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In this episode Joel and Antonia discuss personality ergonomics in the workplace and how to design a peak performance environment.

In this podcast on ergonomics in the workplace you’ll find:

  • Businesses, organizations and schools are now optimizing the ergonomics in their workplace.
  • You can see the changes by looking at their chairs, table and important work equipment like mice and keyboards.
  • It has become evident that people get more productive if they are able to work comfortably.
  • There’s much focus on physical ergonomics but not about personality ergonomics.
  • Your flow state rejuvenates you. It helps activate your driver process so even if you feel a bit tired, you feel refreshed and fulfilled.
  • Imagine if you could harness a person’s flow state energy into a job or career and they leave work feeling refreshed and not tired.
  • When you work out of your flow state, and this is when you go into your inferior process (3-year old), you feel very tired and drained at the end of the day.
  • We end up customizing and optimizing things when we are exposed to different options to choose from.
  • The concept of ergonomics is making people feel happier.
  • It’s all about understanding the people who work for your company and how you can bring out their flow state. This will help them feel rewarded and fulfilled while doing their jobs. They’re always gaining energy at work because they’re at their best.
  • Even though we don’t have to change the job roles and description or hire someone for a certain type, we can at least assume that once the person is in that position, their environment is conducive for their flow state.
  • Accuracy people are more focused about data, so anything that’s very emotional like workplace dramas and politics will throw them out of their flow state.
  • We’d like you to start thinking about personality ergonomics in the workplace, school and home.
  • How do you feel that your business, career or the school you attend? Is your home setup to the personality involved in that place and how can it be done even better based on those personalities?

Personality Ergonomics in the Workplace

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12 comments

  • O
    • O
    • December 21, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    Thanks for this great podcast! Hopefully you’ll get a chance to see my comment, despite it being a few years after you released this episode. :)

    I suspect that I’m a Harmony user. In my last job, I worked as the sole employee of a start-up and I was alone in the office all day, every day. I got so depressed and felt like my mind was going to fold in on itself. It got to the point where I’d go to work and stare at the ceiling for hours because I couldn’t get myself moving. I remember beating myself up for not being diligent enough and for disrespecting my employers by not doing the work with which they had entrusted me. It was frustrating, because I loved the work itself, but I couldn’t get myself energized enough to actually do it. It felt extraordinarily validating to hear Joel’s story about the ESFJ employee who had a job working from home and had a similar experience, despite initially demonstrating themselves to be very capable during group training.

    In my new job, I have the opposite problem: my desk is positioned at the centre of the office and I’m expected to be very responsive to other people, but my work also has a component which requires me to focus, and I’m struggling with switching from one mode to the other. Every time I try to focus and someone interrupts me, it’s the most grating thing. It takes me a while to recover, even if the interruption was brief, and even after the interruption has ended. While I don’t necessarily have a full solution yet, your podcast was helpful in giving me a framework through which to analyze my problem. Based on what you said, I think that I might be a Perspectives user.

    I’ve also noticed that I get bored once I’ve mastered a new skill. There’s zero joy for me in doing something in the same way over and over again. So, there might be a component of Exploration in there for me as well.

    I spend so much time in the workplace that I’m finding these work-oriented podcasts quite helpful, personally. In a future episode, I would love to hear your thoughts about surviving in an open office.

    Thanks again for all that you do!

  • Ruby
    • Ruby
    • June 2, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    I’m thinking about the reply I posted to your question. I’m guessing your boss might be an ISTJ. If so, she may see my suggestion as a bid for free breaks. Sometimes we have to accept that not everybody will understand or “get” us. You like the job and are doing well on it. You may want to consider whether it is best to leave good enough alone. Just an idea.

  • Ruby
    • Ruby
    • June 1, 2015 at 11:31 pm

    I’m an INTJ who writes and researches at home. After listening to this podcast, I finally understand why I’m so sensitive to the sound of music and TV coming through thin apartment walls. I used to think my neighbour has the volume turned too high so one day I invited a friend in to listen and was told most people would not mind it at all, that the volume is turned to a very reasonable level. As per the podcast, I now understand that with introverted N as my driver, I need sensory deprivation in order to concentrate on my work.

    It’s so good to know that this sensitivity is type-related, not just me being fussy. Like in the podcast example of office workers turning around their desks so they can stop worrying about being disturbed, I have now turned on a fan for a steady white noise to drown out the disrupting murmur of my neighbour’s TV. Wearing earplugs is tricky because I feel disconnected from the environment, like I don’t know what is happening around me because I can’t pick up the small warning sounds—again, like the office workers with their backs to the door. The fan also drowns out desired sounds like birdsong outside the open window but the peace is worth the compromise. The fan does not mask the important sounds inside my apartment.

  • Ruby
    • Ruby
    • June 1, 2015 at 10:40 pm

    Hey Kora, to answer your question: Any great tips for how to explain ergonomic needs to a boss who only cares about the numbers?

    How about this: It helps me keep my numbers up to take a fifteen minute break with the team every ninety minutes or so. I find if I’m holed up in the office much longer than that, my productivity lags. It’s just the way I’m wired.

  • Kora
    • Kora
    • May 28, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    Wow! I’m working in marketing as an ENFJ. I’m in an office alone to make calls in a big office. Occassionally I’m pulled out to speak to new clients and hang out with the other sales people. My boss recently got onto me for spending too much time out on the floor “just chatting” with the Sales Floor team. I’d try to work for an hour or an hour and a half alone and then come chat with people for 10-15 minutes before heading back into my office. It recharged me!

    I tried to explain this to my boss, but she isn’t as interested or knowledgable about congnitive functions. I tried to touch on it and I could tell she had lost interest so I just said I’d try to do better. My numbers are great so she couldn’t say it was causing a negative issue with my work. As long as I keep my numbers up she probably doesn’t care, however, I’d love for her to know it helps recharge me. Any great tips for how to explain ergonomic needs to a boss who only cares about the numbers?

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