Chapter 22

MIXING AND MATCHING FOR ULTIMATE TEAM COOPERATION

YOU DON’T NECESSARILY NEED every newly hired employee to take a personality test, “because introverts and extroverts are actually very easy to differentiate,” says author Susan Cain. As a manager, your biggest goal is, of course, to make greater and more masterful use of the abilities of each team member. You can create the best situation—a kind of one plus one is greater than two—by creating synergy using everyone’s innate talents. Many studies have proven that a team composed of both introverts and extroverts is highly effective. Determining how to fully combine and bring the greatest skills and results of both introverts and extroverts to the team, as well as to inspire the best team chemistry, is the job of the manager.

There’s an art to creating such a team: How do you simultaneously manage the group and inspire both types of employees? How do you get introverts to express their opinions and ideas and get extroverts to settle down and listen? Which type of management style is most conducive to building a stage for this personality dichotomy so they can mutually benefit each other? The real operations of the team certainly need to be based on team situations and incorporate plenty of communication and tweaking after trial and error. Maybe you can try out a couple of the following methods!

UNDERSTANDING TEAM MEMBERS

Introverts and extroverts have their own methods to their madness that just aren’t the same. Even though it’s easy to distinguish between the personality types, it’s not necessarily easy to manage either one. The good news is that the introvert-extrovert spectrum shows a normal bell curve distribution, meaning that most people possess both introverted and extroverted qualities. The only difference is in the proportions.

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino believes that “leaders always need to begin from a place of understanding their team members.” Some people like independent work, and others like to discuss business openly with a group before making a decision. Some employees can work on a single project for long periods of time whereas others are great at multitasking. After managers figure out the preferences and expertise of their team members, they need to have a way of getting everyone to bring their strengths to the table. It doesn’t matter whether they need to decide the method for rewarding subordinates or assign the right type of work to the right employees; managers all rely on their everyday observation as well as communication.

DISCUSSING AND COMMUNICATING OPENLY AND HONESTLY

In the process of interviewing several employees and managers, I found that both sides having different expectations was one main reason for friction between the parties, or, in the end, for a parting of ways between an employee and the company. I often heard the phrases “The work I do and what I was told I would be doing aren’t the same,” “The boss is always demanding that I do something that can’t be done. He wants to force me to become someone I’m not,” and other similar complaints. Sometimes, the reason introverts aren’t up-front about their gripes and dissatisfaction is because of the socialization process; it is during this process that introverts learn how to wear an extrovert mask well enough to float on by in the workplace to survive.

Instead of trying to clearly delineate whether coworkers are introverts, extroverts, extroverts with a sprinkling of introversion, or introverts who can carry themselves as if they’re extroverts, it might be better to be directly open and honest about who everyone is and to discuss things without biases. For example, people in the office could ask, “Under ideal circumstances, what’s your most effective working style?” or “Are you up to joining work-related networking events? If so, how many times a week is your limit?” By taking part in this kind of conversation, we can largely hit the mark in understanding everyone’s preferences. You don’t need to take up a predetermined position in the process, such as meekly saying something like, “I like a team that stays in the office and doesn’t join social occasions.”

BEING OPEN TO DESIGNING FLEXIBLE WORK TIMES AND STYLES

The flexibility mentioned in this section doesn’t necessarily mean work-hour flexibility; instead it refers to the kind of flexibility that allows introverts and extroverts to use their own master skill sets to arrange their own work. For example, let’s say an office has a rule that no meetings can take place before 12:30. Colleagues can use this freed-up morning time in the office to focus on projects independently.

Another example is when companies like mine allow employees to work remotely from home on Wednesdays and Fridays. Working remotely allows employees to use their time more effectively. Having predetermined in-office days can guarantee that when a discussion is necessary, it can be scheduled when all can take part.

At the end of the day, these rules only have one goal in mind—providing flexibility. This gives everyone the power to create the most effective work style for themselves. In this way, extroverts have a chance to find people to talk to so they can recharge their extrovert batteries, and introverts can easily use their own work time to their advantage.

ENCOURAGING INTROVERTS TO SPEAK, ENCOURAGING EXTROVERTS TO LISTEN

Northwestern School of Management professor Leigh Thompson’s research shows that in a meeting with just six people, two people do 60 percent of the talking. The higher the number of meeting attendees, the worse this dynamic gets. When most people just sit in the conference room without uttering a peep, it’s impossible to get contributions from everyone. Not only does this show that meetings have lost their meaning, it represents a waste of resources. If you want meeting effectiveness to reach a peak, first provide all the attendees with meeting materials and make a rule that everyone needs to finish reading the materials before the meeting. Prior to the start of the meeting, you can also explain that everyone needs to contribute. Or you can first talk one-on-one with the people on the team who like talking the most and encourage them to listen more, think, and keep an open mind toward others’ ideas.