There are only 3 types of people at work, and you definitely know which one you are.

I've been in enough workplace brainstorming sessions to know exactly which person I am in the meeting room. And it's not the one everyone's excited to see walking through the door.

While everyone else is bouncing off the walls with "wouldn't it be amazing if..." energy, I'm the person sitting there thinking, "okay cool, but how exactly are we going to make this work without our entire department imploding?"

And apparently, according to creative coach Wade Kingsley, there's actually a name for people like me.

In fact, there are names for all of us.

Watch: Workplace types. Dreamers, doers and doubters. Post continues below.

I spoke to Kingsley on the BIZ podcast; his research into 'innovation cultures' revealed there are essentially three personality types in every workplace.

All three are needed to actually get anything done. So, which one are you?

The dreamers.

Let's be honest, everyone wants to be the dreamer.

These are the big-picture people who think 10 steps ahead and aren't "shackled by responsibility or the way we've always done it." They're the ones who walk into meetings with wild ideas about revolutionising the entire company structure.

Dreamers are critical because they encourage growth and stimulate innovation. They're thinking laterally and outside the square while the rest of us are still trying to figure out why the printer isn't working.

They do have faults though. Dreamers can be completely unrealistic at times (sorry, not sorry).

It's not their fault, it's just the way their brainstorming habits evolve.

The doubters.

Now, before you roll your eyes at the doubters, hear me out.

Doubters aren't the fun police. We're not the people whose job it is to shut everything down and be negative (though I'll admit, sometimes it feels that way).

According to Kingsley, doubters bring reality into the picture. We're the ones asking the important questions like "if we did that, what would happen?" and "do we feel like that's an acceptable risk?" Think of us as your perspective-bringing, caution-adding, reality-checking friends.

We're not trying to kill your dreams — we're trying to make sure that your dreams don't kill us.

The doubter's role is actually based on Edward de Bono's "black hat" thinking, which was meant to offer a note of caution, not to be a dream crusher. But apparently, this gets wildly misinterpreted in workplaces everywhere, and suddenly doubters become the villains of every brainstorming session.

As a doubter myself, it's important for me to remember to not get too in the weeds as negativity can spiral and just put everyone in a bad mood.

Doubters need to be aware of just how much they're "doubting" and practise using language that won't make people cry or rage-quit.

The doers.

And then there are the doers — arguably the most important, according to Kingsley. These are the people who actually get sh*t done (his words, not mine, but I'm here for it). Doers are the ones who take those dreamy ideas, factor in the doubters' reality checks, and actually make something happen.

They're the bridge between "wouldn't it be great if..." and "here's how we're actually going to do this."

Listen to the full episode of BIZ. Post continues below.

Which one are you?

Look, you probably know whether you're a dreamer, doer or doubter.

Take me; there's this weird misconception that creative people are naturally dreamers, but as someone who's a doubter with a doer rising, I've found the opposite to be true. My best creative output has always come from working off someone else's initial idea. Give me a concept, and I'll figure out seventeen different ways to execute it, but ask me to come up with the concept from scratch? I'm tapping out.

If you're still not sure which one you are, think about your last team meeting. Were you the one suggesting we completely reinvent our entire process? The one figuring out timelines and next steps? Or the one asking "but what if this goes horribly wrong?"

Here's what makes this whole framework actually useful: you're not stuck being just one type.

Kingsley points out that these roles can be situational. You might be a dreamer at work but a doer at home (or vice versa). You might start your career as a dreamer and evolve into a doer, or find yourself shifting between roles depending on the project.

The key is recognising that effective teams need a balance of all three types. And "balance" doesn't mean equal numbers — dreamers can often do the heavy lifting in terms of idea generation, so you might need fewer of them compared to doers and doubters.

For years, I felt like my doubter tendencies made me the least popular person in creative meetings. People would literally groan when I asked practical questions or point out potential roadblocks. But knowing that doubters are actually essential to the process? That's been weirdly liberating. I'm not the problem — I'm the solution to preventing disasters.

So whether you're the dreamer with your head in the clouds, the doer making everything actually happen, or the doubter keeping everyone grounded in reality, own it. The workplace needs all of us, even if some of us are more fun at parties than others.

If you want more from Emily Vernem, you can follow her on Instagram @emilyvernem.

Want more BIZ content? Sign up to our free weekly newsletter filled with work and career tips, tricks and advice.