What fields do introverts dominate? In my experience: engineering, research, development. I thought I was introverted until I went to college. Even though we loved his company, one of my college friends preferred to spend hours coding (or gaming) in solitude, seeking human interaction (or food) only when required.
I’d say he’s more of the exception though. Turns out, human interaction “when required” is more required than we introverts like to admit.
As a remote worker since 2016 (i.e., pre-pandemic), I’ve filled this need through 1:1 chats on IM, gif-sharing in team channels, and the small talk before meetings officially start. Sometimes I chimed in and sometimes I didn’t, but I was surrounded by enough extroverts (Were they surrounded by enough extroverts? I don’t know, poor things) that I enjoyed taking the back seat in social settings and observing what happened around me.
I’ve worked with many different teams and learned what I liked best. I worked in both majority-engineering teams and minority-engineering teams where product designers and project managers shared the space. I’ve worked on teams who were super chatty and teams who were much more reserved. I worked at places with strong cultures and some with none. (A culture of none is still a culture…albeit a poor one.)
I appreciate each place for what it was, but a couple of things stand out in the most enjoyable of them. Here are three suggestions to foster an attractive remote environment for introverts like me.
1. Effective tools — Help them get the job done
Nothing aggravates engineers more than tools that don’t work. If our job allows, we’ll find (or make) a better one. You can assume we’ve already tried to fix it. If we’ve failed at either, we’ll finally ask someone else to help. Whatever it is, please fix it — we just want to do our job.
The best tools are going to depend on your type of work, team size, and budget. Remote workers generally need tools for:
- communication (email/chat/video/screen share)
- document storage and version control
- project and task management
- brainstorming and workflow mapping
Effective tooling often depends on fast wifi and VPN infrastructure, which may be out of your domain. If you know it’s a problem, campaign your company to improve it. Your best employees would rather be working than spending a day (or days) getting a laptop reimaged or going through IT.
You don’t have to have the perfect tools off the bat, though it certainly helps. (For tool suggestions, check out this list from HubSpot.) But if any tool, or lack thereof, is a blocker, it needs to be fixed sooner than later.
2. Macro-manage — Trust them to get the job done
Are you worried about an employee’s performance? Do you expect them to respond quickly to you (how quickly is quickly? An hour? 10 minutes?)? Do you want more visibility or to be more hands-on? There are ways to get what you need while taking into account the needs of your workers.
Let’s talk about “core hours,” for example, in the context of remote work. One reason workers love working remotely is because of the flexibility. However, we also understand business needs behind core hours, when all workers are expected to be online. The biggest gripes seem to stem from unclear and thus unmet expectations, which develops into micromanaging.
Some questions to think about:
- What is the purpose of core hours?
- It is for ease of scheduling meetings?
- Is it for responsiveness?
- How quickly do you expect someone to respond?
- Why do they need to respond that quickly?
- Do you expect quick responses from specific members or the entire team?
If the work requires the input of others, consider formalizing it in feedback sessions vs. requiring your staff on-call 8 hours x 5 days. If you want to make sure senior staff are mentoring junior staff, consider building that into performance objectives or pairing them on projects. Set the frequency of status updates, and let them figure out the details.
I don’t care when you do your work. Just do it.
-best manager ever
Be clear on what you expect, and work with your team to find the right balance. Some members need uninterrupted blocks of time (me). Some members need breaks for health reasons (former pregnant me — thank you to my understanding managers at the time). Some members do their best work at night, showing up during the day for only the required meetings.
The best managers I’ve had stated, “I don’t care when you do your work. Just do it.” Trust your employees to do good work, and step in when they give you a reason not to. When you do step in, guide without hand-holding. Check this Harvard Business Review article for strategies on helping without micromanaging.
3. Build relationships — Recognize the individual and the team
Yes, your quiet, reserved engineers want social interaction. Most of them, anyway. It doesn’t have to be personal; we can also talk shop. While culture is built by the entire team, I’ve found it’s largely driven by management and enthusiastic extroverted team members (on behalf of introverts, we appreciate you ❤).
Ways to connect through work:
- Sharing interesting articles
- Partnering peers or senior/junior staff on projects
- Brown bags and paper discussions
- Code reviews, design reviews
- Team building challenges with real prizes like MONEY or FOOD
Ways to connect more personally:
- Chat channel for water cooler talk and gifs
- Birthday / big life event celebrations (if they’re ok sharing)
- Ice-breaker questions after all-hands meetings
- Slide shows to introduce new employees (favorite food, movie, etc.)
You’ll notice I left happy hour out. Introverts dread happy hour, virtual or not. To counter this, run happy hours on work time with an agenda (see: games with prizes), and rebrand it is as team building. Pro: forces introverts to go because it’s on work time. (Don’t worry, they’ll appreciate it once they’re there.) Con: total cost = average rate of compensation x number of team members x length of activity. What is the worth of team bonding? I’ll let you decide.
It takes two to tango
Employees also play a role in creating the culture they want to work in. As a former manager, I advised new staff to schedule quick chats with everyone to learn who they are and what they do. At the minimum, they gain a sense of who’s who; ideally, they find someone they connect with and feel comfortable asking questions to.
This is especially important for introverts who prefer to IM people individually vs. broadcasting on a team channel. If you and your employee have tried everything you could, if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. If it’s not, you’ll know you did your best.
At the end of the day, a great remote working environment means:
- Being able to get the job done
- Being trusted to get the job done
- Being seen as a person* and as part of the team
(*even if that means a very private person, who’s rarely seen 😉)
Let me know how these tips work out for you, or if you’ve got ideas of your own. May your introverts unite to create something wonderful.
Happy working,
Vina
If you like what you read, let’s get in touch. I’d love to hear your thoughts — remotely, of course.
Featured image by Avi Richards on Unsplash.