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FIRO Element B
FIRO (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation) theory has become a world renowned model for understanding human relations, people performance and productivity.

Developed originally in 1952 by Will Schutz, the FIRO theory begins with the simple premise that improving compatibility between people will improve their productivity. A well kept secret is the evolution of Will Schutz's work over the last 40 years, including many additional instruments to measure new aspects. The new set of measures have been renamed the FIRO Elements, and the umbrella term Human Element refers to the applications and workshops he created to apply the approach to organisations. The most well known is FIRO Element B. Additionally there is Element F (Feelings), Element S (Self-Concept), Element W (Work Relations), Element E (Self-Esteem), Element C (Close Relations), Element P (Parental Relations) and Element O (Organisational Climate). Further information about the Human Element can be found in Schutz's 1994 'The Human Element'

Applying his methods to business has proven over the last 30 years to get real results in terms of: improving individual behaviour, team performance and organisational growth.

The premise to Schutz’s FIRO theory was that people orient themselves toward others along three dimensions: Inclusion (I), Control (C) and Openness (O) (see top row of fig. 1). These three dimensions can be linked to many aspects of Emotional intelligence. For example, a person who has difficulty in situation that require high levels of Inclusion may wish to develop their Ei in areas such as Regard for others, Awareness of others and Interdependence. A person who wants to be less Controlling of others may develop their Flexibility and assertiveness (to be less aggressive). And a person who tends to be overly Open may wants to develop their Emotional control and Goal directedness.

Figure 1: FIRO Theory

Each of these three dimensions (I,C,O) can be explored at different levels of depth from Behaviour (B), to Feelings (F), to the Self concept (S) (see fig.1 above).

Description
The Element B questionnaire results offer quick insights into the ways we want to contribute to, influence, and participate in individual, group, and team relationships. The approach can be used in:

• Leadership training and teambuilding programs

• Coaching and careers counselling

• Communication Workshops

• Executive and Management Development

Psychometrically speaking, Element B is sound, showing high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha on the twelve scales ranges from 0.9-0.93) and test/retest reliability of 0.77 over a four week period.

The questionnaire assesses three basic areas:

Inclusion - how much attention, contact, and recognition we give (and want to give) and how much we want (and get)from others.

Control - how much influence and responsibility, power and dominance we have (and want to have) and how much we want (and get) from others.

Openness - how much quality, depth, intimacy and warmth of interactions we extend (and want to) and how much we want (and get) from others.

Profound Simplicity
In essence, Schutz presented a simple three-part model to describe interpersonal behaviour. He believed that these core dimensions were necessary and sufficient to explain the vasy majority of social human interactions. One of the key attractions of his approach is that it addresses the dynamic aspects of interpersonal relations e.g. in any relationship there is what I do and what I want to do (this could be different) and there is what I get and what I want to get (which again could be different).

The 3 constructs and 4 dynamics combine to form twelve overall scales. One can obtain a score ranging from 0 to 9. Additionally there are further derived scores in teh difference column.