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Remote work is now a fact of life. Whether your company went fully remote during the pandemic and you were forced to work from home, or you are stuck in the office, jealous of your coworkers who don’t have to suffer through the commute.
But the fact is, remote work is not for everyone. Some people find the isolation lonely, while others struggle to focus and self-orient, yet others can’t navigate the resulting asynchronous communication style.
Psychologists have been studying the personality traits that make people not only productive remote workers but also enjoy the remote work environment. Let’s look at sis personality traits that help people in a remote working environment as identified by KillerStartups. Do you have them?
1. Appreciate Autonomy
People who enjoy remote working tend to value feeling in control of their own time, behavior, and goals. This is something they value in every aspect of their lives, but in the workplace it manifests as being trusted to determine the best way to get things done and how to organize their workday to maximize their individual productivity and team contribution.
While Self-Determination Theory suggests that all people value autonomy as one of the three basic psychological needs, along with competence and relatedness, the level of autonomy wanted by each person varies. Some people appreciate the structure provided by rules and schedules, as not needing to think about those things gives them more freedom to organize other aspects of their lives. These types of people tend to prefer to be in the office.
2. Self-Starters
Job descriptions will often say that they are looking for “self-starters,” but what does that even mean? On the most basic level, these are people who see something that needs to be done and do it, without someone else, usually someone in charge, having to orient or instruct them. While this is a valuable quality whether you work in the office or remotely, it is even more important for remote workers who might not have anyone around to consult when they encounter a problem that needs solving or need to find something productive to fill their time.
Not everyone is good at not only spotting what needs to be done, but finding the motivation to just get up and do it. For those people, being in the office environment can help, not only because there are leaders around to orient them, but because the hustle and bustle of a busy workplace puts them into work mode. Some people rely on environment and external stimuli to figure out what to do, and these are often socially intelligent people, but self-starters tend to find their motivation to get things done internally.
3. Flexible Communicators
It definitely would not be fair to call all people who prefer remote workers introverts. For many people who work from home, the social interaction of the office is one of the things they miss most! But it is fair to say that the most extroverted and socially oriented individuals often struggle the most with remote working and can struggle with loneliness. In fact, introverts don’t necessarily do well with remote working, as their disinclination to reach out can push them into isolation.
The happiest remote workers tend to be ambiverts, who display both introverted and extroverted tendencies depending on the circumstances. In addition to that, they tend to have a flexible communication style. We all know those people who can’t send a message and have to call you even for something small, because they prefer the kind of communication where they are getting immediate feedback on what you think from your body language of voice. Good remote workers are equally comfortable on a video call as on a slack chat, and can keep subjects in their heads, so if they only get a response hours later, the details are still fresh in their heads.
4. Prefer Focused Work
The type of work you do can also make a difference to whether you enjoy remote working. Work that involves a lot of stopping and starting and repetitive tasks that don’t demand deep focus are often best done in a social work environment, where downtime can be filled with social engagement. People who need to do focused work that might require hours of deep concentration often prefer to work from home, where they can control their environment – to an extent – by blocking out sound and snoozing notifications.
But this preference depends on personality as well as what you do. For example, some people thrive on ambient noise and enjoy hearing conversations around them even when they are focused on deep work. These are the people who enjoy heading to a coffee shop to work a few times a week. Other people, even when they are doing repetitive work, find their colleagues distracting.
5. Comfortable with Technology
Out of necessity, happier and more productive remote workers tend to be comfortable with technology. This is just necessary as they have to connect via VPN, access documents via the shared server, call into Zoom calls, and troubleshoot any IT issues themselves, at least in the first instance. People who are comfortable with technology and figuring out how to fix things tend to be happier doing this. For those who struggle with tech, remote working can soon become frustrating as simple tasks become challenging puzzles.
As culture changes, younger generations tend to be more comfortable with technology, making them more suitable for remote work. But it is also a question of mindset. When something goes wrong, for some people, the first thing they will do is call IT or someone they trust to help them. For other people, the first thing they do will be try and find an answer to the problem themselves quickly with a quick search. Which attitude you have can influence whether you are suitable for remote work.
6. Introspective
When you are trying to solve a problem or make a plan, there are two types of people. There are people who like to garner opinions to help them get a feel for the best way forward before making a decision. Then there are those who like to sit with a problem, and map out answers and possibilities that they are confident in first, before sharing anything with others. You’ve probably guessed it. While the first group flourish in the office where they have immediate access to feedback, the second group tend to be better remote workers.
This doesn’t mean that the first group can’t make a decision on their own, or that the second group aren’t collaborators. It is more about the order in which you like to organize your ideas, and whether you look for collaboration and feedback early in the process, or only later.
Are You Suited for Remote Work?
Based on these personality traits, do you think that you are suited for remote work. When considering these personality traits, it is important to remember that we shouldn’t be considering any of them good or bad, but rather different and suited for different environments. Every individual has strengths and weaknesses, and every personality trait has strengths and drawbacks. These kinds of personality assessments are more about knowing yourself and setting yourself up to do your best.
Moreover, the idea that we are born or raised a certain way and once those personality traits are established they can’t be changed is a fixed mindset. Studies have shown this to be untrue and that we can change even aspects of our personality. We can learn to be a self-starter, or we can learn to embrace technology. It just means fostering a growth mindset.
A growth mindset is one of the key personality traits that you need to be not just a remote worker, but a digital nomad, which is another challenge altogether. Consider the pros and cons of the digital nomad lifestyle and how they line up with your personality.
