Intro to the FIRO-B

Understanding your interpersonal needs can help you be more effective one-to-one and in groups.

The FIRO-B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior) is a personality instrument that can profoundly increase your understanding of the interpersonal needs of yourself and others. This understanding can help you to be more effective as a leader, to bring out the best in others, and to deal more effectively with interpersonal issues.

The FIRO-B is specifically concerned with our interpersonal needs, how we show up in our one-to-one relationships, and in groups. The FIRO-B provides insights into issues of organizational culture and team dynamics. This makes it especially valuable for leaders and team members.

Like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the FIRO-B is an effective tool for:

  • Personal mastery
  • Executive coaching
  • Team performance
  • Sales effectiveness
  • Problem solving
  • Organizational development

    The FIRO-B was developed by Will Schutz, Ph.D. Schutz theorized that each of us has unique interpersonal needs that strongly effect our behaviors. He identified three areas of interpersonal needs:

    Inclusion
    The need to include others, and the need for attraction, contact, and recognition from others. Inclusion is about you in relation to a group, whether large or small.

    Control
    The need for influence and responsibility, and the desire to be led and influenced by others. Control is about both one-to-one relationships and about group behavior. It indicates your relative needs for leading and following.

    Affection
    How close and warm you are toward others, and how much closeness and warmth you seek from others. Affection is about one-to-one relationships, and reflects your comfort level with openness.

    Each of these areas is measured along two dimensions:

    Expressed
    The degree to which you prefer to initiate, or express, the behavior.

    Wanted
    The degree to which you prefer others to initiate the behavior toward you.

    The FIRO-B yields six basic scores: an expressed score for each dimension (inclusion, control, and affection), and a wanted score for each dimension. In addition, there are total scores for each of the three dimensions, a total expressed behavior score, a total wanted behavior score, and an overall need score.

    The information provided by the FIRO-B can be illuminating for individuals, teams, and organizations.

    Organizational culture is a reflection of the interpersonal needs of everyone in the organization, especially the leaders. For example, an organization that emphasizes control may be more hierarchical, encourage competition between individuals and departments, have clear policies and procedures, and be more decisive. An individual, or a team, with a low wanted control score may find it difficult to fit in. Their need for flexibility, adaptability, cooperation, autonomy, and negotiation might be frustrated by the prevailing culture.

    The FIRO-B is a much richer, and incredibly more useful, model than might be suggested from this brief introduction. To learn more about the FIRO-B, visit the publisher, CPP.

    Meg Ellis Tools



    2 Comments

    1. 1. connie mclaurin wrote:

      I am doing a presentation for graduate school. i need to find more information on the firo-b and the firo theory. Particularly, jounal articles, if you know of any it would be greatly appreciated.

      April 15, 2005 @ 2:10 pm (comment)

    2. 2. Ed Archangel wrote:

      Hi Meg,

      I’m a consultant in Arlington,Texas. I’m looking to become certified in the FIRO-B Tool.

      Please let me know if you have any classes coming up between now and August 20th.

      Thanks

      June 7, 2005 @ 3:59 pm (comment)

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