Introvert Pride

If you asked any introvert to name the one thing they've appreciated the most about this new reality ushered in by the pandemic, working from home is sure to be a popular answer.  That being said, in light of the fact that Covid is beginning to recede, it's no surprise many fear this flexibility will soon be coming to an end.  It's not to say that extroverts don't value being able to work in their pajamas and binge on Netflix while crunching numbers.  But on the whole, introverts -- who are partial to written communication -- are less enthusiastic about a return to face-to-face interactions.  Because our social batteries drain more easily than those of our more extroverted counterparts, we haven't found ourselves in need of a recharge quite as often these past few years.  Sure, Teams and Zoom meetings aren't always fun, but we'll take them any day of the week over having to be present for pointless brainstorming sessions and water cooler conversations. Not o...

If you were to ask most people at my company whether they'd want to retain the ability to work from home post-pandemic, they would give you an unequivocal "yes." And that includes extroverts whom, though they miss the in-person interactions characteristic of a traditional workplace setting, recognize the perks of working remotely, like working in one's pajamas, saving on gas, being able to get out of bed and walk right to work, and in some cases even spending more time with family. It's plain to see why introverts would be the biggest (maybe not the loudest, but definitely biggest) supporters of this kind of arrangement: We can leverage our preference for communicating in writing (via email, Teams, IM, etc.) -- which affords us the opportunity to think through what we want to say --without feeling as much pressure to be "quick" on our feet. It's nice not to have to attend lengthy in-person meetings where nothing gets resolved. Phone/Teams meetings ca...