The Link Between Quietness And Productivity
By Roberta Matuson

Some of you may have tried to reach me this morning and found that I was unavailable. That’s because I was knee high in muck with my husband and some friends. We were out having what I call clamming wars, here on Cape Cod.

I have to admit, my team was quite vocal everytime we scored a clam, which by my count was many. The other team raked for clams quietly in the distance. You can imagine our surprise when the quiet team hauled in considerably more clams than our team. Who would have thought?

Sometimes we forget that the most productive people in an organization aren’t the ones who make the most noise. In fact, it’s often the quiet ones who out-produce everyone else.

Here are some reasons I think this is so.

Being quiet strengthens focus. It's hard to focus on the task at hand when you yourself are making so much noise. The other team, who participated in the clamming wars, never took their eye off the prize. Our team, on the other hand, did a happy dance in the sand every time we hit pay dirt. In retrospect, this was probably valuable time wasted.

Being quiet calms others. Quiet people have the ability to calm those around them. For example, when everyone is stressing out because it looks like a team isn’t going to meet their deadlines, it’s usually the quiet people who are able to calm people down and carry them over the finish line.

Being quiet conveys confidence. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone when you are confident. You know you do a good job and you believe that eventually others will take notice.

Being quiet means you think before you speak. Quiet people are usually thoughtful thinkers. They think things through before making a statement. Something you probably wish many of your workers would do before taking up your valuable time.

Being quiet gives you the space to dig deep. Quiet people tend to delve into issues and ideas before moving on to new ones. Compare this to the surface people in your organization, who often move onto other matters without giving thought to the gold that may be sitting right below the surface.

The next time you evaluate team performance, be sure to give credit where credit is due. Remember that at the end of the day, it’s not about the noise one makes, but what one actually gets done.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3000226/link-between-quietness-and-productivity

^Roberta is on-point, one should seek to be quietly efficient and allow your work speak for you.

maclatunji: ^Roberta is on-point, one should seek to be quietly efficient and allow your work speak for you.

I don't think she meant 'being quiet at work'. Being quiet in the workplace is hardly a virtue.
She was referring to personal retreats. Everybody needs a 'quiet time' as often as possible. A time you shut out the world, and do some 'inner looking', as I like to call it. Religious people refer to it as meditation.

AjanleKoko:

I don't think she meant 'being quiet at work'. Being quiet in the workplace is hardly a virtue.
She was referring to personal retreats. Everybody needs a 'quiet time' as often as possible. A time you shut out the world, and do some 'inner looking', as I like to call it. Religious people refer to it as meditation.

You are too quick to conclude that I mean one should be 'quiet at work'. An organisation is a social construct. You cannot go to work and keep mute, you have to communicate with your colleagues to get any job done or at the very least get the job assigned to you in the first place.

She is saying 'talk less' and focus on the job at hand. I think most people can understand and relate to that or what do you think?

maclatunji:

You are too quick to conclude that I mean one should be 'quiet at work'. An organisation is a social construct. You cannot go to work and keep mute, you have to communicate with your colleagues to get any job done or at the very least get the job assigned to you in the first place.

She is saying 'talk less' and focus on the job at hand. I think most people can understand and relate to that or what do you think?

You are right, I was too quick to conclude.
Based on the clams scenario, she's saying one should make less noise at work, and focus on achieving results.
Thanks.

Nice Article....

What if I work as a marketer, Sale representative or customer care representative? Will quietness enhance my productivity?

being quiet can also mean ignorance and shyness. Nice write-up, positive assertions. Thumps up

Yes, because your job entails listening to both what the customer is saying and isnt saying (body gestures/expressions) to determine what their needs are and how you can help them solve their issues. Being a sales rep doesnt mean chattering all the time. Sometimes you need to get right on to it

omowolewa: What if I work as a marketer, Sale representative or customer care representative? Will quietness enhance my productivity?

pufectskin: Yes, because your job entails listening to both what the customer is saying and isnt saying (body gestures/expressions) to determine what their needs are and how you can help them solve their issues. Being a sales rep doesnt mean chattering all the time. Sometimes you need to get right on to it

Well said! It is by listening carefully and paying attention to a (potential) customer that you can truly deliver value to him which is what marketing is all about.

True talk!

The quite people at work-place tends to be relegated, while the outspoken ones gets the promotion, I'm saying it from experience.

Tell that to these folk in here, esp the bearded one ALWAYS yakking AND doing so in a croaky vocal fry imitating female celebrity style, gosh!

1forall: Tell that to these folk in here, esp the bearded one ALWAYS yakking AND doing so in a croaky vocal fry imitating female celebrity style, gosh!

LOL, who might that be?

The most quiet and focused guy in my team at work alwais had the highest productivity after appraisals. He never had deviations, alwais picked the recommended number of calls and aced his assessments!
He might have being quiet, yes, but being focused also helped him greately.

maclatunji: ^Roberta is on-point, one should seek to be quietly efficient and allow your work speak for you.

Quietness? Easy to say than done, most people like talking than listening, that is the most problem we are facing as human being.

Billyonaire: being quiet can also mean ignorance and shyness.

Or engrossed in Nairaland.

The article is bollocks

How can the writer make such an authoritative assertion of a link between quietness and productivity without any data analysis. Real crap

I like quiet people, they have great understanding of everything around them. They are always focus, and confident.

maclatunji: The Link Between Quietness And Productivity
By Roberta Matuson

Some of you may have tried to reach me this morning and found that I was unavailable. That’s because I was knee high in muck with my husband and some friends. We were out having what I call clamming wars, here on Cape Cod.

I have to admit, my team was quite vocal everytime we scored a clam, which by my count was many. The other team raked for clams quietly in the distance. You can imagine our surprise when the quiet team hauled in considerably more clams than our team. Who would have thought?

Sometimes we forget that the most productive people in an organization aren’t the ones who make the most noise. In fact, it’s often the quiet ones who out-produce everyone else.

Here are some reasons I think this is so.

Being quiet strengthens focus. It's hard to focus on the task at hand when you yourself are making so much noise. The other team, who participated in the clamming wars, never took their eye off the prize. Our team, on the other hand, did a happy dance in the sand every time we hit pay dirt. In retrospect, this was probably valuable time wasted.

Being quiet calms others. Quiet people have the ability to calm those around them. For example, when everyone is stressing out because it looks like a team isn’t going to meet their deadlines, it’s usually the quiet people who are able to calm people down and carry them over the finish line.

Being quiet conveys confidence. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone when you are confident. You know you do a good job and you believe that eventually others will take notice.

Being quiet means you think before you speak. Quiet people are usually thoughtful thinkers. They think things through before making a statement. Something you probably wish many of your workers would do before taking up your valuable time.

Being quiet gives you the space to dig deep. Quiet people tend to delve into issues and ideas before moving on to new ones. Compare this to the surface people in your organization, who often move onto other matters without giving thought to the gold that may be sitting right below the surface.

The next time you evaluate team performance, be sure to give credit where credit is due. Remember that at the end of the day, it’s not about the noise one makes, but what one actually gets done.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3000226/link-between-quietness-and-productivity

Are trying to say that inspite of his quietness, FRESH AIR is working

maclatunji:
Sometimes we forget that the most productive people in an organization aren’t the ones who make the most noise. In fact, it’s often the quiet ones who out-produce everyone else.

Yeah, that depends on what organization and the personalities. There has been no research numbers to show that quiet people are necessarily more productive.

maclatunji:
Being quiet strengthens focus. It's hard to focus on the task at hand when you yourself are making so much noise. The other team, who participated in the clamming wars, never took their eye off the prize. Our team, on the other hand, did a happy dance in the sand every time we hit pay dirt. In retrospect, this was probably valuable time wasted.

Being quiet makes one sleepy too. Especially on those hot, dry days, you want to have some noise in the background so you can stay alert longer.

maclatunji:
Being quiet calms others. Quiet people have the ability to calm those around them. For example, when everyone is stressing out because it looks like a team isn’t going to meet their deadlines, it’s usually the quiet people who are able to calm people down and carry them over the finish line.

That depends on the personalities you are dealing with.

maclatunji:
Being quiet conveys confidence. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone when you are confident. You know you do a good job and you believe that eventually others will take notice.

I don't buy this one bit. Some of the most confident, and intelligent people I know are loud.

maclatunji:
Being quiet means you think before you speak. Quiet people are usually thoughtful thinkers. They think things through before making a statement. Something you probably wish many of your workers would do before taking up your valuable time.

HECKY NO!!!!

maclatunji:
Being quiet gives you the space to dig deep. Quiet people tend to delve into issues and ideas before moving on to new ones. Compare this to the surface people in your organization, who often move onto other matters without giving thought to the gold that may be sitting right below the surface.

The next time you evaluate team performance, be sure to give credit where credit is due. Remember that at the end of the day, it’s not about the noise one makes, but what one actually gets done.

I disagree with about 95% of what this says.

is not true jor. being quite to a great extend means you don't have what to say and you feel intimidated. cos trust me if you have so much loaded in you i bet you, you just can keep quite, not that am saying keeping quiet is not a good virtue.

what is the percentage of the world movers and shakers that are quiet people?

Being quiet or vocal at work depend on the job itself. some jobs demand a lot of talking while others require absolute quirtness, take for instance, construction workers tends to talk much while accountants and laboratory workers require calmness to enhance productivity[color=#990000][/color]

Still waters run deep…

I am quiet at work, but it’s usually because I don’t want to contribute to their filthy topics or probably as a result of cultural differences.
It does not necessarily mean I am more productive than the others are, though.

koastar: I think most people here are getting the message wrong. What the writer is trying to say is, do not be yourself praise singer rather focus more on getting the job done and achieving more success and let your work speak out for you

This is one part of the message, the other part is: "shutting-up" and focusing on the job helps you to perform better thereby improving your productivity.

koastar: I think most people here are getting the message wrong. What the writer is trying to say is, do not be yourself praise singer rather focus more on getting the job done and achieving more success and let your work speak out for you

Loud people are not necessarily those who blow their own trumpets. They are just loud, so I don't think your understanding of this message works.

Also, depending on where you work, if you don't know how to sell yourself well, you will likely be one of the first people out the door. I am speaking as someone who has been bruised numerous times.

Part of the reason I became a Programmer is because being an introvert I felt it was a perfect match made for my personality as well. I felt I didn't need to talk much, I just needed to let my work do all the talking for me. Well, I found out quickly that it works if you are looking to working as a consultant but not as a full-timer. Imagine getting comments like "you are not social enough", "the people in the business side feel you are too professional", "Your team mates feel you are a probably a snob". Of course I am asking myself what the f* my personality has to do with doing my job well. I mean consulting is awesome but there is still that rejection you feel when you realize you are not going to get that full-time opening in that company you have wanted to work full-time at simply because you did not [b]ACT [/b]OUTGOING ENOUGH

I eventually had to take classes to learn how to communicate and do it more effectively too, on a REGULAR BASIS.

Kobojunkie:

Loud people are not necessarily those who blow their own trumpets. They are just loud, so I don't think your understanding of this message works.

Also, depending on where you work, if you don't know how to sell yourself well, you will likely be one of the first people out the door. I am speaking as someone who has been bitten numerous times. I eventually had to take classes to learn how to communicate and do it more effectively too, on a REGULAR BASIS.

Oh, I now see where all of this is coming from:

Kobojunkie:

Yeah, that depends on what organization and the personalities. There has been no research numbers to show that quiet people are necessarily more productive.




Being quiet makes one sleepy too. Especially on those hot, dry days, you want to have some noise in the background so you can stay alert longer.


That depends on the personalities you are dealing with.

I don't buy this one bit. Some of the most confident, and intelligent people I know are loud.

HECKY NO!!!!


I disagree with about 95% of what this says.

maclatunji:

Oh, I now see where all of this is coming from:

um . . . I am one of those considered in that article as a quiet person, and I am disagreeing with 95% of what is said in that trip. That is it.

Kobojunkie:

um . . . I am one of those considered in that article as a quiet person, and I am disagreeing with 95% of what is said in that trip. That is it.

It seems to me that you are trying hard to prevent yourself from being taken or going back to that point where you were docile and people took you for granted. You don't have to be loud to be an achiever. What you need is to have the required skills, be confident and assertive/resolute when need be.

I am extremely reclusive and reserved but God help you if you mess with me or I notice you are deliberately taking me for granted!

maclatunji:

It seems to me that you are trying hard to prevent yourself from being taken or going back to that point where you were docile and people took you for granted. You don't have to be loud to be an achiever. What you need is to have the required skills, be confident and assertive/resolute when need be.

I am extremely reclusive and reserved but God help you if you mess with me or I notice you are deliberately taking me for granted!

um . . . please tell me when exactly in my life I have ever been considered ". . . Docile and people took me for granted"? Please catch me up cause I have no memory of this time you speak of.

Seriously, can't someone post without someone dissect their mind over the internet?

All I said is that I am an introvert. And I never said one has to be loud to be an achiever.
There are so many out there who are loud, and at the same time achievers, and then there are those of us who are quiet and proud of the work we do.

Why does it have to be an EITHER OR situation for you? and for pete's sake did I ask you for any advice? Why do you feel the need to shove what you think and feel down my throat? Why assume you have people figured out when they respond with an opposing view to an article? I am not you. cheeezzzz!!!