5 Ways to Make Your Meetings More Introvert-Friendly

Meetings are a constant at work, but they’re not always catered to everyone’s social preferences. For introverts especially, everyday meetings can be a big energy-drainer. In the age of work-from-home and zoom fatigue, research suggests that this effect is heightened, extending beyond just introverted teammates. 

So how can meetings be adjusted to remain productive but still make better use of your team’s individual social preferences, time and energy? Here are some of our best, most easy-to-implement tips!

1. Evaluate - Do we really need to have a meeting?

Not all meetings are relevant for all involved. If the topic being discussed doesn’t directly involve all team members, opt to hold a meeting with those that are involved and then save a recording for others to refer back to as needed. If 1:1s or department-specific communication channels are better-suited, use those instead.

📝 Tip: When holding a meeting, evaluate how relevant the subject matter is to everyone attending. Would some team members benefit more from a quick list of notes/updates?

2. Collect some data around meeting preferences

Everyone has different working styles. Hold a poll to see how people prefer their meetings and meeting-hours. Here are some great questions to ask:

• What time of the day do you prefer to have the majority of your meetings in?

• Do you like breaks between meetings?

• Would you benefit from an agenda/plan for meetings given out before-hand?

• How can our meetings accommodate you better? 

  • Do you have any preferences for a virtual or in-person meeting set-up?

• What do you find most useful in team meetings?

• What do you find most disruptive to productive meetings?

• What do you think about the length of our meetings?

• Do you feel you are given enough opportunity to provide your input during our meetings? If not, how can we improve this?

Traditional meetings place a large emphasis on speaking and face-to-face communication. These questions will help you tailor meetings with your team to better suit their diverse needs. 

3. Clearly outline the purpose of each meeting ahead of time

Screenshot of a meeting description on google calendar. Title of meeting: Marketing-Sales Sync. Description:

1. Review progress on goals

• Sales report on new business (closed month-to-date and expected close by EOM)

• Marketing report on monthly MQLs, social and content metrics

2. Adjust tactics if needed

• Reflection on what's not working, what needs to change

Whether this means filling in a quick description or agenda in Google Calendar or sending a Slack channel message, it’s always helpful to give clarity around a meeting. Introverts are often listeners and deep thinkers. They will likely appreciate the time to prepare and compose their thoughts for a meeting in advance. 

4. Use engagement to make participation easier

Not everyone likes to take the lead or participate verbally in meetings. Encourage use of the chat feature in virtual meetings so that everyone is able to provide their own input. Written responses also help introverts reflect internally. 

If new members are joining your team, use icebreakers to acquaint coworkers with each other. Try to ease into these though - don’t expect people to actively participate when they’ve just joined the team. Forcing high-spirited activities onto your team can also be overwhelming for some introverts and can make conversation less natural. 

Team Bonding has a list of ideas for icebreaker activities to engage introverts and new coworkers. Overall, they suggest that you:

• Minimize activities with physical touch

• Don’t force participation

• Split into smaller groups to help people connect better

• Warn people in advance of introductions so that they can prepare

Not seeing much engagement in meetings (not just icebreakers)? Your team might not feel psychologically safe enough at work to participate - read more about this here. 

5. After a lengthy meeting or discussion, give people time to recharge

Back-to-back meetings are too easy to have online. As a manager, make sure your direct reports have time for breaks between team-wide meetings, 1:1s, business reviews and other long sessions. Giving them time to recharge will prevent burnout and will make it easier for them to re-focus onto their next task. 

Encourage your team to also schedule their own breaks between day-to-day meetings. Showing your team that they have the autonomy to prioritize a system that helps them get work done is also a great motivator.

. . . 

The Myers-Briggs company estimates that 56.8% people around the world prefer introversion. But in the wake of challenges caused by the pandemic, mental exhaustion and unhealthy work-life balances due to the remote work lifestyle, there’s a lot of room for improvement for everyone. Try using these tips today to develop more productive and empathetic meetings for all employees.