Going with the grain

I’m fascinated by the way people differ in their ‘working style’ – how they like to operate at work.   One of my favourite references on this is “Words that Change Minds” by Shelle Rose Charvet.

One way preferences differ is in how people like to work in relation to other people:

• Some people like to work alone.
• Most people like to work alongside others – on our own projects, but in proximity to other people working on their projects.
• Some like to work with others – on the same team, working on the same things together.

The first group are probably loving it right now.

The second are getting by with home-working and online interaction.    For example, over the last week, I’ve seen ‘virtual co-working spaces’ set up that suit these people well.

Spare a thought for the third group.

How could you help them work together?

We may never go back to sharing an office, but we still need to work with the grain of people’s working styles if we can.