New employee whose work is good but very quiet/shy

[quietbutgood]

What would you do if you were the line manager for someone in their 20s in an entry-level role who started 4 months ago and is working to a really good standard and is working at a level higher than expected for that role, yet is really quiet and shy?

They are able to speak up in meetings but their contributions are small and matter-of-fact and they don't really join in with the small talk. They attend some but not all of the team socials, but they are very quiet during these. Sometimes instead of joining the team for lunch they will go off to a coffee shop on their own.

The rest of the team is very close and very sociable.

The job is office-based with the employee working on a variety of projects for clients. Part of the role involves presenting work to clients in meetings which this employee hasn't yet done but will need to soon.

I'd do nothing. You employ her to work, not to join your friendship group. She isn't being actively unpleasant. Take care that non of the rest of you start treating her differently because she is just doing her job.

@quietbutgood

This is a reverse, sorry! I just wanted to see your responses without you sympathising or empathising with me.

Every meeting with my manager they tell me my actual work is good, but I'm sitting on tenterhooks waiting for the "BUT, you are too quiet" that was written in every school report of mine from nursery to A-Levels.

I wanted to see if the impression was if I needed to change or if I was at risk of being disciplined or something for being quiet/shy or whether I was giving a bad impression of myself.

Bugger, to scrolled past that without seeing it.

Stop double thinking yourself. I was an active refuser if all my things social when I was an employee. Ok, I am happier now I am self employed, but, the party hearty social secretary twonk notwithstanding, nobody gave me too much of a hard time about it. And they are easy to identify and avoid.

I hate reverses.

Sounds like an ideal employee.

You've identified one of your personality traits which may or may not be a weakness for work.

As a previous poster said - depending on the work needed and the team culture you may be restricting your progress somewhat if you can't assert your presence a little more in team meetings, and show your willingness to be 'part of the team' by interacting on a more social level occasionally with other people.

On the other hand - in some jobs that isn't as big a deal and managers sometimes feel the need to give you at least one thing to improve upon in annual reviews and if the rest of your work is stellar this may be the only thing they can think of to tell you.

I'd rehearse, even get some coaching, so that you do really well in the presentation aspect of your job and push yourself to be a little more social with colleagues.

As for not speaking up in meetings - a good way to mitigate this to start with is if you have something relevant to say - a good idea for example - email your manager afterwards to let them know. If they are receptive to your suggestions then work towards being able to speak up in meetings and contribute more. Again you can get coaching to help with this.

I dislike 3/4 of my colleagues and generally try and stay away from them unless I have to. I used to often go and sit in my car for lunch as I can smoke in the car and listen to the radio etc, and not have to be involved with the meaningless small talk and petty politics of the break room.

Some of them may think badly of me, but I'm really not too fussed. The time that I'm paid for, I'll interact and be polite and get the job done. As soon as I'm no longer being paid, it becomes my choice whether I engage with these people or not, so I choose not to.