Introverts and telecommuting
This morning while I was driving around doing errands, the local pbs station was having a discussion about telecommuting. The guest had researched the success of people that work from home part time. That is, they work full time but only work from home a few days a week. The part of the program that I thought interesting was from a caller that said he does personality assessment and gives advice to employers.
His input was that when interviewing people for the option to telecommute, it is important to determine whether a person is an introvert or extrovert. His company has found that introverts do better working from home than extroverts do, as introverts are more energized by being alone, less distracted and happier--therefore more productive than if they are working in an office environment where they can be overwhelmed by noise, conversations of co-workers etc. Compared to extroverts who are energized by being around people, conversation, and more (to introverts) distracting activity--things which help them be more productive in that situation vs working at home. These were generalizations of course, but they definitely rang true to me.
Here is a link to the article about today's topic, and on the left of the page is a place to click to hear the actual audio. You'll have to listen for the caller 'Steve', who if I remember right was near the end of the segment.
http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2013/01/07/29964/how-telecommuting-splits-stretches-and-eats-your-t/
= new reply since forum marked as read
.... I do prefer to be alone - 97% of the time - and being allowed to work from home a couple days a week has been great:my house chores are done, my work is done, I'm ALOT more relaxed. However, I also find that the more I isolate, the more I am unable/uncomfortable trying to relate to/interact with people when I'm in situations that it's required.
I've also found after long stretches of being joyfully alone with my dogs and a couple good books, I find myself bored and need to do something - even if it's just grocery shop - to get out of my head and out of the house.
Does that make any sense?
[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]It's unreasonable to expect anyone to be a people person or alone 100% of the time. We need variety and we have different moods. For me, working at home is a choice and I greatly prefer it.
Just as I can only handle so much social interaction, though, I know when I need to get out and be among people for a while. I think the key is recognizing when and how to achieve the level of solitude or sociability needed.