Collaborative, open, vibrant and bustling – just some of the high-energy buzzwords recently used to describe an aspirational workplace. But in reality the workplace industry has been creating increasingly flexible settings for years, to accommodate the needs of a wide variety of workers. Architects and designers are applying insights from the field of psychology to the workplace, and we are seeing offices provide zones for contemplation and collaboration – spaces that meet the needs of both introverted and extroverted employees.
When we talk about introversion and extroversion we are referring to “the quantity and intensity of energy directed outwards into the social world”, explains occupational psychologist Rachel Lewis of Kingston University. “Those higher in extroversion display a high level of interest in others, preference for the company of others, a faster pace and a need for environmental stimulation. Those higher in introversion are essentially the other end of the scale, so may prefer to not be in crowds, may prefer to work alone, are reflective rather than fast paced and direct their energy internally rather than externally.”
These two categories of personality were introduced by Carl Jung in 1921 but are still used by psychologists today. More recently the needs and preferences of introverts and extroverts have been brought to new audiences, the office industry included, thanks to writer and lecturer Susan Cain and her bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012) and a TED talk of the same year which has been viewed by 17 million people.