3 Ground Rules When Leading Hybrid Teams
October 17, 2022
Brevity Makes your Message Stick
November 14, 20222 Tips to Break Bad Habits Before Returning to In-Person Work
Have you ever lost weight, and yet those you see every day didn’t notice? Then the moment you come face-to-face with someone you haven’t seen in a while, it’s the first thing they mention.
Psychologists call this phenomenon ‘inattentional blindness.’ It is what happens when those you interact with face-to-face everyday fail to see your subtle changes. But what happens when you haven’t met face-to-face in a while?
As you prepare to return to in-person interactions, expect that previously unnoticed bad habits and new ones developed while working virtually, will be magnified to those you haven’t seen in a while. They risk distracting from our message and ability to influence others to act.
These past two years, our cameras provided instant feedback. We noticed if we fidgeted, if our hair was out of place, or if we sat too close or too far away. That visual feedback helped us make immediate corrections, but it also became a crutch.
We didn’t have to think about how we presented ourselves, we saw it.
Having more in-person conversations requires you to think about how you constantly present yourself. These two simple tips will help you determine what needs to change now before it steals your listeners’ focus later.
Having more in-person conversations requires you to think about how you constantly present yourself. These two simple tips will help you determine what needs to change now before it steals your listeners’ focus later.
The one step you can take to immediately enhance your influence is to record yourself.
- Record yourself.
Next time you are on a virtual call, record yourself. You can easily record on your phone. Immediately watch the playback and take note of your hand gestures, facial expressions, posture and presentation. Be honest and recognize if your movements distracted from your message or add to what you had to say.
- Write it down.
After watching your video playback, write down everything you wish to change. Choose one habit per week to focus on improving. Write it on a post-it note and place it in a location readily seen as a reminder to remain focused. At the end of each week, record yourself again to determine if you’re improving.
Continuing these tips creates a feedback loop for ongoing improvement. It isn’t hard but does require intentional effort to ensure your message is heard. By putting in the work now, you ensure bad habits aren’t magnified when you’re connecting in-person.
Stacey’s Picks:
Check out our Research on Influence in conjunction with the University of Northern Colorado HERE.
