Like Voltron- Recognizing the Quiet Performers
Creativity, invention, and innovation are often times driven by some quiet individuals, who are sometimes misunderstood, seen as shy or lacking ideas, and can have trouble fitting into today’s bustling workplaces.
Just because they’re not calling out ideas and craving recognition, doesn’t mean they’re not valuable team players or future business leaders. Just because they’re not the first to speak, doesn’t mean the ideas aren’t churning around in their brains.
However, it’s important managers moderate conversation so that these special quiet performers are given the chance to speak up and contribute their thoughts.
Consider this: Mike Asukwo is an exceptional member of the Tech Hive Physical Computing Team. He joined Tech Hive as a volunteer and had since contributed a lot to the success of the PhyCom Studio boot camps, school tour, and club for students.
He often claims to be shy and unable to pass on knowledge in formal class settings, until I told him to prepare ahead, that he was going to handle a session to cover-up for Susan who was engaged with other work activities.
To my greatest surprise, when that day came, he delivered a phenomenal lecture that paved the way for many others after that.
What I learned from the decision I made, to give him a shot as an instructor was that, when assigning a task, it is important to Clarify Roles and Expectations. This is because quiet performers are often sure to overstep their bounds, they may not show the same type of public initiative as others.
Setting clear roles and expectations and providing more structured meeting environments allows them to step up and take the reins on their own terms.
The more freedom we give these quiet performers to be themselves, the more likely they are to come up with their own unique solutions hereby making valuable contributions to your organization on a daily basis. The only difference is, they’re often less vocal about it.
As a Product Specialist and faculty lead, my life often feels frenzied and hectic. I am always in a hurry from one appointment to the next, returning phone calls and checking items off my seemingly infinite to-do list while on my way to more meetings.
Out of sheer exhaustion one day after a session we (Mike and I) shared during the boot camp, I collapsed into my seat and asked that he shared more insight on his personal project and not the teams’ project. Of course, considering how exhausted I was he told me, he wasn’t sure I was ready to listen to all he had to say, and he wouldn’t even know how to put it.
Yes, I was maxed-out but then again, I needed to know about his side project, mostly to ascertain the level of support we could provide as a team or even add it on our next sprint. — That said, I insisted that he shared it anyways; At first, I planned to sit for just a moment or two and thought it was something brief, but in that undistracted stillness hearing him speak up with so much energy and confidence of how it will change the way we see and use wearable technologies.
I heard things that invited me to linger longer and the Positive vibe and glow to get a shot at sharing what was on his mind and what he had silently been working on was something I had never seen, before that day.
The most touching part was when he showed me images and short clips on the progress made so far but that he did put it on hold when he was invited to join the team in the redesign of the LBC 2. A flagship project of the hub initiated by Daniel Akpobare.
That day, when I returned home to reminisce on the many wonderful people within my team, and how the quiet performers among us were sacrificing so much for the big picture, I realized that in the midst of a harried life, a moment can remind us of God’s creative might too!
He surrounds us with the right people and as evidence of His power and tenderness; He made both the high mountains (Extroverts) and branches for birds (introverts). “In wisdom [He] made them all” —
this to me means if we use the Peer-to-peer recognition approach, to ensure that quiet performers are recognized for the great work they do while helping their outspoken colleagues see how valuable their quiet teammates’ contributions are, and providing a perfect opportunity to show appreciation to them.
Much like Voltron, your team’s strength lies in its diversity –
The loudest person in the room isn’t always the smartest person in there, and the most skillful speaker doesn’t necessarily have the best ideas. Please don’t take all this the wrong way, though. This is far from a lash on the outspoken individuals — quite the opposite.
However, by working together and recognizing the strength in their differences, a team of quiet Performers and loud folks can amplify those strengths, and compensate for any weaknesses.
The key takeaway here is that the quiet Performers like Mike in my team as well as Super smart loud guys both make valuable contributions to your organization, but the quietly brilliant ones don’t always get the credit they deserve.
It’s crucial to ensure that both are recognized equally for their strength lies in their diversity.
