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From less social interaction to more opportunities for autonomy, if you’re an introvert, chances are you’ve enjoyed working remotely over the past year plus. On the other hand, if you’re an extrovert, you may have found yourself less productive and more irritable at home, struggling to recreate the external stimuli you had in the office to motivate you. So what happens in a hybrid model? With many introverts opting to work remotely and extroverts more likely to want to go back to the office, how do you ensure your entire team remains engaged, productive, and happy?
1. Give Introverts Time and Space.
If some of your employees are now in the office and some are at home, it’s especially important to ensure that the introverts on your team aren’t overshadowed, especially in team meetings. If introverts are interrupted during the discussion by loud personalities, they may not try to speak again. If this happens repeatedly, they can become disengaged or feel sidelined, especially if they’re working remotely. During hybrid meetings, it becomes easy to overlook the virtual participants on the call and forget to include them in the conversation. It’s your job as the manager to make sure everyone is heard. Use tools like a chat bar or hand-raising feature to designate who has the floor to speak, and practice waiting five to ten seconds before jumping in. It can also be helpful to send questions out in advance so everyone has more time to prepare. And after the meeting ends, encourage people to email you their thoughts or create a Google doc where people can share input.
2. Give Extroverts Airtime
If you find that your extroverts are struggling to feel connected, set up a regular face-to-face or video meeting with them so that they can talk things through with you directly. You can also encourage the use of breakout groups on Zoom or Slack so that they have the airtime to talk out their ideas without dominating a team wide meeting.
For extroverts back in the office, foster the return of “watercooler moments.” Research shows that during the transition to remote work, these social, relationship-building activities are what people missed the most. They help extroverts find spontaneous moments of social connection during the day, keep managers in the loop of what’s really going on in the company, and build camaraderie, morale, and trust between team members.
It’s important to also acknowledge that not all extroverts will be returning to the office. To avoid excluding those staying home from social activities, organize more optional hybrid team bonding events, ranging from a Zoom lunch chat to a hybrid meeting happy hour. Hybrid lunches have become the new social cafeteria, where team members can come together to share a 15-30 minute meal, whether they’re in-person or online.
3. Encourage a range of communication styles.
The key for leaders is to create a digital environment that fosters and encourages a range of communication styles so that everyone can engage authentically.
Regardless of where your team members fall on the extroversion-introversion spectrum, the overnight switch to virtual work over a year ago forced all of us to adjust to uncomfortable circumstances. These lessons will make us stronger and more inclusive as we transition to a hybrid model of work in the long-term, as some of us start to return to the office and others continue to work remotely.
Written by Erica Dhawan, Expert in Management Skills
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