Introvert

When you meet someone new at work, you will probably react in the same way whether you are an introvert or extrovert. A shake of the hands, and few words of greeting and then move on to your job. However, that is not the case in many other work situations, such as meeting and gatherings. The extrovert will be a ‘people’ person, where the introvert will be the one that sits quietly on their own nursing their drink.

Bearing this in mind, how does an introvert make a good first impression?

Look Them In the Eye

This is exactly what an extrovert will do when they meet someone new, but an introvert will be looking anywhere other than the face. Imagine you need to know the color of their eyes and look straight at them. Give them a nice smile at the same time and you will appear to be much more confident than you are feeling inside.

Once you have made that initial contact, it will get easier to chat to them, but you should not start looking all over the place because you still feel a bit nervous. You should continue to look straight at them, although do not make it look like a stare.

Watch Your Body Language

There are some actions that will make you look doubtful and even hostile. Folding your arms or linking your hands both have this effect.  Instead, you should try to relax your shoulders, arms, and hands and then your whole posture will show that you trust the other person.

When you shake their hand, do it with firmness, as a weak handshake is said to show a weak personality.

This is a much better way for someone new to get a first impression of you.

Find Things In Common

Instead of relying on the usual business chitchat, ask something that is a bit more unusual to see if you can find things you may have in common. For instance, ask about their hobbies and see if you have any shared interests. If they are keen on making things you can let them know that you know how to make your own hoodie. If they want to travel the world, you can discuss some of the places you have been too, and see if they have already visited them too. It could be they love horses or reading, but with so many interests around, it can be quite easy to find a common factor somewhere.

The more things you find that you have in common the more you will relax and the conversation will flow without you having to make too much effort.

Imitate Their Gestures

This does not mean you should do this in a way a comedian would, to make fun of them. If they are slouching, for instance, you should not stand too straight and tall.  If they are speaking quickly, you do the same, just as you should slow down your speech if that is how they talk.

For an extrovert this is easy and they do these things without even thinking about it. For an introvert, they have to make a conscious effort but the results are that they can become more comfortable talking to a stranger.

Change Attitudes

An introvert is usually nervous about introducing themselves to new people, and the more important they perceive that person to be the worse the problem gets. You can interrupt the inner dialogue that makes you feel this way by standing in front of a mirror and repeating the same word over and over again. It should be something simple like nice or great, and you should say it in as many different voices and tones as you can muster.

Then when you meet someone for the first time, you start the process of repeating the word in your head. This interrupts the mindset of being nervous and helps you get through the worst few minutes of greeting a new acquaintance.

It Is Not Easy

None of these things are easy for an introvert to do and they can take a concerted effort. They need to be done if you want to be successful though and you can take heart from the fact the some of the best-known people are introverts. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are two prime examples of introverts that have achieved success, and then from history, there are the likes of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton who were the same.

Your workers are the most valuable asset when it comes to your business. Yet, still, companies chose to cut investment in areas that could not only attract but also help to retain the best people for the job. Of course, this is something that can seriously affect your business chances of long-term success. Therefore it is worth reading my post below which can help you recruit and hold on to the best people.  

Your work environment is poor.

We often forget that the environment at work can have a massive effect on our lives. After all, it is the places we spend the majority of our day! What this means is that if your business environment or office is not up to scratch, it could be directly affecting the morale and the overall job satisfaction of your workers, and in some case be contributing to them leaving.

Luckily, there are some things that you can so about this. The first is pretty easy, and it’s to give your workplace a facelift. This means a coat of fresh paint on the walls, new furniture, and even a few plants if possible to make things more comfortable.

Of course, this is only a quick fix and to have a more lasting effect you do need to go into a little more detail. In particular, it can be useful to collect data on the MBTI of your workers with a quiz like the one at https://psychcentral.com and then tailor the working environment to better suit their needs. This is because often introverts and extroverts thrive in very different types of spaces.

In fact, those that register further along the more introverted side of the spectrum will nearly always prefer to have a private space in which they can retreat when then need to focus or process something. Alternatively, extroverts may do much better in an open plan environment, or even in a floating capacity where they get to interact with many different people during the day. In fact, matching people’s personalities with their work environment in this way is something that can help people feel much happier at work, reduce their stress levels, and will ultimately assist you with improving employee retention.  

Your recruitment process is lacking.

Your business may not be keeping the best staff because your initial recruitment process may not be up to scratch. What this means is that it’s impossible to keep the best people for the job, if you’re not getting the pick of the crop to start with.

Happily, there are some tactics you can use to improve your initial recruitment process, without scaring the best people off. First of all, asking them to complete an application form like the examples at www.totaljobs.com along with a detailed statement on why they want the job is a great idea, as this weeds out people that aren’t actually looking to work specifically for your business, and are just trying their luck at any place that will have them.

Secondly, including someone from upper management in the interview process is essential, as this will ensure that you can get a good skill and personality match for the role you are looking fill. To that end, it’s best not to allow agencies to take control of the process at this stage.

Lastly, to ensure you get the best people that will be well suited to your company and so have potential to stay for the long term you must give recruits the opportunity to ask questions, negotiate what they need as suggested at www.forbes.com, and see the business as it really is. Otherwise, you are just wasting their time, and they are likely to be much less satisfied once they get into the role, and so are more likely to leave your business for another employer.

You don’t offer enough benefits.

No one works for the sheer joy of it, and all of us have bills and responsibility that need paying every month. Therefore while the salary should not be the only thing that an employee considers, it is still important concerning retention.

What this means is that you need to offer the best salary and benefits package that you can possibly afford, if you want to retain the best staff over the long term.  This may include paying over the industry standard, including paid sick days, and even offering medical and health insurance as a sweetener.

Also, don’t forget that smaller benefits like offering a discounted gym membership, something you can get some advice on arranging at www.linkedin.com, as well as company parties, and company cars can also make a massive difference to how your employees view their job.

There is no progression and training on offer.

A major mistake when it comes to creating the best staff is not providing enough opportunity for progression and training. After all, if the top salary and position can be reached within a few years, it’s only natural that workers will go somewhere that their potential is less impeded.

To remedy this it’s essential to implement a policy of internal promotion that allows not only the right people to move up into management and senior positions, but also that provide more room from progression at the bottom of the ladder.

Now, this can be something that is difficult because it may mean having to cut back on the board of directors, or those in very senior position to free up funds and space for those below.

Of course, in some cases, this just may not be possible, but all is not lost, because there are other ways to approach this problem. One method would be to offer career advancing training that is provided and accredited by an outside institution.

By subsidizing such training you not only demonstrate to your employees that they are appreciated, and offer them something of value, but also you can help to advance and improve your business with the techniques that they learn. Additionally, many companies that offer such training programs also have a clause that requires repayment of at least some of the cost if a worker chooses to leave before a certain period of time, something that can act as a further incentive to stay.

You don’t provide the rights tools for the job.

Imagine being a master carpenter, but only being given access to a single, unreliable chisel for every job that needs completing. It would be very frustrating, and over time it may even lead you to abandon this job and move on to another instead.

Well, this is precisely what will happen in your business if you don’t provide reliable tools and equipment for the tasks that need completing. Of course at the top of this list in our now largely digital world is having up to date devices along with a reliable internet connection.

The latter being something that site like www.optimum.com can help you with. After all, you have little hope in keeping the best people, if they are continually being interrupted and hindered when trying to work.

You are not prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Lastly, as a society, we are finally waking up to the wisdom of prioritizing staff wellbeing, After all, if people are happy and healthy, they are much more likely to be productive and stay in the post for a longer time.

Of course, there are plenty of ways to promote staff wellbeing in the workplace including offering flexible work hours, health insurance, company wise counseling services and even mindful and yoga activities as part of the working day.

Yes, it may seem relatively small and unimportant to start the day with a few minutes of quiet focus on the breath, but the advantages as discussed at www.theguardian.com can actually be huge. In fact, they may just lead to a reduction in stress and an increase in job satisfaction that will ensure you get to retain the best people for the success of your company, over the long term.

There are so many people that are under the impression that being an introvert means that you are shy, unassuming and quiet. Quite the opposite. What it means is that you feel drained by people around you who have far more energy than you do; it means standing back and assessing a situation before leaping into it is important to you. Being an introverted business owner simply means that you aren’t in the face of those working around you, but you simply take note of your surroundings, analyse behaviours and work toward building a business that will thrive.

As an introvert, you’re expected not to thrive in the business world, but you don’t have to become an extrovert just to be successful. You can have just as much success in your business as someone loud and overly confident. Just ask Bill Gates; he managed it! From enjoying the ability to outsource to managed service providers for your IT needs and enjoying the solace of working from home, introverted business owners have an awful lot going for them to help them thrive. However, there are often times where working from home in a one-person team can be difficult, and you need the extra help from outside talent. You can set your business up to work for you and your introverted personality, and here are a few ways that you can do that:

1. Your business model has to work for you. You don’t need to be the life and soul of a networking event, or speak on stage to thousands of people. What you need is to work out how to reach your customers in a way that makes you comfortable, whether this is invisibly through podcasts (heard but not seen) or you do it through blog posts and social media engagement.
2. Partnering strategically and outsourcing functions of your business is going to boost your productivity massively. We mentioned outsourcing your IT services, but you can also do it for your sales, marketing and branding if you want to. This lets you focus on the things that are most important to your business and frees up your time.
3. Don’t be afraid to take breaks. As an introvert, your energy depletes quickly and you need to remember that your brain will take longer to switch between tasks. If you need a rest, take one. Learn to listen to what your body is telling you and you won’t feel too overwhelmed.
4. Automation is your best friend. Those tedious tasks that take up a lot of your time – such as administrative junk – can be automated. Emails, social media posts and even follow up sales text messages can be all automated to make life easier for you and help you to spend more time on the things that you love to do.

Being an introvert doesn’t mean that you can’t boss your business; you just do it differently to most. Focus, plan ahead and you’ll find that success you crave.

If you work in construction, then you will inevitably find yourself having to manage subcontractors at some point in your career. Construction is not an industry that lends itself to single-business work completion; instead, most companies will work in concert with other specialists in order to achieve their goals.

For an introvert, the management of these subcontractors is always challenging. Your natural reserve can make the process inherently difficult, and you may find that you shy away from contractor management in order to reduce the stress you experience from such a task. However, as mentioned, working in construction will always involve working with subcontractors, so rather than avoiding the task, consider the ideas below in an effort to manage the situation as best you can.

#1 – Do your research

If you wish to limit the amount of time you have to spend actively interacting with subcontractors, then research is the best answer. If you spend time researching exactly the subcontractor you need, then you can keep interactions to a minimum. If you’re looking for a broad-strokes contractor, then click through websites and look for terms like “comprehensive” in company descriptions; this indicates the contractor in question will take on more generalized roles. However, if you have a niche, specialist task such as earth shoring or ground improvement, take the time to click for more information on niche, specialist subcontractors who specialize in this area. Ideally, you want to know that the subcontractor in question actually performs the work you require prior to contacting them, as this will help to streamline the entire process.

#2 – Use contracts to your advantage

Contracts can be as expansive as you need them to be, so use this opportunity to stipulate a range of requirements that you may otherwise have had to insist on in person. This provides the opportunity to ensure both you and the contractor are on the same page right from the start, and should also eliminate a need for a constant dialog between both parties. To do this, add sections to your contract that meet “what if” questions, such as “what if the project is delayed due to bad weather?” – by having this outlined from the start, you can minimize the need for personal interaction should such a scenario develop.

#3 – Group together tasks

As an introvert, you will likely experience difficulty interacting with others, especially on an ad-hoc basis. To combat this, set aside an hour from your day to go through all queries, discussions, and related activities with your subcontractors. When that hour is complete, all further questions or discussions can wait until the next day to be resolved. You can even make this clear to subcontractors in the contract, as mentioned above: just insert a clause saying you will only be available between 10am and 11am, and all queries will only be answered during these time periods. This ensures that all relevant queries can be answered in a timely fashion, and guarantees you the freedom to go about your usual work duties for much of the working day.

In conclusion

Hopefully, you will find the tips for managing subcontractors in the construction industry useful; good luck!