I spent the entirety of my childhood looking up to extroverts. In fact, I spent a good amount of my adult life looking up to them, too. Once I entered the workforce, I still looked up to fellow extroverts at work.
Extroverts command attention in the workplace. Extroverts are great at presenting and green lighting their ideas into reality. Extroverts draw their strength from speaking publicly, engaging with others and infusing their ideas into everything they do. However, extroverts can be a little tough to work with when you are like me, an introvert.
Just like extroverts, introverts at work bring a ton to the table. Introverts are more likely to put their heads down and get to work. Instead of socializing or talking “big ideas”, introverts are ready to hit the ground running.
Here are a few ways to thrive as an introvert at work.
Get Out of the Open Office If You Can
The modern open office is a common nuisance to introverts. In your modern startup, the open office might include a kitchen, a ping pong table, a couch, and a foosball table. Add 20+ people talking, answering calls, eating lunch and….existing, it can get loud very quickly.
Introverts tend to do their best work in solitude, without distractions. To get your best work done, try to find somewhere you can work, "head down", for a long period of time. Maybe there's an outdoor area where you can work for a part of the day. If you are in a coworking space, there are likely pods where you can escape for an hour or so.
If you simply cannot escape the open office, invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Headphones can quickly bring you into your own cone of silence so you can get back to work. The best part? You might even get your company to recoup the cost of the headphones for you.
Focus On Your Strengths and Your Work
As an introvert, you might not be raising your hands at meetings or getting into hot debates with other team members. And contrary to popular belief, introverts thrive in leadership roles just as well as they do in supportive roles.
Your strength is in your work, introvert. Since you are unlikely to boast about your work, your work ethic and your achievements will need to speak for itself. Focus on your strengths, and put them on the table. You will need to escape your comfort zone once in a while. If you, an accountant, are also a great graphic designer and you see a problem you know you can solve, raise your hand.
You don’t need to yell over any C-level executives in a given meeting. Rather, “raising your hand” can be scheduling a 1-1 meeting to discuss a topic or sending a thoughtful email containing ideas.
Reduce Meetings When Possible
It's well-known that 99 percent of meetings are a waste of time.
Okay, I made that statistic up—but I really feel it's true. Meetings are a necessary evil at times. A day full of meetings, however, can become a time suck for an introvert who is not liable to do her best thinking in a room full of people sharing rapid-fire ideas. Introverts typically need time to reflect in order to make important decisions. While meetings are crucial to the health of a business, a day full of meetings translates to two days’ worth of work for the next day.
If you are an introvert at work, take a look at your weekly meetings. Are they taking up more than 30 percent of your work week? If so, think about taking stock of what meetings are actually crucial for you to attend. Taking a look at your calendar is a great way to make sure you're optimizing your time, and being as productive as you can.
Seek Out Alternative Means of Communication
Email is a godsend for the workplace introvert.
There are tons of communication tools available in the modern workplace. If you are not at your best in constant face-to-face meetings, you have plenty of alternative methods on your side. An introvert can use email, Slack, Google Hangouts and more to communicate with managers and other team members. Using tools like email to communicate has a multitude of advantages—like allowing an introvert to thoughtfully lay out plans and ideas to other stakeholders.
In addition, this sort of communication leaves a paper trail. A huge drawback to decisions made in meetings is the “he said/she said” conundrum. Communicating via email or messaging is a clear way to keep track of progress, responsibilities, deadlines and any other information crucial to a certain project or initiative.
Remember—we're strong because of our differences, not in spite of them. You, as an introvert, bring unique strengths and qualities to your team, just like your extroverted coworkers do. Be confident in your skills—and don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. You might just surprise yourself.
