A Mask Does Not Make You Mute

As we continue mapping out the “new normal”, one feature - the mask - has come into business reality.  For how long you might ask?  Truthfully, no one really knows.  While here, however, we need to avoid using “the mask” as an additional social barrier…at least, more than it was intended. 

 Back into my people-watching mode, I’ve noticed a growing trend where people are literally scurrying around one another.  Eyes averted, body stiff, quick paced – each person avoiding eye-contact, barely giving the weakest of nods let alone offering a simple “hello”.  It’s as though acknowledging others will somehow make the awkwardness of the moment even worse.  I often wonder - what are they thinking?  “I feel fine” or “This is ridiculous!”  Maybe it’s “I can’t breathe” or “Great, my glasses are fogging up again!”  Whatever the inner speak might be, we all need to recognize that social interactions and communication must continue.  Perhaps “acknowledgement of the awkwardness” makes the moment less traumatic when you can recognize that it’s a moment shared.  You’re not alone…they too felt fine before, now are stuffy, hot, can’t breathe and can’t see…just like you.   

In Western Culture, eye contact is deemed as a sign of respect.  It is the respect of one human being acknowledging another human being.  With customers, it’s even more important that we maintain eye contact to show that they have value.  Research has shown that most vis-à-vis communication takes place non-verbally.  People are trained to look at body language and facial expressions to gain deeper understanding from a communication event.  Recall how it felt when someone didn’t “look you in the eye” when speaking.  Usually, it lays the foundation for distrust.  A business can’t survive if its customers do not “trust” it…or you.

 True, it may be a challenge, but we have to actively seek ways to get beyond the awkwardness of the mask.  Remember that a show of camaraderie (wow, this is weird) or even a simple greeting (hello) can help push a “masked” social interaction into to the new normal.