Save Money Or Increase Productivity?

More and more research nowadays is going into demonstrating that introverts are invaluable team members who've been sidelined for too long. You know, the people who sit quietly at their desks working while extrovert managers have one meeting after another?

We're not knocking managers or meetings. Both are crucial to the successful running of any organisation. It's just that those "backroom boys and girls" are as crucial. And they need an environment in which to operate as productively as they possibly can.

What an introvert needs when she or he concentrates on something new and difficult:

• a silent office;
• the opportunity to work uninterrupted;
• the opportunity to work alone, and to consult others when needed.

Unfortunately, too many companies try to save money by creating noisy open-plan offices which are said to aid teamwork. In fact, they aid talking instead of working, and they are the very opposite of what the introvert needs.

Next time your company is rethinking the office space, ask yourself how many of your employees would double their productivity if they were allowed to work from home, in a separate office, or with earplugs. You don't have to guess. Their Working Style profile will tell you everything you need to know.