4/17/2023 0 Comments And zoom it realAnd we are constantly following their body language (posture, body orientation, how they stand or sit, etc.) We make eye contact and notice whether they do. In conversation we watch other’s hands, follow their gestures, focus on their facial expressions and their tone of voice. Non-Verbal Cues Most importantly, researchers have known for at least fifty years that at least half of how we communicate is through non-verbal cues. Yet with the focus on us as much as on the attendees, most video apps seem designed to make us self conscious and distract from watching who’s speaking. Looking in a Mirror While Having A Meeting Before meeting in person, you may do a quick check of your appearance, but you definitely don’t hold up a mirror in the middle of a meeting constantly seeing how you look. And we use all of this to build a context and make assumptions - often unconsciously - about personalities, positions, social status and hierarchy. We can see relationships between people and notice deference, hierarchy, side glances and other subtle cues. If we’re in a conference or classroom, we’ll see who we’re sitting next to, notice what they’re wearing, carrying, reading, etc. We can see what’s on desks or hanging on the walls, what’s in bookshelves or in cubicles. If we’re in a business meeting, we’ll scan the room, rapidly changing our gaze. Meeting Space Context In person we visually take in much more information than just looking at someone’s face. Those all are preambles to establish a connection for the meeting which follows. In business meetings there’s also the formal ritual of exchanging business cards. There’s something about that first physical interaction that communicates trust and connection through touch. Physical Contact Second, most business and social gatherings start with physical contact - a handshake or a hug. The same transitions are missing when you leave a video conference. Video conferencing misses the transitions as you enter a building, find the room and sit down. In the real world you just don’t teleport into a meeting. It’s fatiguing trying to keep business and home life separate.) Or your kids are screaming and interrupting meetings. Now you need to check if there’s anything embarrassing lying around. (And with video conferences people are seeing your private space. You look the same whether you are playing poker or making a sales call, in a suit or without pants. In a video conference all the contextual clues are homogenized. Are you meeting on the 47th floor boardroom with a great view? Are you surrounded by other animated conversations in a coffee shop or sitting with other classmates in a lecture hall? With people working from home you can’t tell where the meeting is or how important the location or setting is. Meeting Location In the physical world the space and context give you cues and reinforcement. Every one of these video applications has ignored a half-century of research on how people communicate. What’s missing? It turns out that today’s video conferencing technology doesn’t emulate how people interact with others in person. It’s just not the same as connecting live at the conference room table, the classroom or local coffee shop. And while the technology allows us to conduct business, see friends and transfer information one-on-one and one-to-many from our homes, there’s something missing. All of us sheltering at home have used video conferencing apps for virtual business meetings, virtual coffees with friends, family meetings, online classes, etc.
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