Patrick McPartland/Staff Photographer - Sister Shawn Czyzycki, CSSF, leads a workshop with staff members from the recently merged St. Edmund and St. Christopher Churches.
When St. Edmund Parish and St. Christopher Parish in Tonawanda merged in 2007 during the Journey in Faith and Grace, two unique groups of people had to learn to work and worship together. Recently, a workshop was hosted at St. Christopher to help smooth the transition.
“It was an opportunity for staff to get to know each other better, find out about their individual personalities, and learn how to successfully blend their unique work styles,” said Sister M. Shawn Czyzycki, CSSF, who conducted the workshop.
“They need to utilize their strength to continue to make St. Christopher the dynamic parish that it is already,” she said.
Sister Shawn, director of Human Resources at the Diocese of Buffalo, said that the program would help people not only to learn about their own personality styles, but also about the personality styles of others and how they can best work together. “Personalities affect every aspect of your life and by getting to know each other better we can communicate better,” she said.
The workshop was based on the Meyers-Briggs test, which categorizes people according to personality type, and was designed to address five main questions: who am I, who are the people I work with, who are we together, what are we here to do, and how are we going to do it?
There are 16 personality types in the Meyers-Briggs model, and the workshop group included nine of these. As she reviewed the specific personality traits, Sister Shawn explained that not every job is appropriate for every personality type. For example, a more extroverted person might prefer to answer the phone, while an introverted person might be uncomfortable with that task.
“Everyone can’t do everything,” she said. “That’s why we have diversity.”
Sister Shawn pointed out that any transition, in this case, the merging of two parishes, can be difficult for the people involved.
“When you go through things like that, it affects people,” she said. “Sometimes we forget that.”
Father Charles Slisz, pastor of St. Christopher, hoped that the workshop would help staff members to work together more effectively.
“It lessens some of the tension and it’s fun,” he said. “We see each other in a new light and it makes for more effective function and greater collaboration.”
In addition to personality, Sister Shawn also spoke about how small details can give clues to a person’s personality traits. This can include the pictures on their desk or what kind of calendar they have.
“Even the layout of a desk says something about a person,” Sister Shawn said before the presentation.
Those present at the workshop will fill out a “who am I?” form to give to Father Slisz. The form will help identify the talents and skills they have, their strengths, their limitations, and how comfortable they are in certain roles.
“It is a snapshot of the team,” said Sister Shawn. “I really commend Father Chuck for having that insight to get to know his people better,” she said before the workshop.
Monica Stange, business manager at the parish, said she found the presentation to be helpful.
“I find it very useful to know what other people’s personalities are,” she said. “It was a nice two hours spent together.”
Sister Mary Laura Lesniak, SSMN, pastoral associate at St. Christopher, said that she viewed the workshop as a success.“It not only confirmed things about ourselves personally, but also gave us a portrait of ourselves as a staff,” she said. Sister Shawn, who has given similar presentations in the past, said that it was one of the best she has ever done. “They were all wonderful,” she said. “What I loved about them was that they were so open and honest.”
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