This is a common problem with working from the home office: how to get people to understand it is work time. But what if you have talked and explained with little to no results.

I found something that worked for some of my salespeople who worked in a bull pen: devise a signal that makes it so clear that you do not want to be disturbed. One of my salesman put a traffic light on his desk that he found in a novelty store. The red, yellow and green lights said it all. One of my coaching clients had a payroll clerk who couldn’t get employees to leave her to her work – even on pay day! She devised a sign that she flipped over as needed: one side said Knock lightly; the other said, DON’T even think about bothering me. In any cases where we create a signal, discussion and agreement with people was crucial before the new actions took affect.

Would it be any help if you could get your spouse to help you with setting some ground rules for him and the rest of your family? Often times getting people to be part of the process is enough of a kick-in-the-pants because THEY created the rules with you.

Have you tried a Family Summit where you bring in all family members to participate in a planning of how to make your work life and their life better with some Work Day rules? This would mean that you are clear on hours of work, what to expect when you take a break, agreed upon signals, etc

What are you doing that might be rewarding unwanted behavior? This may sound silly. When I was traveling the world doing management training we often talked about this issue. Here’s an example. What is one of the first things that happens when you bring a puppy home? House breaking. The puppy pees on the floor. #1- you ignore it – the pee continues. #2- you pay attention and take the puppy outside the moment you catch them in the unwanted behavior. Could it be that some of your family members are getting rewarded either by you ignoring them (eg, they LIKE being ignored) or maybe you are ALWAYS paying attention to them in some way, good or bad, when they interrupt you? We sometimes reward unacceptable behavior unknowingly.

Is the location of your office wrong? If it is near the family room or living room it’s inviting, even with a door, to be fair game to come in and break your privacy. If you have a door, is it shut?

Have you talked with other women in your community who might work at home to get some ideas? As an introvert, if you are, it’s so tempting to work in complete isolation with just the ideas bouncing around our heads, we often forget to get an outside opinion.

Bottom line: You want to find a way to get the family involved in the boundaries YOU want so you can reward them at the end of YOUR workday for respecting you.

If you work from home, would you let us know how you are able to successfully minimize family interruptions?

How do you minimize family interruptions when working from home? is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

You may have a business or life plan that you are studiously working to bring to reality. At some point in time, other voices, visions, and critques may get in the way of your process, take you off track or even muddle the results. However at critical points in the game, encouragement or critique is what we need to hear, either to get us jumpstarted or back on the path. When is it time to take the hard medicine?

Know Your Introvert Strengths

In the fast-paced and noisy world, introverts can feel alone. But the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator reports that the population is actually split 50/50 between introverts and extroverts. Both personality types are valid ways of experiencing the world. Introvert qualities include thinking before speaking, and then thinking about it again after you speak. They draw energy from quiet, focused environments, and becoming quickly drained of energy in highly active, people-filled environments. If critique comes from an extrovert extolling the virtues of their own extrovert qualities, you may ignore this. For example the virtues of technology like online social networking and email make business communication easier for introverts these days.

Introversion/Extroversion is a spectrum, extroverted qualities can be practiced and get stronger, although studies show that introverts who act like extroverts quickly use up their energy stores. If you would be more successful with more extrovert qualities, maybe seek help from or partner with an extrovert.

Use you Introvert Strengths

If someone comes to you with an offer to help, take the time to consider what this person is offering to give you. If you feel accosted, overwhelmed, defensive, or insulted do not melt down. Tell them you will think about it. Then take a step back to consider the situation, possibly at a later date and time when you can critically analyse what the other person is offering. Help may be a distraction, but it also may be what you need to clarify or push the project forward.

Introverts thrive on gathering and parsing information. If something feels like a problem, then it is okay to go to trusted friends, colleagues or family and ask them for honest advice. More information is usually the better option. If you need professional advice from a boss or stranger, you need to seek it out using a method that makes you feel comfortable. And always come prepared with questions and points of interest for the interview. Everything is progressive, if things are not feeling right and you need an outside perspective or expertise, go and get it. Your introvert brain will thank you for putting that critical piece of the puzzle into place.

What does it take for you to ask for other peoples' help? How is not asking for help working for you? Please let Jennifer and me know in your comments below.

This guest article was contributed by Jennifer Bell from Health Training Guide. Check out her site to learn more about medical office manager training and other exciting health careers.

It’s Okay to Accept Other People’s Offer to Help: When Introverts Acknowledge That They Can Use Some Encouragement is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Sometimes it can feel like an introverted personality is at a distinct disadvantage in a fast-paced business environment. If you don’t have that “take no prisoners” attitude, you’ll just never get ahead, right? While that kind of personality can help in some cases, the simple fact is that an introverted personality has the same chances for success as someone who is far more outgoing. Common sense and dedication to your business can take you much further than a simple affinity for being comfortable in a room full of people.

Even so, should you express your concerns that your introverted nature may be holding you back you can find yourself bombarded with a lot of “just” advice. By that, I mean people will tell you things like: “Just do this,” or “Just try that,” or worst of all: “Just get over it.”

No one “Just gets over” anything. Overcoming any issues, whether it’s a tendency to be shy around new people or a habit of telling customers what you really think of them, will require a lot of effort and commitment. On the bright side, you don’t have to go over everything if there is a nice, clear path that will take you around it, and there are a few professional business resources that can help with things that are often particularly troubling.

Taking Calls

Nothing ruins a perfectly good work day like having to deal with rude, overbearing people on the phone. Sometimes it’s hard enough to deal with people face to face when you can see their expressions, let alone putting up with their rants on the phone. It’s not uncommon for people to develop an all-consuming dread of a ringing telephone.

There’s a simple way around this, though. Taking calls is a natural part of doing business, and you can’t cut it out completely, but you can get someone to do it for you. Whether you are an entrepreneur working from home or in a small office, you can get a small business answering service to take your calls, screen out the irate or irrelevant calls, and only send on the ones that are really important. This can free up a lot of your time to get on with running your business instead of answering unproductive calls.

Presentations

What could be worse than standing in front of a group of people and presenting your business plan or pitching a new product? The “just get over it” advice comes up a lot here, which may, in fact, be a little worse than the “picture everyone in their underwear” or “practice in front of a mirror” advice.

A little more practical advice is to use a good PowerPoint presentation. There are a range of business PowerPoint templates on the market and they will help you look professional (even if you don’t feel it yourself) and keep your thoughts organized. Also, a bright, shiny presentation will take their eyes off of you which can reduce a lot of the pressure.

Just Advice

If I were to leave some “just” advice about succeeding in business even with an introverted personality, it would be this: Just be yourself. You may have to work on developing some new skills and processes, any you may have to employ some new resources, but you shouldn’t pretend to be someone you’re not. That kind of act rarely fools anyone. If you are dedicated to your business and are determined to make it succeed, you can use a few of these options to go around those personal obstacles and reach your final goals.

Tiffany Miller is a mother of two from Salt Lake City, UT. Her and her husband have had many small business ventures over the years and will soon be launching their seventh website anniversaryhelp.com

Besides taking calls and making presentations, where else does the advice, "Just be yourself," work for you?

Could Introverted Personality Disadvantage Be Just a Feeling? is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Most scientists believe introvertedness is a genetic trait. With a little effort though, you can add some extrovert tendencies to your introvert nature in the workplace and fit in well with you more extroverted coworkers. Even though you may have tendencies toward introvertedness, even shyness, do not allow them to keep you from pursuing professional or personal goals. Following are several tips to help you communicate more effectively in the workplace.

Find Your Strengths

Everyone has unique qualities and things they are good at. It is important to know and focus on the things you do well. In the workplace, this is especially true. Working at a job you are good at will improve your self-esteem and allow you to play to your strengths in the workplace.

Focus on Others

Instead of focusing on yourself during conversations with coworkers, focus on what they are saying. Become interesting in learning about them. Ask them questions about themselves. Extroverted people will often find it rude if you don't reciprocate their interest and make conversation occasionally, so make an effort to reach out to them even if it feels awkward to you.

Practice Social Skills

As with any other skill, social skills can be refined with practice. The more you work at it, the more comfortable you will be the next time. If you have difficulty coming up with how to say things to your coworkers, practice what you want to say with them ahead of time. Extroverted coworkers are the perfect people to learn better social skills from. Observe how they interact with you and others around the office, then reciprocate these friendly gestures.

Make Contact with Others

Each day make it a point to talk with one or two of your coworkers. Whether for a few minutes as you arrive in the morning or in the break room for a snack, each time you make contact, you build rapport with your coworkers. It is important to develop relationships in order to get to better know your coworkers.

Speak Up at Meetings

It is easy for introvert workers to sit during meetings without speaking at all or only when being spoken too. Ask questions to show you are interested. Speak up to let your coworkers know you have helpful ideas.

Make Eye Contact

It is sometimes harder for introverts shy people to make eye contact. But force yourself to look your coworkers in the eye when talking with them. This will give the impression that you are friendly, trustworthy and confident. If you do not make eye contact, your coworkers could think you are being unfriendly or have something to hide.

Remember, with time and practice, you can work toward becoming the friendly, helpful coworker that others enjoy working with. You will feel more confident in both your professional and personal life.

It starts with you using your strengths. What do you think about just mixing in some extroverted tendencies? Does it make sense for you?

This article was contributed by Sierra Miller from Job Descriptions. The introverts out there might suited to some of the careers discussed in her IT job descriptions.

Introvert Tips for Communicating with Extroverted Coworkers is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Misconceptions continue about introvert and extrovert. One clarification to help each style or type work side by side more productively is that the difference is more correctly stated that people are either more introverted or more extroverted.
Think of introvert and extrovert as verbs on a continuum. All day long at work and home we are either introverting or extroverting and whichever preference we have can

Meetings at work, brainstorming and talking around the water cooler are extroverting activities. Putting together a budget, a small team meeting and a quiet work space is more introverting. Activities like this that happen all day long, is about where and how people get energy. The workplace is also one place where when introvert meets extrovert, these preferences can clash. Knowing what each type prefers allows for greater acceptance, satisfaction and appreciation.

For just one area, there's the brainstorming perspective. “Brainstorming or bouncing ideas around aloud excite me,” is an extraverting way of solving a problem. The out loud sharing process energizes an extrovert. Given a choice, the introvert would prefer to use analysis and thinking to come up with solutions. The next time someone passes on the first round of brainstorming, be ready as the ideas come around again. After some internal think time, the introvert is ready to contribute. Even better to get the best ideas from everyone would be to announce in advance a brainstorming meeting.

If I can I want to help you with what area of "Introvert Meets Extrovert in the Workplace" or "Introvert at Work" which will be helpful for you.

Do you have a particular area you want to discuss? Is there a particular situation at work that would be helpful to do how to put the best of you in the situation?

Introvert Tip – Introvert Meets Extrovert in the Workplace is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer