Recently I’ve been getting back into in-person networking. It’s great to interact with real live humans again. To share experiences that don’t feel as forced or awkward as they do online. When someone is a little box on your computer screen and they disappear abruptly once your timed session together ends, it’s more difficult to connect with them and make an impression. Remote first is awesome, and I love the steps our work culture has taken to become more inclusive and improve the work-from-home experience. As good as it’s come, however, we are not there yet in replacing in-person, face-to-face interactions for relationship building.
Just this week I attended a social put on by a member of the Work on Climate community. Vancouver spring did us a rare favour, it was sunny and warm-ish, so we gathered on a patio in Yaletown. I had a fun conversation with two other consultants about working from home. We traded tips on getting ‘into the zone’ for work, and shared stories about colleagues turning on their ‘superpower’.
One of the women I spoke with puts her “fake glasses” on. They’re blue light glasses that help reduce her eyestrain brought on by staring at screens all day every day. “It’s like going into the phone booth as Clark Kent, and coming out as Superman” she describes.
Another man talks about his anxiety going into sales meetings. We discuss how to feel less “yucky” about sales and putting customer value first. Whether it’s digital or in-person, when he puts on his special necklace he knows it’s showtime. It’s cool how much simple acts can do for our mindset and how we feel about ourselves.
A colleague of mine likes to go for a walk at the start of his day. And again at the end, once he’s done work for the day. This simulates what used to be a commute for him, and helps to get into the zone. This routine also acts as a trigger for his mind to rest and leave work for the day. I wonder if his puppy now makes this routine easier or more difficult…
Another friend and I caught up recently. Her routine is much less conventional, and I’m not even sure she’d call it a routine. But she describes to us her typical day of coming to work behind the bar. She converses with some of the homeless people who stay nearby. Gears up for the night’s shift. And slides into her role as resident therapist wearing her superhero costume of The Bartender.
Whether you have a literal cape, “superhero glasses”, or something else, that physical change can help you get into the right headspace for work. For me, working pretty much full-time from home at the moment, my routine includes making sure I put on pants every day. We laugh, but changing out of pyjamas or sweatpants and into something even as casual as jeans, is something I make sure I do every workday.
This discussion about necklaces and glasses could have happened remotely. But there’s something about the easier flow of in-person networking that made me consider it even after the conversation ended. My new acquaintances encouraged me to try something more symbolically distinct, and it had me thinking. There is a pair of sneakers I bought a year ago. They are half a size too big (and thus give me blisters), and I’ve been unable to find a purpose for them. Maybe they can become my “superhero shoes” that I put on in the morning to start work.
How do you activate your work superpowers?