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How Introverts Can Increase Visibility in the Workplace

Visibility means opportunity. Being outgoing and sociable is often seen as the key to success, introverts can feel like they’re at a disadvantage. But being an introvert doesn’t mean you can’t shine in the workplace.

Introverts bring their own set of strengths, like being able to focus deeply on tasks, think creatively, and find smart solutions. They’re good listeners too, which makes them great at communicating. But despite these skills, introverts might struggle to get noticed, especially in workplaces that value loud and outgoing personalities.

As an introvert, you can make yourself seen and heard—without pretending to be someone you’re not. Make your presence felt through thoughtful engagement—without being the center of attention. Asking smart follow-up questions, building on what others have said, or simply acknowledging the points made by colleagues are simple ways to get involved in group conversations. There are a number of ways introverts can get noticed and succeed.

1 – Arrive early, speak up quickly (and thoughtfully). Whether it’s a networking event or team meeting, don’t wait for the “right” moment to jump in. Challenge yourself to be the second or third person to contribute to the conversation in order to overcome the initial barrier of participation.

  • Prepare beforehand, jotting down key points or questions you want to raise.
  • Focus on impact by ensuring that your contributions are thoughtful and add value.
  • Swap self-effacing statements for more assertive language. For example:
    • Instead of “This may not be right, but..,” try “Another approach could be…”
    • Or, instead of “Just throwing this out there..,” try, “I’d like to propose…”

2 – Invest in professional development. Take a public speaking course to help build skills and confidence. Seek out leadership training to enhance your ability to lead and influence others, essentially opening up new opportunities for growth and advancement.

3 – Show up through other people. Think of the people with whom you have a mutual champion relationship. You advocate for one another. By connecting with a few key people who have you in mind as they connect with others, you’re visible by association. They act as referral and resource partners, and visibility happens organically and on a personal level. Nurturing a champion relationship with one connected person at a time is more energy efficient and strategic than focusing on the masses.

4 – Lead with your strengths. When you’re aligned with your strengths and lead with them, your message will resonate with others and naturally increase your visibility.

Create a strategy for yourself that is based on being seen, heard, and known by the people who would benefit most from your offerings. And create that strategy in such a way that honors and is in sync with your introvert energy. Being successful doesn’t require that you shout from the rooftops or throw yourself at people. You don’t even have to fake being an extrovert. The people who shine are those who create visibility in a way that aligns with their values and strengths.

 

References:
The Muse (2020, June 19) Beth Buelow: 7 Ways Introverts Can Stand in the Spotlight Without Pretending to Be Extroverts
Forbes (2020, June 26) Inga Bielinska: Five Ways Quiet Workers Can Increase Their Visibility and Recognition
The Wellness Corner (2024, February): How Introverts Can Gain Visibility in the Workplace
Harvard Business Review (2024, March 6) Melody Wilding: An Introvert’s Guide to Visibility in the Workplace

Skills Needed to Work Effectively with Artificial Intelligence

Many employees and managers are excited about how AI can make their work easier and more efficient. But others are concerned that AI will replace people, dampen creativity and ingenuity, make their own skills obsolete, and create workplaces that feel more machine-centric and less human.

While many fear AI will make our workplaces soulless, research suggests that it could actually push us to improve our human-centered soft skills. Workers and companies need to be intentional about cultivating these skills, which are often more difficult to master, harder to measure, and frequently get pushed aside in favor of technical skill sets. The latest research shows that in the AI age, employers expect to increasingly value “soft skills” that enhance human interactions and foster rich, people-centered company cultures. They anticipate that AI will work best when it enhances people’s talents and helps build human connectedness.

Studies reveal two categories of human skills that leaders see as critical — and which organizations are actually teaching to their employees.

  1. Effective interpersonal skills, such as basic conflict resolution, communication, skills of disconnecting from emotions, and even mindfulness practices.
  2. Domain expertise, with a focus on preserving that knowledge among experienced talent and developing it among young inexperienced workers.

 

BGSF staffing firm asked their 218K+ LinkedIn followers to vote on the soft skills they believe will be most important in the workplace in 2024. Here’s what they discovered…

Poll Question: “Which soft skills are most important in the AI-dominated workplace?”

Critical Thinking (47%)
It’s not a surprise that critical thinking received the most votes (47%), as this is a uniquely human skill requiring logic, rational thinking, and unbiased evaluation. According to Fast Company, critical thinking is a necessary skill to evaluate generative AI responses which could contain biases and errors from the vast amounts of patterns and structures in data processing. Employees with the skills to critically assess, question, and filter AI outputs will make the human-AI collaboration a more successful partnership.

Emotional Intelligence (23%)
According to Forbes Advisor, emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions and the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence ranked 2nd in the BGSF poll and becomes increasingly important when navigating social dynamics in an ever-evolving global workplace.

Creativity (18%)
Creativity came in third, receiving (18%) of the votes. The ability to be creative is an essential skill for effective problem-solving. Creative thinkers often tackle issues from fresh perspectives. According to Forbes Advisor, creative soft skills include brainstorming, imagination, curiosity, and experimentation. According to a study by Hendarman and Cantner, developing soft skills such as creativity and problem-solving may lead to new ideas and services that add value and solve problems, helping the team members and overall organization be more successful.

Unbiased Decision Making (12%)
Although this category came in last (12%), it’s important to note that unbiased decision-making is a uniquely human skill requiring rational thinking, reflective consideration, and the ability to ensure that any AI deployed aligns with your organization’s values and is never used in ways that could be harmful or unjust. This skill will become even more important as AI continues to evolve and impact the workplace.

If done thoughtfully, a renewed focus on soft skills could result in vastly improved workplaces where human connection, strong values, rich communication, and dynamic innovation abound. AI is challenging us to confront many complex workplace issues—and the possibilities for success and new opportunities are endless if handled with care. It’s on us to decide whether we will let AI enhance or diminish the uniquely valuable skills and connections that make us human.


References:

Harvard Business Review (2023, November 3) Nada R. Sanders and John D. Wood: The Skills Your Employees Need to Work Effectively with AI
Fast Company (2024, January 23) Peter Cardon: New Study Finds AI Makes Employers Value Soft Skills More
BGSF (2024, January 23) dmabe49: Which Soft Skills are Most Important in the AI-dominated Workplace?

Srini’s Tech Tip: Compare Two Lists Using IF and VLOOKUP Functions

Excel lookup and conditional functions are essential in finding data and applying criteria to further accommodate conditions or results. Finding data can be tedious, but comparing two or more lists becomes cumbersome and arduous if done manually. You can use the common find feature to quickly find single piece of data, but it cannot be used to identify and highlight multiple pieces of data and on two separate lists.

Consider a circumstance where you have to compare two different lists and you are trying to find the unmatched items between those two lists. Suppose you have employees on Project A and Project B being tracked on two separate lists. The requirement is that both lists have to have either a unique name or a full name for the employee.  You may also use an alternate identifier if the name does not provide the uniqueness.

Problem/Task:

Identify employees in Project A that are not found in Project B.
Note:  See screenshots below for the two lists for Project A and Project B. 

Solution:

Use a combination of the VLOOKUP function and the IF function to identify the employees that are not found from Project A compared with Project B.
Added Task:  Highlight the employee names using conditional formatting

 

 

IF Function Syntax:

=IF (Logical_test,value_if_true,valued_if_false)

VLOOKUP function Syntax:

=VLOOKUP (Lookup_value,table_array,column_index_num,[range_lookup])

The range for List A is A4:G18, List B is J4:O13. However, the VLOOKUP function only needs to look up from column L, where the Full Name begins.

 

Brief Explanation for the VLOOKUP function:

The formula in column G (cell G4) in List A has a “nested” VLOOKUP function inside the IF function. The ISNA function further handles the error when the VLOOKUP cannot find a matching value in List B, and produces an “N/A” result.

The VLOOKUP function in cell G4 of List A looks up the value in cell C4 in the data area of List B, represented by $L$4:$O$13. The $ signs for the cell reference make the reference absolute, so that it does NOT change when copied to the other cells. The FALSE in the last argument in the VLOOKUP function produces an exact match for the lookup of the value in C4.

=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(C4,$L$4:$O$13,1,FALSE)),”Not on B”,””)

 

While the IF function can enter a value of “Not on B” using the nested VLOOKUP to determine the value, the conditional formatting feature in Excel highlights the cells in the desired color to make the results stand out.

 

** The IF and VLOOKUP functions are covered in our Excel Level 2 Intermediate course.

How to Handle a Condescending Colleague

What do you do about a colleague who is always telling you how to do your job? Or someone who seems to always have the answer, implying that you don’t? Or a coworker who uses a patronizing tone whenever they talk to you? Dealing with a condescending colleague can be frustrating, demoralizing, and even infuriating.

So how do you address their behavior in a way that protects you from its negative consequences and allows you to feel a sense of integrity? Try one of these strategies to keep your cool and not sink to the level of the offending party.

Don’t take it personally (even if it’s intentional). Lashing out to defend yourself will play right into the offending party’s hands. Instead, be calm, positive, and never underestimate the power of kindness in a negative situation. Remember that their behavior likely has more to do with them than it does with you and what they think of you.

Separate emotion from the message. Extract the information or feedback that is relevant to the task or situation and disregard the condescending tone. Avoid dishing out the same, even if it’s tempting to do so.

Ask for clarification. Some colleagues may come from a different workplace culture or be accustomed to speaking to others in a certain way that they don’t recognize as being inappropriate. They may literally be clueless, completely unaware of how they’ve offended you.

Neutralize your body language. Do your best to maintain a calm and neutral demeanor. Stand up straight, take up your space, don’t shrink back in offense, and hold your ground—both physically and mentally.

Choose your battles. Not every condescending remark requires a response. Distinguish between statements or actions that are irritating and behavior that is preventing you from getting your work done. There are times when it could be best to ignore their arrogance.

Address it calmly and professionally. If warranted, address bad office behavior by telling people when their actions are not okay with you. Calmly and professionally call out the behavior and let them know how it impacted you without making a scene or being dramatic.

Working with a condescending coworker is irritating at best and career-limiting at worst. But you don’t need to sit back and suffer. You can take steps to curb your colleague’s bluster or at least lessen its impact on you and your career.

 

References:
Harvard Business Review (2024, February 13) Amy Gallo: How to Deal with a Condescending Colleague
The Muse (2020, June 19) Lea McLeod: 4 Better Ways to Handle a Condescending Co-Worker Than Stooping to His Level 

 

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