How personal contact will change post-Covid-19
We’ll be less touchy-feely and far more wary, but the transition will feel strange.
In a normal week, it’s hard to count how many times we come into physical contact with other human beings. For many who are isolating alone, this may be the longest period in their lives that they’ve gone without skin-to-skin human touch. The extreme distancing we’re seeing now is, one would hope, an impermanent change. But as more countries begin to lift their lockdown measures, we are faced with the problem of how to return to reality. How do we interact with each other in a way that keeps us safe but doesn’t offend?
For months we’ve been practising social distancing, keeping at least two metres away from each other, avoiding touching communal surfaces and stifling coughs and sneezes. It has been difficult to quash a lifetime’s experience of learned societal norms that demonstrate politeness or affection: in many cultures we shake hands when we greet new people, hug those we care for or offer a hand, literally, to those who need it.
Now we’re preparing to go out into the world once more, all those ingrained habits may have to stop. The double-air-kiss beloved by the French could be a vector of transmission; the warm embrace of Italians greeting potentially too dangerous. “Touchy-feely” behaviour in general could cease to be acceptable, and with it, everything we’ve learned about a world normally full of physical contact might change.
It’ll be difficult to handle, says Robin Dunbar, emeritus professor of evolutionary psychology at Oxford University. “Physical contact is part of the mechanism we use to set up our relationships, friendships and family memberships,” he says. It all stems back to our history as primates, when stroking of hairy skin triggers the endorphin system in our brain, which makes us feel warm and positive.
And there’ll likely be confusion and concern as we try to adapt to the new normal.
“Tactile touching or whispering in people’s ear will probably disappear for quite a while,” says Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Manchester Business School. “Communications will be slightly more complicated and less nuanced as a consequence. People might misinterpret things as you won’t have the cues you normally would.”
However, we’re already seeing ways in which our new socially distant world could work, taking cues from the television programmes we’re consuming during lockdown. Shows around the world are showing their presenters sitting further apart from their colleagues, reinforcing the importance – and acceptability – of staying distant.
“Everyone’s really performing the notion of being apart but together,” says Erika Hughes, academic lead for performance at the University of Portsmouth.
Conversely, we’re recognising the shift in perception when we watch programmes produced before social distancing. The shudder of worry and the visceral reaction to crowded scenes set in bars, nightclubs and shopping centres are a recognition that our brains are being rewired to accept more distant social practices.
The recent pandemic has changed everything we know, particularly about how we remain socially connected – Bhavna Jani-Negandhi
It reflects a broader worry that is held across the globe about the risks of returning to social contact. According to research by pollsters Ipsos-Mori, only 7% of Britons want closed businesses to reopen if the virus is not fully contained, while 70% strongly oppose going back to normal. They found the same sentiment reflected elsewhere: 60% of Australians and Americans, 70% of Canadians, half of French and Brazilian people and 40% of Chinese don’t want to reopen society until the virus is tackled.
“The recent pandemic has changed everything we know, particularly about how we remain socially connected,” says Bhavna Jani-Negandhi, a clinical psychologist in private practice. “People have risen to the challenge and have tried to maintain social connections in creative ways, but at the same time it has been different and it can be hard to adjust to the new ways of being social.”
So many of the changes in life now are called “unprecedented”. For one, in March, France’s health minister advised citizens to stop kissing due to Covid-19. But in fact we have been here before – in England in the 15th Century, King Henry VI banned kissing in an effort to stymie the spread of the bubonic plague.
Aversion to close contact with someone with an infection has a darker side too. Ever since HIV/Aids first emerged, there has been a huge stigma against those who had tested positive for the virus. Many people feared they could contract HIV/Aids through even a handshake, despite evidence that it was a sexually transmitted infection.
It was in this context that the late Princess Diana shook the hand of a patient being treated for HIV/Aids at London’s Middlesex Hospital in 1987, in an effort to tackle the stigma. Similarly, tuberculosis patients experience prejudice in different forms around the world, including excessive distancing measures, and there is a long global history of people who have leprosy being ostracised. But attitudes change over time, with concerted myth-busting campaigns, so that many now wouldn’t think twice about embracing someone who is HIV-positive, for example.
If and when a much-anticipated vaccine for coronavirus emerges and physical contact with those outside our immediate household “bubbles” becomes safe, how lasting will our new attitudes to touch be?
“I suspect there will be a change in the near-term, but it will wear off over time,” says Dunbar. The initial fear and revulsion of close personal contact will likely give way to practices we’ve partaken in since birth.
Handshakes are the most emblematic way we’re likely to see a shift, with plenty of headlines already calling time on their existence. But that may be premature, reckons Dunbar. “They’re so ingrained with us,” he says. “People will find it very difficult not to stick their hand out.”
That’s something Cooper agrees with. “I can’t see a replacement for the handshake in the near future, at all,” he says. Various attempts have been trialled, including touching feet and elbows, but the performatively awkward nature of it means they may not last long.
Perhaps a first kiss will be more powerful as it takes on a new significance.
Even as low-contact ways of greeting are adopted, it may not ease the pain of what we’ve lost. Hughes has found it difficult, when she’s been grocery shopping, to tamp down the physical impulse to go over and greet someone she knows when out and about. “There’s almost something painful about not crossing that line, even though we know we’re not supposed to,” she says. She equates it with grief, not over losing a friend, but losing something important about our connection.
“I think we’re losing the sense of knowing what to do with that feeling when you want to go and naturally embrace somebody,” she says. And fear of the unknown – the invisible threat – will keep us feeling that worrisome emotion. “We may change the way we connect with others and may take a cautious approach, depending on our experience of the pandemic and its impact on us individually,” says Jani-Negandhi.
But before we mourn what may be lost, it’s worth thinking about what we might gain. Perhaps a first kiss will be more powerful as it takes on a new significance. Planes, which are cramped to capitalise on fares, may become more bearable as norms around personal space are rewritten. The supportive hug will mean more when you have to think about to whom you give them, and likewise the kindly hand on the shoulder will be imbued with more meaning.
Hughes foresees a future where we divide our social groups into an inner circle of those we feel comfortable and willing to touch, and an outer circle with whom we’re more circumspect. “It could heighten how we do value touch when you finally get to do it,” she says. “It’ll move from what it is now in Western society writ large – which is as a greeting – to being more of a confirmation.”
That doesn’t mean the transition will be easy. “It’s going to be heartbreaking. Many cultures have really beautiful ways of connecting that don’t involve touch,” says Hughes. “But to replace something as iconic as a hug or as a cheek kiss, I think is going to require a new choreography.”
As for alternative greetings, Hughes, who comes from the American south, reckons we already have a ready-made replacement for a greeting: the wave and head nod that she encounters when she drives down the long country roads to her parents’ house makes her feel welcome. “Maybe you take it out of the car,” she says.
For those worrying about the lack of physical contact depriving us of something innately human, Dunbar has some words of hope. “Touch is not the only mechanism used for physical bonding,” he says. Evolution from our primate progenitors has given us new ways to feel a connection with others that also trigger endorphins. “They’re things like laughter, singing, dancing, telling stories, religious rituals and so on,” he says – “the things we use in our everyday social interactions.”
So, while we may remain wary about physical contact for some time yet, staying physically distant doesn’t have to mean we can’t feel close.
This article first appeared here.
Google Chat based on RCS arrives in Italy and Singapore
Arrived in Italy and Singapore in May 2020.
Last year, Google made the final push to enable RCS on Android-powered devices across the world. After enabling RCS in the US, UK, Mexico, and France using Google’s own servers via the Android Messages SMS app, the RCS-based Chat service is now going live for Android users in Italy and Singapore.
Google Chat is an RCS-based platform that enabled the next-generation of SMS messaging – one that allows for sending of full-resolution videos and photos (with a limit of 100MB), shows when the recipient(s) is (are) typing, and supports read receipts, even across borders. Although there are many other instant-messaging apps available, RCS is important because it requires minimal setup and works out of the box.
In H1 of last year, US carriers announced they were working on a cross-carrier app that would enable RCS across the States, and Google wasn’t having it. It wasn’t long after that announcement that Google fast-tracked the nationwide rollout of its Chat platform. The platform began its US nationwide rollout back in November.
When you start a chat window with one or more recipients with Google’s “Chat” enabled, you’ll see “Chat message” in the input field. If the message will send as an SMS, it will say “Text message” instead.
55% of Gen Alpha swayed by social stars
Why do kids make a purchase? Seeing their favorite YouTuber wearing it is a good place to start, according to new research from Wunderman Thompson.
More than half, or 55%, of Gen Alpha would purchase a product if they saw their favorite Instagram or YouTube star wearing it, a new survey by ad agency analytics firm Wunderman Thompson found. And 14% would love it if their favorite social stars had their own retail outlet. Digital influencers exerted only slightly less sway over purchasing decisions than kids friend groups, the “Generation Alpha: Preparing for the future consumer” report found.
Indeed, 10- to 12-year-olds are particularly swayed by their favorite influencers, with 61% saying they’d buy a product worn by a social star. In comparison, only 46% of 13- to 16-year-olds say they’d buy the item.
(Family, it should be noted, came in third with 21% of respondents saying they’re influenced by their parents or siblings. Rather than what they buy, families tend to have a bigger influence on how kids today shop, the study found. If parents for example shopped online, kids were likely to shop online; parents who bought off of Amazon influenced kids to do the same.)
Where kids are being influenced online is dependent on location, age and gender. For example, online videos are more likely to have an impact on Americans over Brits, with 26% of US kids saying they’re swayed by YouTubers and Instagram videos. Older kids tend to be more influenced by social media content (static images, Instagram photos, etc.), with 32% of 13- to 16-year-olds turning to those platforms for purchasing inspiration. Videos also tend to be more effective for boys (29% versus 20% for girls), while social media tends to effect girls more strongly (23% versus 13%).
The study polled more than 4,000 kids ages six to 16 in the US and the UK.
This article first appeared here.
A Formidable Player Enters the International Online Education Market
The creators of Lectera have placed great importance on teaching key skills that will allow users to increase their income.
A new strong player is soon to make its appearance in the international online education market—the large multilingual platform, Lectera.com. The launch of the platform is scheduled for the end of the second quarter of 2020. It is currently in beta but ready to start training its first users.
From the official launch, training programmes will be available in 10 most popular areas including sales, financial literacy, digital marketing, soft skills and business development, among others.
The creators of the platform have placed great importance on teaching key skills that will allow users to increase their income. This underlines the important principle of Lectera – Money Education (learn to earn).
The founder and CEO of the Lectera platform, Mila Semeshkina, is an international expert on fast and effective training, the author of the unique ‘Fast education methodology’, a popular opinion leader and the author of the international bestseller Learn or leave the market: A practical guide for developing your career and your business.
Her proprietary methodology ‘Fast education’ (fast learning) has become the foundation of Lectera’s educational products. Thanks to this, the platform enters the market with a fundamentally new approach to training and skills development.
Online training at Lectera revolves around courses consisting of 20-30 video lessons of 5-10 minutes each, as well as marathons, large educational programmes and other innovative training formats which Lectera has kept under wraps for now developed by a team of platform experts. All training in Lectera contains only focused, key practical knowledge aimed at ‘the bottom line’, and the greatest attention is paid to the formation and training of skills that enable the user to quickly achieve the results he strives for.
Lectera deliberately abandons the one-sided ‘expertise’ of copyright courses commonly based on the subjective experience of only one person (even if he is a guru in his field), which is rarely possible to replicate. The training materials are developed by a large international team of more than 150 experts from 18 countries and they are created on the basis of the best practices in the world, proven and time tested to be effective in the field of business. In addition, each educational programme passes 10 levels of content verification, due to which the highest quality and depth of knowledge are achieved.
All educational programmes are available on the platform in four languages – English, German, Spanish and Russian. Lectera is one of the few platforms around the world offering tens of thousands of hours of video and hundreds of thousands of pages of text all individually translated in accordance with local needs and values. As the company states, four languages, is just the beginning. In the third quarter of 2020, a fifth language will be added—Hindi. The CEO and founder of the project, Semeshkina, confirmed that in the next few years the platform will be available in 20 languages. However, she emphasised that localization into each language requires serious investment, and the Lectera team carefully analyses the needs of each market before entering the new language arena.
Lectera has headquarters in the US (Miami), UAE (Dubai) and Russia (Moscow). Thus, the platform has a strong and stable position in the world market and uniform development in all key regions. Within five years, the company plans on being in the top 3 largest educational online platforms.
To ensure such success, according to Lectera’s CEO, the following factors should give it the leading edge: the highest quality of educational products, a flexible pricing system, multilingualism, a unique approach to creating courses and a strong team of experts behind product creation.
Despite the fact that Lectera is currently in beta, the platform is already receiving top reviews from its users. The global coronavirus crisis does play into the hands of the new platform – the demand for online education has never been so high and the growth of the online education market is astronomical.
It is possible that Lectera will be able to use the current market conditions to its advantage and become a Unicorn in the next few years, displacing industry veterans from the pedestal, whose approach to training is outdated and has long been out of tune with market realities and needs.
By the end of the year, approximately 1,000 educational units are to be launched on Lectera.com—courses, training programmes, marathons and other, fundamentally new training formats—which the company is yet to reveal. They are already in the pipeline and are based on the same fundamental Lectera principles—fast training and practical application of knowledge to enhance both income and quality of life. In Q3 2020, the launch of professional retraining programmes will allow to acquire a new profession in a month. According to the CEO of the platform, Semeshkina, this will help hundreds of thousands of people find their place in the modern labor market.
Lectera’s team is dedicated to making training on the platform not only high-quality, but affordable. Course fees generally range from $50 to $200. The platform also offers a flexible system of discounts as part of the ‘Lectera Affiliate Motivation Program’. It motivates students to invite their friends and contacts to start training with Lectera and earn on recommendations. For truly active participants, the financial rewards of the programme make it possible to pay for courses fully and even receive an additional income.
Advice to Founders and CEOs from Sequoia: “Coronavirus, The Black Swan of 2020”
Here is a note that was sent by Sequoia to its Founders and CEOs to provide guidance on how to ensure the health of their business while dealing with potential business consequences of the spreading effects of the Coronavirus.
Dear Founders & CEOs,
Coronavirus is the black swan of 2020. Some of you (and some of us) have already been personally impacted by the virus. We know the stress you are under and are here to help. With lives at risk, we hope that conditions improve as quickly as possible. In the interim, we should brace ourselves for turbulence and have a prepared mindset for the scenarios that may play out.
All of you have been inundated by suggestions for precautions to take around COVID-19 to protect the health and welfare of you, your employees, and your families. Like many, we have studied the available information and would be happy to share our point of view — please let us know if that is of interest. This note is about something else: ensuring the health of your business while dealing with potential business consequences of the spreading effects of the virus.
Unfortunately, because of Sequoia’s presence in many regions around the world, we are gaining first-hand knowledge of coronavirus’ effects on global business. As with all crises, there are some businesses that stand to benefit. However, many companies in frontline countries are facing challenges as a result of the virus outbreak, including:
- Drop in business activity. Some companies have seen their growth rates drop sharply between December and February. Several companies that were on track are now at risk of missing their Q1–2020 plans as the effects of the virus ripple wider.
- Supply chain disruptions. The unprecedented lockdown in China is directly impacting global supply chains. Hardware, direct-to-consumer, and retailing companies may need to find alternative suppliers. Pure software companies are less exposed to supply chain disruptions, but remain at risk due to cascading economic effects.
- Curtailment of travel and canceled meetings. Many companies have banned all “non-essential” travel and some have banned all international travel. While travel companies are directly impacted, all companies that depend on in-person meetings to conduct sales, business development, or partnership discussions are being affected.
It will take considerable time — perhaps several quarters — before we can be confident that the virus has been contained. It will take even longer for the global economy to recover its footing. Some of you may experience softening demand; some of you may face supply challenges. While The Fed and other central banks can cut interest rates, monetary policy may prove a blunt tool in alleviating the economic ramifications of a global health crisis.
We suggest you question every assumption about your business, including:
1. Cash runway.
Do you really have as much runway as you think? Could you withstand a few poor quarters if the economy sputters? Have you made contingency plans? Where could you trim expenses without fundamentally hurting the business? Ask these questions now to avoid potentially painful future consequences.
2. Fundraising.
Private financings could soften significantly, as happened in 2001 and 2009. What would you do if fundraising on attractive terms proves difficult in 2020 and 2021? Could you turn a challenging situation into an opportunity to set yourself up for enduring success? Many of the most iconic companies were forged and shaped during difficult times. We partnered with Cisco shortly after Black Monday in 1987. Google and PayPal soldiered through the aftermath of the dot-com bust. More recently, Airbnb, Square, and Stripe were founded in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis. Constraints focus the mind and provide fertile ground for creativity.
3. Sales forecasts.
Even if you don’t see any direct or immediate exposure for your company, anticipate that your customers may revise their spending habits. Deals that seemed certain may not close. The key is to not be caught flat-footed.
4. Marketing.
With softening sales, you might find that your customer lifetime values have declined, in turn suggesting the need to rein in customer acquisition spending to maintain consistent returns on marketing spending. With greater economic and fundraising uncertainty, you might even want to consider raising the bar on ROI for marketing spend.
5. Headcount.
Given all of the above stress points on your finances, this might be a time to evaluate critically whether you can do more with less and raise productivity.
6. Capital spending.
Until you have charted a course to financial independence, examine whether your capital spending plans are sensible in a more uncertain environment. Perhaps there is no reason to change plans and, for all you know, changing circumstances may even present opportunities to accelerate. But these are decisions that should be deliberate.
Having weathered every business downturn for nearly fifty years, we’ve learned an important lesson — nobody ever regrets making fast and decisive adjustments to changing circumstances. In downturns, revenue and cash levels always fall faster than expenses. In some ways, business mirrors biology. As Darwin surmised, those who survive “are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change.”
A distinctive feature of enduring companies is the way their leaders react to moments like these. Your employees are all aware of COVID-19 and are wondering how you will react and what it means for them. False optimism can easily lead you astray and prevent you from making contingency plans or taking bold action. Avoid this trap by being clinically realistic and acting decisively as circumstances change. Demonstrate the leadership your team needs during this stressful time.
Here is some perspective from our partner Alfred Lin, who lived through another black swan moment as an operating executive:
“I was serving as the COO/CFO of Zappos when I was summoned to Sequoia’s office for the infamous R.I.P. Good Times presentation in 2008, prior to the financial crisis. We didn’t know then, just like we don’t know now, how long or how sharp or shallow of a downturn we will face. What I can confirm is that the presentation made our team and our business stronger. Zappos emerged from the financial crisis ready to seize on opportunities after our competitors had been battered and bruised.”
Stay healthy, keep your company healthy, and put a dent in the world.
Best,
Team Sequoia
How not to shake someone’s hand
We can know when a handshake feels wrong, but it can be hard to put a finger on exactly why. If it lingers too long, is too firm or pulls us too close it can define the rest of an encounter.
Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron walked side by side, their hands clasped together. They remained in each other’s vice-like grip, tugging, patting and fawning at each other for 29 seconds as the world’s media looked on.
Occurring during a parade for French National Day – the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a turning point in the French revolution – it could have been a moment of solidarity between the leaders of two great nations. Instead it turned into one of the most awkward, lingering handshakes in recent memory. Without being able to hear what they discussed as they pressed themselves close to each other, their body language became a surrogate for sentiment.
A good greeting in this situation might have involved lots of eye contact and positive body positioning. “The best way to approach is to create equality,” says Sanda Dolcos, a psychologist at the University of Illinois.
“What is important is to have an open approaching attitude, not to show dominance,” adds Florin Dolcos, her colleague at the University of Illinois. “One way is to reach out with your hand palm up.”
But the handshake between Macron and Trump seems to break every rule that we know to be normal. While barely a fraction of the World Record for longest handshake – set at 43 hours, if you are interested – the interaction between the two presidents was excruciating and those watching could feel every second of it.
It starts fairly innocuously. Macron takes Trump’s hand, begins to pat him on the back and the two start walking. After five seconds, Trump pats Macron’s right hand as if to say “That’s enough”. Macron misses the cue, intentionally or otherwise, and at eight seconds, Trump halts dead in his tracks. If Macron is not playing his game, Trump needs to change the game.
“Usually in the moment you realise whether the person is in discomfort and it is normal to retract after a few seconds,” says Sanda. But neither retracts.
The three all hold hands in a strange three-way embrace which lasts a few more seconds before the whole interaction fizzles out.
The two face each other and transition to what Florin calls a “brotherly” handshake; Macron has his left hand on Trump’s right arm. Trump wiggles his hand from side to side – but still no release. Trump goes to greet and kiss Brigitte Macron while still shaking his counterpart’s hand. The three now all hold hands in a strange three-way embrace which lasts a few more seconds before the whole interaction fizzles out.
“The handshake sets the tone of the conversation. He was really aware of the fact that everyone was analysing his behaviour,” says Florin. “It was not something that came naturally.”
But what was this strange greeting saying exactly? And what effect does breaking handshaking conventions have on subsequent meetings? Scientists like the Dolcos are interested in answering these questions because they are useful for researching interviews, deals, investments, retail habits and more. Handshakes are a sign of agreement, mutual respect or a simple hello. But they can also come loaded with meaning and aggression.
Keep it firm
When it comes to handshakes, firm is best. Firm handshakes have been linked positively to extraversion and emotional expressiveness and negatively to shyness and neuroticism. They have also been associated with openness to new experiences in women. Equally, limp, wet handshakes are almost universally disliked.
A firm handshakes in a job interview can increase your employability, especially among women. This is true even after controlling for differences in physical attractiveness (which universally increases your chances of being employed) and the clothing of the candidates.
Macron and Trump have a bit of history when it comes to intense, firm handshakes – in some cases, even leaving marks on one another. Whether there is such a thing as a too-firm handshake is unclear. “If your hand is like a dead fish, no firmness, it shows lack of interest. Or if you shake until you break it will tell me bad things about you,” says Florin.
Don’t let it linger
A handshake not only conveys your level of extraversion, expressiveness and employability to an interviewer, but also helps you learn about the person you are meeting too. A good handshake has the potential to put interview candidates at ease. Likewise, a bad one can set them up for an awkward encounter.
Abnormally long handshakes left interviewees “frozen” and in the subsequent interview, they displayed anxious behaviours and were less likely to laugh.
The abnormal length of the handshake between Macron and Trump might show that they are very familiar with one another, but between strangers it can lead to an uncomfortable conversation afterwards.
In one study, interviewees were filmed and had their body language analysed after experiencing abnormally long handshakes that left interviewees “frozen”. In the subsequent interview, they displayed anxious behaviours and were less likely to laugh or show signs that they were enjoying themselves.
Add a caring touch
In another context, and between different people, the touch that Macron makes on the arm of Trump could have surprising effects. Touching a hand on the back of someone’s arm can provoke them into making risky decisions, suggests Jennifer Argo, a professor in marketing at the Alberta School of Business, but only when the person greeting the potential risk-taker is a woman.
Participants in her study were business school students who were asked to make financial investments. They were greeted on arrival by either a woman or man who proffered a hand with or without a “guiding touch” on the back of the arm, or by no hand at all. Investors who were greeted by the woman and guided into the room made the riskiest decisions of all.
“The feeling of a gentle touch on the shoulder suggests security – it is reminiscent of someone caring for you,” says Argo. “When you are more secure you take more risks, different kinds of risks and invest more.” The researchers’ suggestion is that this kind of caring touch is associated with our mothers in childhood, and that explains why the same effect is not seen when the greeter is a man.
The idea that a motherly embrace could provoke us into making riskier financial decisions is interesting, if hard to believe. Might it just be that the physical contact from the woman is being misinterpreted as sexual attraction by the investors, leading to risk-taking behaviour? A famous study from the 1970s highlighted the possibility of “misattribution of arousal” – where one mood is incorrectly interpreted as attraction. In this study, fear and anxiety were misinterpreted as sexual attraction.
Men were asked to cross one of two bridges. The first, a sturdy bridge, the second a suspension bridge that swayed threateningly when someone walked across it. At the end of the bridge, an attractive male or female interviewer asked the men to complete a questionnaire and offered them their name and phone number, under the premise of answering any queries they might later have about the experiment. The men who crossed the swaying suspension bridge and were greeted by an attractive female interviewer were more likely than any other group to take up the offer of giving her a call. The researchers attributed this to the raised blood pressure and heart rates of the anxious men being misinterpreted as signs of arousal.
Might a similar thing be happening with the investors? Argo says not. The risk-taking effect was seen equally in both male and female investors when greeted by the woman and with neither when the greeter was a man. “The female experimenter was also not super attractive – she was an average person,” adds Argo. “We didn’t use incredibly attractive people.”
Argo suggests this might have meaningful effects in other areas outside of investments, like retail, where a guiding touch by a retail assistant might lead you towards an expensive product.
Maintain a safe distance
Trump and Macron are almost chest-to-chest towards the end of their shake. In most countries around the world, it is normal even for very close friends to keep at least 30cm between themselves during a social encounter. But this prolonged embrace is particularly unusual for an American like Trump, where the norm is closer to 50cm. This is assuming the two men consider each other to be close friends. Acquaintances in the US are more likely to keep 69cm between themselves, and strangers 95cm. This study did not look at data from France, but their neighbours in Spain and Germany report similar figures to their American counterparts.
Saudi Arabia ranks as the most standoffish, where it is normal to keep over 95cm away from a close friend; and Argentina is one of the most familiar countries, where only 70cm separates strangers.
The purpose of getting up close to a counterpart might be to elicit further information that we are only aware of subconsciously, in the form of scents. We constantly sniff our own hands, but after a handshake we do it even more so – specifically with the right hand, the one we use for greetings. In one study, by covertly monitoring hand-to-face touching after a handshake, and even fitting some participants with nasal catheters to monitor airflow, researchers proved that handshakers were actively sniffing their hands rather than just raising them to their face.
Next, they had some subjects wear sterilised gloves while shaking hands and then analysed the chemicals left on the gloves to find out what the handshakers were sniffing. Two of the chemicals found included squalene and hexadecanoic acid, which are known to play a role in social signalling in dogs.
“Handshaking is already known to convey a range of information, depending on the duration of the gesture, its strength and the posture used,” says Noam Sobel, a neurobiologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, who led the study. “We argue that it may have evolved to serve as one of a number of ways to sample social chemicals from each other, and that it still serves this purpose in a meaningful, albeit subliminal, way.”
Add a fake laugh
Macron and Trump grin furiously as they continue to embrace. Clearly, they are aware of the assembled media, so to what extent these smiles are authentic is debatable. It is possible to decipher when a smile is inauthentic because traces of muscle movements associated with faces expressing disgust, fear or sadness can be seen through the happy “mask”. These subtle cues might be incredibly small, but we are still able to pick up on them.
The two leaders might have been better off bursting into laughter, because fake laughs are almost as good as a real ones. Laughter helps us to strengthen social bonds and fake laughter is enough to make us more likeable (although real laughter is always more effective).
For an added bonus, we are more willing to disclose personal information after sharing laughter with an acquaintance. So, a fit of fake laughter might have helped the two to open up.
Meanwhile, Trump does one of the most unusual parts of the whole act. While still shaking Emmanuel Macron’s hand, he greets Brigitte in a way that is completely to be expected for two Western business people of the opposite sex. Westerners tend to default into gender-specific roles when it comes to greetings. In business, the expectation is always for men to shake hands, but when men greet women and women greet each other, cheek kissing is more often the norm. So, while the overly-familiar embrace with Macron continues, Trump is simultaneous able to kiss Brigitte in a normal way.
The normal number of kisses varies between countries and even between regions within countries. Whereas for non-Western businesspeople, while handshaking is increasingly common as Westernisms become incorporated into business culture, kissing between men, or bows and no physical contact might be the norm.
The oddness of Macron and Trump’s handshake is perhaps a lesson in how not to greet someone. For two politicians who spend their careers meeting people, it is possible that they are so aware of the customs and conventions that they intentionally flaunt them to communicate to their audience. But who knows if they understand the full meaning of their subtle interactions.
This article first appeared here.
Why Bad Audio Is Bad for Your Business
It can mean lost time, money, and angry customers-which no business can afford.
“Can you hear me?”
“Sorry, can you say that again?”
Chances are high that you’ve said or heard one or both of these statements during a phone call or video conference. Odds are you’ve also had to repeat yourself, try dialing in again, or change devices altogether to get better audio.
And that’s a shame, because when important discussions with colleagues, partners, or customers are plagued by things like poor equipment, background noise, or a bad connection, it can mean lost time and money – which businesses can’t afford. It’s even more critical now when so many employees are working from home without in-person communication.
One company that knows about the importance of clear audio is EPOS, a Danish-founded business that delivers high-end audio experiences so individuals and teams can enhance performance, take their work wherever they are, and achieve their goals. In a new report called “Understanding Sound Experiences,” created by EPOS and global market research firm IPSOS, EPOS examines the state of audio in modern working environments.
The research surveyed businesses earlier this year with 10 or more employees in countries including the U.S., UK, France, Germany Hong Kong, and Singapore. What the report uncovered is stark:
- Employees spend an average of five hours and 18 minutes each week on activities related to sound and meetings, whether virtual or face-to-face
- 87 percent have experienced poor sound quality
- 69 percent spend extra time on their work tasks due to poor sound quality
- 29 minutes are lost every week, per employee, due to poor sound quality on voice calls
This is bad news for ambitious entrepreneurs trying to grow their businesses or those who are simply trying to survive the economic slowdown. The report says that any company that relies on equipment and services that deliver poor audio experiences are bound to be afflicted by one or all of the following problems.
Miscommunication that leads to lost time and money
Imagine if you’re on a call with your team and everyone is working from home. You’re attempting to deliver critical instructions for a major project but people on the call mishear you because of glitchy audio.
When employees aren’t clear on direction, they either make mistakes or spend extra time trying to clarify what was miscommunicated. As the saying goes, time is money. That means flawless, intuitive communication and effortless collaboration is essential for success.
Employees become frustrated
The report found that 15 minutes is wasted, on average, for each call made—either when getting started or when employees become distracted. While on the call, the impact of bad audio causes brain fatigue and impairs cognitive functions, the report says.
Moreover, there is an emotional stress that poor audio quality causes for individuals. Over a third of employees (35 percent) indicated that they feel frustration, irritation, or annoyance due to bad audio, the report says.
A quarter indicated they experience stress and 15 percent feel embarrassment or lack of confidence. Not only do frustrated employees tend to work inefficiently, they can spread their negativity to others.
Unhappy customers
Perhaps even worse is when these poor audio issues occur when employees are on the phone with customers. When what should be a quick call with a simple solution turns into a conversation sidelined by broken sentences and background noise, your customers won’t be thrilled.
If your call center or customer service team isn’t equipped with modern audio equipment and can’t effectively communicate, that can quickly result in negative customer experiences and sentiment, the report says. That’s the last thing a growing business needs.
IT managers and HR leads require the right tools to set their in- or out-of-office staff up for success. That means providing superior call quality and call handling for professionals spending many hours a day talking on the phone, audio tools with on-demand for remote workers, and easy virtual collaboration for professionals and organizations working together across locations.
This article first appeared here.
Being a Rainmaker During COVID-19
Refocus your efforts on being a great rainmaker and build your base, not just in customers, but also your talent, your product, marketing and sales, finance, legal and human resources, say Peng T Ong, Managing Partner, Monk’s Hill Ventures.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen—and will continue to see—survival of the fittest. At Monk’s Hill Ventures, we’ve started bucketing companies into three categories.
The first is the ice bucket—any business that should essentially be put on ice during coronavirus. The chances of revenue for some businesses are almost zero this time compared with previous crises given worldwide downturns. Many of these businesses are related to travel or events.
The second category is pivot businesses, i.e. businesses where current customers are no longer buying and the business either needs to pivot to a new customer base or a new product altogether. Sometimes this could be just focusing more on a certain segment of existing prospects and customers (this is easier), sometimes it is creating a new channel (this is much harder during the crisis).
And finally, the third category is the winners—businesses that are thriving in this climate such as healthcare tech, collaborative tech, online grocery shopping and e-commerce.
One thing that is now becoming very clear, particularly for founders in bucket two and three, is that it is now time to strap on your boots and become a great rainmaker. The reason is this—any sales engine you build today may cease to be viable in the next 3-12 months. What is true today might not be true in 12 months. Refocus your efforts on being a great rainmaker and build your base, not just in customers, but also your talent, your product, marketing and sales, finance, legal and human resources.
A simple, but strategic question, these founders need to ask themselves is what happens when life returns to normal and all of this is over? How do you build good habits when the world comes back to normalcy?
For companies in bucket three who just addressed the onslaught of demand or MAU, here are a few considerations:
On runway: Runway is survival. That’s why bucket 1 companies should go on ice. We have seen too many startups (even in normal times) that have to shut down because they made the most rosey or hopeful assumptions. Now is not the time to plan on the most optimistic scenarios. When you don’t know what to expect, runway is the single most important determinant of survival. Cut your burn so you can survive longer.
On talent: Don’t be cheap. Find the best people for your team now, whether it is another rainmaker, a CFO or a CMO. This is also your opportunity to see who among your team is cool under fire, who you would want with you in the thick of battle. Keep these folks with you the rest of your career.
On the business model: Besides being a great rainmaker selling and fulfilling heavy demand from customers, ascertain what you can do to ensure the world continues to stay more in your favor post-pandemic. Are there any adjustments that need to be made in terms of cost structure, loyalty point system or membership model?
On customer retention: How do you continue to build and keep people using your product when things go back to normal? What additional products can you offer? How can you continue to be ‘addictive’ to your customers who will be going out more and may not be engaging as much on your collaborative tool or edtech platform? Do you need to create new digital content and marketing strategy?
While things are good now, take a step back, and think about what the new normal will be and your business’ place in this new reality. If anything, coronavirus has put an accelerant on digitalization and adoption of many new things for consumers including online shopping, remote working, online education and productivity tools.
The shift of consumer behavior in Southeast Asia will also enable the growth of other verticals including logistics and fintech. Ironically, we also see consumers returning to similar behavior we’ve seen in previous recessions or downturns, which is a shift towards more budget-friendly spending. Another outcome of all this is greater demand for more cost-efficient and better solutions from consumers, pushing founders to reiterate and refine business ideas, models and solutions.
This article first appeared here.
Digital Transformation is Not a Technology Makeover. It’s a Business Revolution
Businesses from every industry are quickly engaged on a battleground where legacy business models are bound to fail or stay behind and digital transformation brings an incredible potential for growth and profitability.
Technology, without a doubt, plays a critical role in enabling such change, but technology alone does not guarantee transformation. This journey must embody our vision for the future of our organizations and the core values ingrained in our leadership and talent.
Digital transformation is no longer a nice-to-have conversation—it’s a must-have reality. While the digital universe continues to reshape every facet of our businesses, markets, and industries, we should ask ourselves some tough questions:
- What is the opportunity with digital transformation about?
- Do we really understand the urgency?
- Are we making the right investments now and ready to seize this remarkable opportunity?
Digital transformation is about having a bold vision
If we imagine our company as a vehicle and business drivers as the wheel, it’s clear that digital transformation isn’t about reinventing the wheel. Rather, it’s an opportunity to transform the purpose of that wheel to disrupt the way we do business in the digital economy.
With a bold vision, companies can articulate a new and distinct business value proposition of their core values and translate it into a well-defined, holistic strategy with a sharp focus, executable parts, and measurable milestones. This mindset does not represent empty promises of future currency; it’s a commitment and strong leadership in the here and now to invest and drive change.
Built on foresight into how we can deliver exceptional value and outpace our competition, digital transformation extends past the edges of existing business models or organizational boundaries and reaches across partners, ecosystems, and networks.
Digital transformation is about creating the next opportunity
Digital transformation is not a backward-looking reaction to a shift in marketplace or in consumer demand. Instead, it’s about igniting forward-looking innovation to discover and deliver unique value with empathy for that one reason a business exists: the customer.
However, to take advantage of this incredible opportunity, we must shift our thinking about innovation because it’s no longer enough to just connect the existing dots.
Rather, we must find and create new ones. We must ask questions before we think about them and before customers know, ask, or simply demand them. It’s as much about anticipating the next dot while looking at existing ones as it is about creating the next opportunity before it appears on the map.
Moreover, just asking questions isn’t enough to turn opportunities into results. We must answer them as quickly as possible and, as we promote in design thinking, fail as often and as early as possible. This is the only way we can drive growth and profitability and not let it become a lost opportunity.
Digital transformation is about leadership, talent, and culture
There is no single blueprint for digital transformation that can be applied to any scenario or business. It’s unique to the core values embedded in a business’ DNA. Our journeys will be shaped by an understanding of the forces that mold the digital economy and the impact to disrupt business models that are taken for granted. This will influence not only our customers’ behaviors, but also the demand for products and services they want and every channel through which we can deliver them.
Success with digital transformation comes only through a top-to-bottom execution of a bold vision that is implemented with the pivotal alignment of organizational digital enablers and a solid foundation to support them. Its true potential lies undeniably within the leadership, talent, and culture that make it happen.
This is why technology alone certainly does not guarantee successful digital transformation. It’s our teams’ talent, passion, and ingenuity that becomes the binding agent, which is the ultimate driver of delivering the greatest promise of digital transformation: growth and profitability.
This article first appeared here.
5 Mental Exercises to Strengthen Your Emotional Fitness
Achieve the mindset that allows you to not just endure chaos, but to thrive in it.
In times of crisis, there are those who become overwhelmed by fear and those who rise to the occasion. They know that they have the mindset to not just endure but to thrive in the middle of chaos. They understand that what they do right now is going to determine what kind of life they will have ten years from now.
What separates these individuals from the vast majority? It’s not necessarily money or past success. There are plenty of people who have money but they are living in fear. And there are people who thought they had their business figured out, and now they are forced to reinvent themselves because everything has changed.
People who thrive in chaos have the ability to stay calm under immense pressure and focus on who they need to become to get through a challenge. They have the capacity to change their perception when reality changes. They don’t try to argue with reality by wishing that things wouldn’t be a certain way.
They possess what I call emotional fitness.
Emotional fitness is not the same as emotional intelligence. Although the two are related, emotional intelligence is the capacity for empathy. Emotional fitness is the capacity to think on your feet when the ground crumbles underneath you.
You already know the benefits of exercise. You can do all the research you want about the perfect interval times or the best yoga pants, but all of that means nothing if you don’t get in the gym and do the work until you start sweating. The same thing is true for emotional fitness. You can read all you want about how to stay calm under pressure, but the only way to actually increase your emotional fitness is to do the necessary inner work to increase your capacity.
Here are five ways entrepreneurs can increase their emotional fitness.
1. Check-in with yourself multiple times a day
Your reaction to whatever stimulus is in front of you is to a certain extent involuntary. If you step on a LEGO, you get angry at the same time the pain shoots up your foot. When you watch the craziness on the news, you get anxious. Those thoughts and emotions are going to come to you before your rational brain has a chance to keep up.
At least two or three times per day, take a minute to check-in with yourself and figure out what you are focusing on. Follow that focus and see what the emotions are bringing up. Are you stressed out because you’re focused on the negative things that are happening, or are you excited about the opportunities that are ahead of you?
Most people don’t know, but subconsciously our mind focuses on all the negative things that are going on because of the survival instinct. When you’re on autopilot, it’s easy for these negative feelings to overwhelm everything else. But by intentionally bringing awareness to your thoughts and emotions, you can make a conscious decision to shift your focus and interrupt the pattern of being on autopilot. By checking in with yourself multiple times a day, you give yourself the data to understand why you feel the way you do and where your focus is during the day.
2. Acknowledge the emotions and thoughts
The moment that you acknowledge your emotions and thoughts is the moment that you can become aware of the trigger that is causing that thought or emotion. Like I said before, our subconscious mind is constantly focused on negative thoughts and emotions, especially early in the day.
If you don’t acknowledge those feelings, you are going to be fighting an uphill battle the entire day. Your brain is going to release the stress hormone cortisol, because your brain behaves as if you’re fighting an enemy, and your body expends energy fighting itself.
Studies show that just acknowledging negative thoughts, and realizing that it’s normal for your brain to be in reactive mode, gives you the power to make the conscious decision to shift and focus on the opportunities instead of the problem. Be more aware of them instead of trying to fix them. Your emotions are not something you have to “fix.” The trigger that made you feel that way is the thing to fix, not the emotion itself.
3. Don’t make your emotions “wrong”
Your emotions are feedback to your perception of your current reality. If you make them wrong, then you believe that your current situation shouldn’t be happening to you. That’s when you start arguing with reality and look for something or someone to blame. We have this illusion that we shouldn’t feel a certain way, or that we are weak by acknowledging what we feel.
By acknowledging you are not your thoughts, feelings and emotions, you become open to receiving the feedback and learning from them instead of reacting to them.
4. Feel your emotions fully
We are constantly judging ourselves and we don’t give ourselves permission to feel our emotions fully. Like the feeling of relief that sometimes mixes in with sadness. Our emotions can bring out guilt and shame because we think we shouldn’t feel a certain way. The guilt and shame are what prevent us from expanding our capacity. The emotions are there because the triggers are there, and you can’t just stop that circuit. Instead, you have to complete the circuit and feel the emotions fully.
The moment we give ourselves permission to feel the emotion, that’s the moment you’re bringing light into the darkness. The fear and uncertainty that consume our energy will begin to lose power. We are bringing light into the darkness and realizing that we were more afraid of the dark than what it was hiding.
5. Win the battle in your mind before it becomes real
Most of our fears and stressors are caused by what we think could happen. Much of the time, the fear isn’t real, and only lives in our mind. The thoughts of the worst-case scenario are all set in the future and are inspired by some pain from the past. That feeling of being caught in the middle of an unalterable past and an undetermined future takes away our certainty. It’s that helplessness that amplifies all the other emotions. But the secret weapon is that you can also win those battles in the same place: your mind.
Fight the monsters where they live, which is in your mind. When you slay the beasts inside your mind, you realize that they are there to make you stronger. So when you face them in real life, you know exactly what to do to overcome them.
Every day, I’m having conversations with clients who are CEOs and entrepreneurs, and I remind them that this present moment is the biggest opportunity we have to stand out from the crowd as leaders. If we’re willing to increase our emotional fitness on a daily basis, we will rise through the chaos. But this has to be a daily commitment.
If you’re a leader in your business, you can’t afford to be consumed by the negative energy that we have in this pandemic. Increase your emotional fitness daily, and you will become stronger when the storm clears. One of my favorite mantras that I repeat to myself every day is “the best is yet to come.”
If you believe that with every single cell in your body, you will find opportunities, and you will bring certainty to those who are living in fear. Your job as a leader is to get stronger, increase your capacity, and bring hope to your employees, customers, and family. You were made for moments like this.
This article first appeared here.