There are 5 distinct personalities in the workplace from the 'detective' to the 'road warrior,' and you'll probably work with them all, a new survey says

• A new Slack report found the five distinct personalities you're likely to encounter at work.
• Slack surveyed over 15,000 workers across nine countries including the US, UK and Australia.

Every worker has habits and traits that they bring to the workplace from the overachievers to the social butterflies, and a new report by Slack has categorized them all into five workplace personalities.

Slack published a new report about "workplace personas" that surveyed 15,492 employed adults across nine countries including the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea through a qualitative online survey between September and October 2023. The survey was undertaken by polling firm YouGov.

The survey found that there are five common personalities you're likely to enter at work, giving each one a nickname: the detectives, the road warriors, the problem solvers, the networkers, and the expressionists.

Find out which workplace persona you and your colleagues fit into below.

The Detective

Around 30% of workers are detectives, Slack says, and they're known for always being on top of everything.

They have an "innate drive towards searching for and finding solutions, answers, information, and sharing with others," per the report. Their standout traits include being curious, outcomes-driven, self-starters, and reliably in the know.

Over half of detectives are driven by a sense of purpose and job security with 93% describing themselves as organized and 91% saying they like to figure things out on their own.

Their colleagues tend to agree. Over half of colleagues say they are best at knowing everything that's going on at the company and 38% say they're good at digging up information.

The Road Warrior

Road warriors tend to like to do things on their own terms, with 22% fitting into this category.

They're probably working remotely and from different locations at different times and are good at building connections virtually. They're outgoing, affable, and keen to use new workplace tools.

Almost two-thirds describe themselves as flexible with just over half saying they like to work in a way that suits their schedule. 89% work away from their desks and 81% say they're adaptable.

Their colleagues say they're best at networking virtually and from anywhere, and most likely to be working from a new location.

The Networker

You can identify networkers because they're always talking to someone and have connections on every team. They make up 22% of workers in the report.

They love socializing and collaborating with people and are probably in the office most of the time.

Networkers largely describe themselves as extroverted and agree that you can be friends with your colleagues. Over half feel it's important to keep everyone updated and 30% like to foster connections with colleagues.

Their peers say they're good at connecting everyone with the information they need and are most likely to have friends across teams and business units.

The Problem Solver

Workers who describe themselves as problem solvers are all about efficiency and make up 16% of workers in Slack's report. They're obsessed with saving time, being more productive, and having a hack for everything.

25% like to share time-saving hacks and automation with their team and over half like to save time by getting rid of mundane and repetitive tasks. 92% describe themselves as early tech adopters and 77% say they're excited about using AI.

37% of problem solvers are already using AI at work, more than every other personality except the expressionist.

Their colleagues say they're good at streamlining tasks and are most likely to use new technologies.

The Expressionist

Your fun-loving and joyful colleague is probably an expressionist, according to the report. Only 10% of workers fit into this persona.

Expressionists are visual and don't take themselves too seriously. They love to express themselves informally with memes, emojis, and gifs.

72% of expressionists like using emojis and gifs to communicate in ways their colleagues will better understand, appreciate, and enjoy. Almost half feel workplace communication should be fun and lighthearted.

Like the road warrior, colleagues think expressionists are great at connecting with people virtually while working from anywhere. They also think expressionists use the most fun emojis.

Similar to the problem solvers, around 44% of this workplace personality are already using AI at work or trying to find ways to incorporate it.