If you are considering using an outside consultant to introduce type in your organization, consider the following guidelines. (In addition, you may wish to read the detailed ethical guidelines for administering the MBTI instrument.)

1. There is only one Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality assessment tool. Before using an instrument, inquire about its origins and ask if reliability and validity studies have been done so that you know it has been proven to measure what it says it does.
2. All those who use the Indicator with either individuals or groups must be qualified to purchase and use the instrument. Although some practitioners are qualified through their graduate education, official qualifying programs offer in-depth knowledge and understanding of the use of the instrument.
3. The core concept behind the MBTI instrument is the value of all types and the importance of a diversity of types in any group endeavor. One of the payoffs of type is realizing that we often surround ourselves with our own types and thus miss the perspectives offered by others. Any personality type resource you use should clearly respect this concept.
4. It is not ethical to use the MBTI instrument for hiring or for deciding job assignments. However, knowledge of type theory may help people recognize why they may be satisfied or dissatisfied with their jobs, and knowledge of type always helps teams and co-workers communicate better.
5. All bona fide MBTI administrators will insist that taking the Indicator be voluntary and that regardless of the Indicator results, respondents are free to choose their own best-fit type. If someone in your organization does not want to take the Indicator, he or she can still attend the program. Often a person will decide to take the instrument once he or she understands its applications and is assured of its ethical use.
6. A core ethic of the MBTI assessment tool is that results are given only to the respondent. It is up to each individual to share his or her results. The issue of confidentiality is tricky because organizations may feel they are not getting full value if they cannot use the results. Often a consultant can respect confidentiality but still give group profiles or information in other forms helpful to the organization. If individual results are not kept confidential, people will not be honest and the benefits of using the MBTI instrument will not be effective.
7. Regardless of the pressure to keep training sessions short, personality type is most beneficial when the practitioner can introduce the concepts and give participants meaningful feedback within a minimum of four hours. If you cannot give practitioners enough time, they may offer to limit the session to a discussion of type theory, saving the feedback for another time. Remember that feedback is a requirement of ethically administering the MBTI instrument.