At the beginning of the transition to remote work, business leaders around the world were worried about their extroverted employees being able to handle remote work. However, as the novelty of remote work has been turned into the norm for many industries, it’s the introverted employees that might be struggling after all. Here are ways to make sure you’re taking care of your introverted employees as they work from home:
Be Selective About Meetings
Introverts need nonverbal cues and clear responses to carry good conversations. It can be draining for introverts to have neither of those during the endless stream of video calls. To keep introverted employees from being exhausted by meetings, select your meetings more carefully. If it can be communicated in a written message, consider emailing your employees instead. Getting rid of unnecessary meetings will help introverted employees have enough stamina for remote work.
Offer Flexible Work Hours
In addition to remote work, employees may also be dealing with, homeschooling and increased caretaker responsibilities. For introverts, this means losing the alone time they need to recharge and to focus on their work. To help your employees deal with this, consider offering more flexible work hours. With flexible hours, introverted employees would be able to work at the times their house is the quietest and the times they’re able to get the best work done.
Create Social Opportunities
This may seem counterintuitive, but just because introverts need to be alone to recharge doesn’t mean that they don’t need social interaction as much as anyone else. Unlike extroverts who like having lots of friends, introverts prefer deeper connections with fewer people. Because of this, it would be better to have social activities that allow for deep conversation and getting to know others. If you make sure to include introverts in social activities, you will have more dedicated and energetic remote employees.
Follow this advice to better support all of your remote employees.