Looking for an MBTI alternative for your teams?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the most recognised ways to talk about personality. If you want something focused specifically on how people work, and how a team performs together. Here is how the TMS Global suite compares.
What MBTI measures
MBTI describes general personality type across well-known preference pairs and sorts people into sixteen types. Its roots are in Jungian psychology, and it is most often used for broad self-awareness rather than work-specific team design.
What TMS Global offers
Where MBTI describes personality in general, the TMS suite is built for the workplace. The Team Management Profile measures work preferences and translates them into team roles and the Types of Work a team needs to cover, and the wider suite extends into values, change and leadership:
| TMS Global product | What it focuses on |
| Team Management Profile (TMP) | How people prefer to work, mapped to eight team roles and the Types of Work a team must cover |
| QO2 (Opportunities-Obstacles Profile) | How people approach risk, change and challenge — their balance of seeing opportunities and obstacles |
| Windows on Work Values (WoWV) | The core work values that shape how a person and a team operate |
| Linking Leader Profile (LLP|360) | 360-degree feedback on the Linking Skills effective leaders use to connect a team |
| Team Signals | A regular team-level check on how the team is working together |
| TeamOS | An always-on digital platform that brings TMS insights together and turns them into clear, everyday actions — with AI coaching to support continuous team development. |
The research behind the Team Management Profile
The figures below relate specifically to the TMP, the flagship instrument the suite is built around.
- Reviewed by the British Psychological Society (2003, updated from 1995 and 2000 reviews).
- Backed by 40+ years of research and 100+ published research papers.
- Validated across 683,000+ individual responses and 159 professions.
- Trusted by 2.5+ million professionals across 190 countries.
- Developed in Australia (Queensland) by Dr Charles Margerison and Dr Dick McCann.
Source: Team Management Profile — tms.global
How the suite maps to MBTI
| If MBTI gives you… | TMS Global adds… |
| A general personality type | Work preferences in a work context (TMP) |
| Individual self-awareness | A shared team language and role map |
| A static type label | Team coverage analysis through the Types of Work |
| A personality lens | Values (WoWV), change orientation (QO2), leadership 360 (LLP|360), a team pulse (Team Signals), and continuous team development with AI coaching (TeamOS) |
At-a-glance comparison
| MBTI | TMS Global | |
| What it measures | General personality type | Work preferences and team roles |
| Context | Broad self-awareness | Workplace and team performance |
| Team-level view | Indirect | 8 roles + Types of Work coverage |
| Independent review | See Myers-Briggs published material | TMP reviewed by the BPS (2003) |
| Origin | United States | Australia (Queensland) |
Three ways to put it to work
There are three ways to put TMS Global to work for your team:
| Route | Best when |
| TeamOS | You want continuous, always-on team development with AI coaching in the daily workflow — ideal for ongoing development, onboarding a new team or leader, a moment of change such as a restructure, or rolling out from a single team to organisation-wide. |
| Work with an accredited practitioner | You want a facilitated workshop or practitioner-led debrief — ideal for a team offsite, deep individual leadership development, or where you already work with a TMS practitioner. |
| Become an accredited practitioner | You want to deliver TMS profiles yourself. Accreditation is lifelong with no annual renewal fees, open to managers, coaches, educators and anyone developing teams, and recognised across 190 countries — most practitioners start with the TMP. |
Key Takeaways
- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) focuses on general personality types, while the TMS Global suite specializes in workplace dynamics.
- TMS Global offers tools such as the Team Management Profile, which measures work preferences and assigns team roles.
- TMS Global enhances MBTI by providing a work context and shared team language for improved performance.
- The suite includes various profiles addressing work values, leadership skills, and continuous development with AI coaching.
- You can implement TMS Global through TeamOS or by working with accredited practitioners, or becoming an accredited practitioner yourself.
Not sure which fits? Tell us about your team and we will point you to the right starting point. Contact us →