It was an unusual confession from a CEO. “During my last staff meeting we must have spent 40% of the time talking about nothing,” Jorge said. “We were just hanging out, shooting the breeze, like the old days. It was one of the most enjoyable, productive calls we’ve had since we shut the office.” But afterwards, he went on to say, “a few people complained.”
Make Time for Small Talk in Your Virtual Meetings
A bit of banter can make a big difference.
February 18, 2021
Francesco Carta fotografo/ Getty Images
Summary.
Before Covid, executives often had the chance to casually chat with colleagues while they grabbed coffee before a meeting started. Today, as participants’ windows pop up on the screen, it’s either talk to everyone or don’t talk at all. As a result, Zoom etiquette seems to call for meetings to get underway either on schedule or shortly after the relevant participants have signed on, depending on the culture. This means the best opportunity for a team to “shoot the breeze” without impinging on meeting time — those few minutes of pre-meeting gathering time — has vanished. And along with it, the benefits of unstructured conversations. The authors offer four ways to bring small talk back.