responds to pressure. Use The Five Behaviors when you need to improve how a team functions together across trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. DISC maps the person; The Five Behaviors maps the team. Most organizations start with DISC for self-awareness, then add The Five Behaviors when team-level dysfunction blocks progress. Together, DISC and Five Behaviors give you a complete picture: who people are and how well they work as a unit.
What DISC is best for in workplace development
DISC measures four behavioral dimensions: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. It tells you how a person tends to act, communicate, and respond under stress. That makes it the right tool when your challenge is individual understanding.
We see DISC deliver the most value in three situations. First, onboarding: new hires learn their own style and how to flex toward colleagues from day one. Second, leadership coaching: managers discover why their natural approach works with some direct reports and clashes with others. Third, conflict between two people: when tension stems from style mismatch, DISC gives both parties a shared language to talk about differences without blame.
DISC is fast to administer, simple to interpret, and immediately actionable. A participant can complete the assessment in ten minutes and walk away with strategies they can use that afternoon. For a deeper look at how DISC stacks up against other personality frameworks, see our DISC vs other assessments comparison.
What The Five Behaviors is best for in team effectiveness
The Five Behaviors model, built on Patrick Lencioni’s pyramid, measures how well a team performs across five areas: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. It is a team-level diagnostic, not an individual profile.
You should reach for The Five Behaviors when the problem is collective, not personal. If your team avoids hard conversations, fails to hold each other accountable, or cannot commit to decisions, DISC profiles alone will not fix the issue. The Five Behaviors surfaces the group dynamics that keep a team stuck.
The assessment also incorporates each team member’s DISC style, so you still get individual context. But the output focuses on team scores: how much vulnerability-based trust exists, whether healthy conflict is the norm, and whether the group prioritizes collective results over individual credit. That team-level lens is what makes it the right choice for groups that need to function better together, not just understand each other.
When DISC alone is enough
Not every situation calls for a full team behavioral model. DISC by itself gets the job done when the development need is awareness, not behavior change at the group level.
You can stop at DISC in these common scenarios. Your team is new and still forming—people need a baseline understanding of each other before deeper team work makes sense. You are running a one-time workshop on communication styles and do not have budget for a second assessment. The friction you are seeing comes from style misunderstanding, not from broken trust or avoidance of accountability. Your organization wants a lightweight tool managers can use in coaching conversations without formal facilitation.
In each of these cases, DISC gives your people a practical framework. They learn their own tendencies, spot differences in others, and adjust. That alone can shift everyday interactions in meaningful ways. Our team DiSC assessment guide walks through how to run that process effectively.
When The Five Behaviors should be layered in
Add The Five Behaviors when individual awareness has not translated into better team performance. That gap usually shows up in predictable ways.
Team members understand each other’s styles but still avoid tough conversations. Meetings end with surface agreement but no real commitment. The team tolerates missed deadlines without addressing them. People protect their own priorities instead of rallying around shared outcomes.
These are not style problems. They are team health problems. DISC explains why someone might naturally shy away from conflict, but The Five Behaviors shows whether the team has built enough trust to make conflict safe in the first place.
We recommend layering in The Five Behaviors after a team has spent at least one quarter working with DISC. That foundation makes the deeper work more productive. People already have the vocabulary, so the conversation shifts from \”who are you?\” to \”how do we operate together?\”
Sample rollout sequence for a leadership team
The table below shows a phased approach that works for most leadership teams. Adjust timing based on your team’s maturity and the urgency of the challenge.
| Phase | Timing | Activity | Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Month 1 | Individual DISC profiles and debrief workshop | DISC |
| 2 | Months 2–3 | Coaching sessions on style flex and communication adjustments | DISC |
| 3 | Month 4 | Team Five Behaviors assessment and facilitated kickoff | Five Behaviors |
| 4 | Months 5–6 | Monthly team sessions on trust building and productive conflict | Five Behaviors |
| 5 | Months 7–12 | Quarterly check-ins on accountability and results norms | Five Behaviors + DISC |
This sequence respects a core principle: self-awareness before team awareness. When people know their own style first, they can contribute honestly to team-level conversations without feeling exposed or judged.
How to position both tools in an annual development plan
Annual planning is where most organizations struggle to decide between DISC and The Five Behaviors. The answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish each quarter.
Start the year with DISC. It sets a common language early, which pays dividends in every subsequent interaction. Schedule the team DISC workshop in Q1, ideally during a kickoff or retreat. Then use DISC insights in coaching, one-on-ones, and hiring throughout the year.
Introduce The Five Behaviors in Q2 or Q3, once the team has practiced adapting their communication styles. Run the assessment, share the team report, and facilitate a session focused on the lowest-scoring behavior. Follow up with monthly or bimonthly working sessions that target specific behaviors.
Close the year by revisiting both. Reassess DISC if anyone new has joined the team. Reassess The Five Behaviors if you want to measure progress on the original scores. This dual review gives you data to justify continued investment and adjust the plan for next year. For help designing the facilitation structure around either tool, consult our team building workshop guide.
What fits your team’s current stage
Choosing between DISC alone and DISC plus The Five Behaviors comes down to one question: is your biggest gap individual understanding or team behavior?
If people simply do not get each other, DISC closes that gap fast. If people understand each other but still cannot commit, hold the line, or prioritize team results, The Five Behaviors addresses what DISC cannot reach.
Most teams benefit from both—but timing matters. Starting with The Five Behaviors before people understand their own styles can feel like skipping a step. Starting with DISC and never progressing to team-level work leaves real dysfunction unaddressed.
We help teams figure out exactly where they stand and which tool to start with. Schedule a free discovery call with our team to discuss your situation, or explore our assessment options to get started right away.
