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Teambuilding Solutions / News / The Introvert and the Team

The Introvert and the Team

Public perception of introverts is often misunderstood. An introvert is not necessarily a shy person, rather it is somebody who is energised by solitary activities and who feels drained by a lot of social interaction. Francesca Gino sums it up when she says introverts are 'generally inward looking and less concerned with the outside world. They enjoy reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings, and they often prefer to avoid social situations'.

An introvert may well dread the idea of working within a team environment. But this shouldn't be the case. Introverts are essential in any team, and make up around a third of the population. In a large meeting, it can feel as if you will only be heard by being the loudest and pushing forward your point. Many extroverts feel comfortable doing this, however, this may be difficult for many introverts who find that they cannot get a word in edgeways!

Research shows that there is no actual difference in the quality of ideas generated by introverts and extroverts. However, potential problems can be highlighted when introverts need to communicate their ideas in a team environment. For example, introverts may find it difficult to talk openly about their creative ideas. This can then be exacerbated as Extroverts are often disinclined to listen to good ideas, and their loud, outgoing behavior in team environments can lead to the further demise in confidence of the introvert.

Dr Marla Gottschalk has outlined some ideas to help introverts make the most of team-membership. One of her ideas is that introverts and extroverts must build mutual respect, by understanding the differences in the way that they process information. An MBTI workshop, (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), is the perfect way to begin looking at these kind of differences. MBTI reflects individual preferences for obtaining energy, information gathering, making decisions and lifestyle. The first of these four preferences is based around whether you are an Introvert or an Extrovert. By knowing this information about yourself and your team, it helps you to understand how your preferences work, both for yourself, and how you can appreciate differences in other team members.

With mutual respect, team members can successfully work together to contribute to the greater goal. Team building activities can illustrate clearly how this could work. Sophia Dembling discusses how she, as an introvert, prefers to work with a team: 'we prefer if our contribution to the larger project is something we can do by ourselves, then bring back to the team. We're most productive when we can focus quietly and independently on a task'.

One teambuilding activity we have developed where introverted team members can really thrive by doing just what Sophia Dembling explains is Emperors Aqueduct. This event combines a range of different activities and is perfect for team development. At the start of the event, a specified budget for materials is divided between teams but the funding is not sufficient for the team to build their Aqueduct. However, the Daily Papyrus becomes available and the teams can play the Egyptian Stock Market to try to raise more funds for their building project. There is also an opportunity for team challenges to be completed too in order to raise further funds. Whilst extroverted members of the team get busy with collaborative team challenges, the introverts are able to take on the role of observing the stock market or planning their construction. The information they gather is then relayed back to the team so that decisions can be made jointly that will determine their overall success of the task.

Our indoor team building activity, Countdown, is another perfect example of a situation where Introverts and Extroverts can work together to successfully complete the task in hand. The activity is based around a box which contains details of 101 challenges and puzzles with a mixture of physical, cerebral and team challenges. As such, there are activities that suit every type of person. From experience we note that extroverted members of the team are quick to take on the physical challenges, such as completing 30 press ups in succession. Introverted members of the team on the other hand, spend their time quietly completing the brainteasers and puzzles. To get the highest score possible in this activity, teams do need to complete a wide range of challenges so the different types complement each other in their pursuit of success.

Introverts and Extroverts are equally essential in a balanced team, and they can work together without the ideas of an Introvert being lost among the crowd. Facilitated team building events can illustrate these team dynamics and help develop teams so that every member is able to contribute to the overall project without feeling drained, uninvolved or frustrated.

Countdown

Countdown
Absolutely fantastic, and everybodies feedback was excellent. Many Thanks!...


Kite Making

Kite Making
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and Pete for your facilitation of the Kite activity yesterday. Feedback from the team has been fantastic, we all enjoyed it immensely and look forward to reviewing the ads & photos....


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Venue Treasure Hunts
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The Great Decoration Bake Off!

The Great Decoration Bake Off!
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Teambuilding Activities

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The day was a complete success and Andy, Steph and the team were brilliant. Steph was very organised and always easy to contact in the lead up to the day. Andy met is on site a few weeks before which helped me to see how everything would work. The eq...



I have to say that we had a brilliant 2 days at Careys Manor, the team building exercise was seriously good fun and brought us all together in a way that we hadn't previously. The dinner was excellent, and we ended up in the pub playing games and hav...


Emperors Aqueduct

Emperors Aqueduct
The team at Team Building Solutions are brilliant. We find the tasks they do real help our staff come out of their shells, and definitely work better as a team. Quarterly team building sessions are now a regular feature our ongoing training sessions....


Teambuilding Activities

Teambuilding Activities
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Clay Shooting

Clay Shooting
Just wanted to thank you and the team for a terrific event yesterday. Everyone, without exception, really enjoyed the clay shooting so please pass on our thanks to Andy and Pete for their time, guidance and sense of humour ... and for laying on such ...


Country Sports

Country Sports
My contact was Steph who was very professional to the point of even on her holiday she was emailing me with updates. On the day of the event Andy & the team were very helpful. We had a great morning with the events chosen. Would recommend Teambui...


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Food & Drink
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iPad Film Making

iPad Film Making
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Country Sports

Country Sports
A fantastic day, great fun, the activities made us work together and support each other. I have been asked if we can do it again. Everyone throughly enjoyed it. Andy and the team were super. Hopefully will book our third event with you next year....


All For One

All For One
SDI & All For One - Very good doing the SDI feedback, very interesting. Need to keep this in front of mind when back in the office.
An extremely positive and informative day. Lots of learning to take away and take back into...


Sushi Making

Sushi Making
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The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
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All Activity Ideas

All Activity Ideas
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The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
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Murder Mystery

Murder Mystery
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Canapé Creation
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Dash

Dash
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Countdown

Countdown
The day and staff were all excellent, we had a great day and it really brought everyone together. Many Thanks...


The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
The feedback I had was brilliant, everybody had a really good afternoon and enjoyed the event....


Countdown

Countdown
I just wanted to say thank you for making our event such an energised, dynamic and fun affair last week. Your guys were great, always smiling...You really listened to our brief and aims and adapted the activities to meet our agenda!...


Dash

Dash
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The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
Andy, a quick note to thank you and your team for yesterday's event at Twickenham. It really was a masterclass on how to keep 60 competitive sales folk interested and active for almost three hours! The positive feedback has been flowing in today from...


Country Sports

Country Sports
Thanks for a great event today. All feedback has so far been extremely positive. Thanks...


The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
The feedback is very positive, everyone enjoyed the day and many people even commented that it was the best team building event they had been too!...


All For One

All For One
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Casino Night

Casino Night
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All Activity Ideas

All Activity Ideas
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Teambuilding Activities

Teambuilding Activities
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The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
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All Activity Ideas

All Activity Ideas
Interactive Orienteering Challenge - Just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for yesterday, feedback from everyone has been excellent and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The egg toss was still being mentioned this morning!!! Needl...


Teambuilding Activities

Teambuilding Activities
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Just a quick note to say thank you for your time on Monday, the feedback from the staff I have spoken with has all been very positive! So well worth the effort, I'm just disappointed I didn't have the time to take part....


London Monopoly Treasure Hunt

London Monopoly Treasure Hunt
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Forest Adventures
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Canapé Creation

Canapé Creation
Thank you all had a great time!...



Paul did an excellent job of keeping us interested and sharing his experience with us. He certainly left us wanting more. We had so many questions but not enough time to ask them all. Although we very much heard his message about how important team w...


Sushi Making

Sushi Making
A really food fun season. Thank you...


The Krypton Maze

The Krypton Maze
Thank you so much to you and the guys for helping us with our clients event. Everyone mentioned after how much fun they had throughout the day. I was really impressed with how well organised the day was! From the initial brief to the end, the day's l...





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