Five Tips For Collaborating With The Shy
The information needed to cause impactful change in an organization is no longer concentrated with a few at the top, but is instead readily accessible to all; this is one of the major shifts that has happened in the information age. This means that the breakthrough idea that makes your product a hit needn’t come from the most senior employee. It can strike the intern you hired last week. In this scenario, an environment where discussion and exchange that happens in all directions is critical to drive innovation.
But what does one do if the team is filled with people who can think great thoughts and yet are too shy to speak up? Ask us about this problem!
Zoho’s development center is situated in Chennai, South India. South Indians, by their nature are known to be a reserved lot. Our focus on building great software means that a majority of our employees are programmers — a profession that is rarely chosen by someone you would call the “life of the party.” Put these two together, and you get what is likely the shyest cohort in the world! The challenge before us is one of fostering high bandwidth collaboration among them.
That said, we’re doing pretty well. In an industry where many companies struggle to come up with a second product, we’ve managed to ship about seventy, with more in the works. These products were all built ground-up, in-house. This wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t found ways to overcome this problem.
So what did we do? The software we use is part of the solution, no doubt, but you can’t just implement a collaboration tool and expect people to get talking. The solution lies in how this software is used. As a foundation, we need to build a culture that promotes collaboration.
Here are five problems faced by shy people and the approach we took to solve each of them.
Problem 1: Too little time to respond
Ian the salesman can give you his immediate take on any topic. For him, this is a big strength. It helps him keep the conversations going and win over his customers. However, Uma the programmer likes to ponder over what she hears. She needs to arrive at a concrete opinion before she can speak on things. But in meetings, and face-to-face conversations, there isn’t always enough time to do this.
Solution: Take the conversations online
Many of our product discussions don’t happen in meeting rooms, but in online forums. New feature ideas, mock-ups, and feedback for existing features are posted as status or forum posts or as wiki pages. Someone like Uma can take all the time she wants to reflect and post a comment.
Problem 2: Intimidated by strangers and crowds
Ian has no problem starting a conversation with the fascinating stranger seated next to him on train. He is equally unfazed when ranting about a feature that he hates in a forum with hundreds of readers. However, Uma feels hesitant when sharing her opinions with strangers or big groups. Her own product team now has more than fifty people and she fears writing to the entire lot.
Solution: Provide opportunities to discuss in focused groups
Creating focused groups where people know each other is a great way to overcome this issue. We create a separate project for each feature that we build.
In such a project, only the developers, designers, testers and marketers –typically about a dozen people working on that particular feature are included. This means only they can see what’s happening in the feed or what is being talked about in the discussion forums. Everyone in the team already has a working relationship with each other, so there is nothing to hold them back from voicing their views.
When we switched to this approach, we noticed a real boost in team engagement. This helped us identify hidden talent, and we got insightful feedback from unexpected sources. Now, Uma doesn’t have to think twice before sharing her opinions.
Problem 3: Lack of context
Finding a topic for conversation is never a problem for Ian. He can go on about the unfriendly weather, his trip to Madurai, the mobile app he adores, and more. But Uma finds herself at a loss of words when there is no topic set out or when the questions are vague. Since she is used to working with computers, her brain asks for precise information to proceed to the next logical step.
Solution: Have clear calls to action in your titles and posts
We make sure the name of the project itself defines a clear goal. Looking closer, the tasks, descriptions, and titles for discussions set the context at a more granular level. The posts pose straightforward questions on what input is needed. When responses from specific individuals are sought, they are explicitly @mentioned; this sends them an email to make sure they don’t miss it.
Uma can easily discern where her comments are warranted. She also understands clearly what she needs to add. This sense of clarity lets her communicate with confidence.
Problem 4: Fear of mistakes
No one can be sure in advance which ideas will work and which will fail. We can, at best, work on hunches. When something fails, it is very easy to criticize in retrospect. Constructive criticism is essential, but failures need not be looked down upon. Fear of mistakes creates an unsafe environment. This could prevent the ideas that would have gone on to succeed from emerging in the first place.
Some organizations have a “prove it will work first” attitude that also stalls many initiatives. In many cases, trying something out is the simplest way to prove whether it will work or not.
Solution: The freedom to make mistakes
When things don’t go as planned, instead of dwelling on what went wrong, consider if you can rather credit the person for taking the initiative and sticking through with it till the end. Of course, we must learn from our mistakes — but don’t make pointing them out be the first, or only, thing you do. Letting people feel safe about failing within certain limits must be part of an organization’s culture.
Problem 5: Glued to desks
Although all the online collaboration we have spoken about has its value, it cannot be taken as a replacement for face to face interactions. A lot can come up when people run into each other. It strengthens bonds, and people who know each other well, work better together. Many great ideas have come up in chance meetings in corridors or by the coffee machine.
However, introverted people are often inclined to sit in one place and work by themselves over long spells. They like to think deeply and not leave their chairs until the problem at hand is solved. This definitely has its value. But it can happen that such people end up finding so much comfort in their own inner worlds that they rarely get out and engage with others.
Solution: Create environments that push people to mingle
Your workspaces can do a lot to encourage people to walk around and interact. When we moved from a cluttered tech park in the heart of Chennai to a large open campus in its outskirts, this is one of the main aspects we had in mind.
A couple of large towers could have housed all of our people, but none of our new buildings go up more than four stories. This makes people more willing to come down for breaks or hang out with colleagues, where spontaneous exchanges can occur. The offices are all large, open-plan spaces where people can hear and see each other freely. The desks are interspersed with open areas where people can sit and have discussions. Outdoor dhabas and well-shaded benches provide more venues for conversations.
Again, these infrastructural changes alone don’t help if your culture is such that only people who are tied to their chairs are considered to be working. They should feel comfortable and free when occupying the collaborative spaces you have created.
The ability to shut the world out, turn inwards, and stay focused for long periods is what helps people solve hard problems and build great products. Their shyness is another side of the same coin; what appears as a social weakness is actually a reflection of an individual strength. So don’t blame people for this or expect them to change. Instead, build a culture that accommodates this quality and at the same time ensures that communication is not hindered. We have seen that this is possible.
