Unleashing your introverted marketer
It’s not nice to feel that you fit into a particular personality box, but understanding a little of how you are wired can really make a big difference in terms of the way you work. Having managed staff for many years now, I’ve had the pleasure of working with all types of people, each with their own set of values and beliefs. Understanding some of your team members personalities and key work values will help to produce a well balanced, and highly functioning team.
One particularly important personality type to note is whether a team member is an extrovert or an introvert. Extroverts are those ones that love to be with people and seem to charge up when they are around others. Introverts can be chatty and outgoing, but ultimately they need their quiet time to process thoughts and recharge.
Although they probably wouldn’t enjoy this, I'm putting the spotlight on the introverts today.
There is a LOT of value in the introverted members of your creative marketing team, you just may not have fully uncovered it. Introverts are incredibly insightful, educated, and researched, you just might not be currently getting this in your creative team meetings. You may be presenting the topic of discussion and being met with silence.
Trust me, the silence doesn't mean they have nothing to add. Here are 5 tips to getting the gold out of the introverts in your team.
1. Always make meeting agendas clear and get them out prior to the meeting – You see the introvert is an inward thinker. They must be planned, and therefore they must be forewarned of what will be discussed. If you can give them the meeting agenda the day before (or a week is better), your highly valuable introverted team member will come with thoughts, notes and ideas, and you’re bound to get some real gold.
2. Everyone gets a chance to talk – In meetings, make sure you give everyone a chance to talk, and to provide their thoughts. If you make this an expectation for each meeting, then your introverted members will make sure they are prepared with something incredibly clever to share with the team.
3. Allow time for feedback on campaign items/concepts – If your designer has come up with some creative, and you want to get everyone’s feedback, why not email it around, or print it out and ask for everyone to take a look and then provide feedback by a set time. It’s much easier for an introvert to have time to themselves to consider the layout, whether the content is clear or if the tag line is catchy enough. You can then come together as a team (to satisfy the extroverts – who are also clever in their own, spontaneous way, and do love to get together) to talk about the creative piece altogether.
4. Make responsibilities clear – When your meeting is over, you will have a list of items that need to be completed or followed up, make sure you are clear with who needs to undertake each of these tasks, and set a deadline for each item. Introverts will be able to go away with a clear direction, and will get to work to complete their tasks on time.
5. Open doors – If you’re a manager, then it is good practice to keep your door open as often as possible, and to also have a sitting area for any team members to come in and chat. Some introverts may find it difficult to approach a manager to ask questions, but if they know that it is common place for people to swing by your office, then they will feel much more comfortable.