Leader Magazine: Death of the handshake–or is it?
Interpersonal Touch
Death of the handshake–or is it?
A few months ago, I was interviewed by Jack McGinn from Seven West Media, for an article for Leader magazine, a quarterly magazine published for the members and alumni of the Australian Institute of Management Western Australia. The interview centred around how the COVID-19 pandemic might change the way we interact non-verbally in the office, over a long period, particularly in terms of handshakes and physical contact.
If you haven’t been able to get your hands on AIM WA’s Leader magazine, then read on to read the article here.
A Touchy Subject–The Article
It’s a long-held tradition in western work culture, but as the nation navigates a period of disruption which has heightened our awareness of interpersonal contact, could the events of 2020 spell the end of a workplace staple?
by Jack McGinn
The handshake has come to symbolise many things in the workplace setting – signifying everything from introduction and greeting to a job well done, and appearing in just about every business-related stock photo there is to be found.
However, in a world where spatial awareness has been brought front of mind by public health messaging around COVID-19 and more people are working from home, could the desire for touch in the office be diminished for good? And what would be lost in the workplace if the handshake was no longer?
According to Perth-based My Alcomy Non-Verbal Communication Specialist and Founder Sophie Halliday Zadeh, touch is one of the more important non-verbal connections people can make in an office environment.
“We lose a lot without touch,” she said. “Touch builds connection between parties – a handshake is not just a greeting, it also signals other things like a willingness to cooperate or even an agreement.
“A high-five signals unity and celebrates achievement, togetherness and partnership. We could get used to practicing new gestures, but without touch we lose the benefit of oxytocin.”
Oxytocin is a touch-related hormone commonly associated with social bonding, which when released provides an anti-anxiety effect and influences behaviours, according to Mrs Halliday Zadeh.
“Oxytocin increases empathy, generosity and compliance – these are all really important for a professional environment,” she said.
“The benefits of oxytocin are significant, particularly when we meet people for the first time.”
With social distancing in place in many offices, Mrs Halliday Zadeh said it was likely people would be more wary of touch in the office moving forward.
“Something most likely will carry forward from the new awareness we have around touch and hygiene in the workplace at the moment, but what that will be I’m not sure,” she said.
“We may just be more aware of what we do after touching someone. For example, if we still do handshakes and high-fives, thoughts around hygiene and contagion might result in people trying to avoid touching their face, buying more hand sanitiser and washing their hands more we’re probably doing a lot of that already.
“Taken to the extreme, it could be that touch like handshakes and high-fives become more taboo.”
In the latter case, Mrs Halliday Zadeh said a process of moralisation could occur, where the thought of a handshake or high-five could gradually become perceived as disgusting due to the health risk it potentially posed.
“The purpose of disgust is to keep us away from, or to eliminate, toxins and contaminants,” she said.
“What’s interesting about disgust is how it differs from some other emotions, in that our mind makes our perception of disgusting things a lot worse. So if we’re thinking about contamination and people spreading germs, the idea of the handshake or a high-five may have less of an appeal.”
Thankfully for handshake enthusiasts, it’s considered unlikely that the current pandemic will lead to the end of the custom entirely.
“The handshake is so engrained in western culture that I think it’s going to be really hard for it to disappear just like that,” Mrs Halliday Zadeh said.
“I do think our behaviours will change somewhat – for things like hand washing perhaps – but I think it would take more pandemics for it to be eliminated from western culture. “It is possible that could happen in our lifetime if we take into account predictions surrounding an increase in pandemics, but I think it would phase out over a longer term.”
A handshake is not just a greeting, it also signals other things like a willingness to cooperate or even an agreement.
Interested in learning more about Oxytocin? Check out our article Oxytocin and the Power of Touch in Building Connection
The Western Australian COVID-19 Experience
Here in Western Australia, we’ve had a very different experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to some Australian states and many other countries. I think I speak for most Western Australians when I say I feel very fortunate for how our Premier, Mark McGowan, took early action by closing down our borders (internally and to other states). At an international level, borders were also closed early.
As a result, in Western Australia, we haven’t had a case of community transmission since April—that’s almost six months ago. We’re pretty much back to normal and have been for quite some time. We’ve had a total of nine deaths. While this number is comparatively low, nine deaths is nine deaths too many and the COVID—19 experience for the families and friends affected, must feel very different from that of your average West Australian.
At the time of the interview, WA was already on a different path to much of the rest of the world. I assumed that behaviours in WA wouldn’t see much in the way of change and was—still am—curious as to how behaviour will change globally over a longer-term.
Observations of Touch in Western Australia
After a break from in-person training/workshops during our lockdown and some additional time after that to work on projects in the making, I’ve been back running my own in-person sessions for over a month now. Although you could say, I’ve still been living in a bubble. Since these are my workshops, I’ve had full control over the distance between tables/seating and have indulged in a Monica (from Friends) cleaning obsession. So much so that at times, I’ve wondered whether I’m more likely to die from disinfectant fumes than a pandemic.
Nonverbal Communication to Reassure Clients
I’ve been following my COVID-19 Plan (which businesses need to have in place here), to keep my clients safe and happy. Even though the risk in WA is currently low, I believe it’s important to signal to clients that their safety is my concern. This doesn’t just apply to COVID-19 times. The signals we send to our customers or clients, via the environments we set up and how we communicate and behave, whether deliberate or not, send messages that affect emotions and alter behaviour. Reassurance for clients is always important.
I’ve also been avoiding touch, like high-fives and handshakes, despite knowing and espousing the benefits of touch. That is, except for a handshake with a very polite child with multiple and complex needs. He introduced himself and held out his hand for a handshake. Knowing that just a moment before, I’d slathered my hands with hand sanitiser and after a quick nonverbal interaction with his mum, who nodded the go-ahead. I broke the rules of my COVID-19 Plan and shook his hand to fulfil his request.
As Individuals, we Experience and Respond to Emotion in our own way
Other than running my own classes and workshops and mundane tasks like shopping, I haven’t been out much. It’s not driven by fear, I’m very comfortable with the lack of COVID-19 in WA. I’d quite simply rather be at home with my husband and cat, where I can indulge in my three passions (other than the nonverbal one)—creating, gardening and cooking (or rather eating). I’m one of those people who loved being bound to the corners of their property during lockdown—living the good life.
We’re all very different as individuals, experiencing and responding to circumstances, environments and emotion in our own way. I realise my experience of being in lockdown is very different from that of others. For me, it was peaceful and yet energising. My biggest fear has been not to be able to leave Australia during the pandemic, to get back to my family in the UK, should I need to.
I haven’t been out and about seeing how the little world of WA is running, until last week when I gave a presentation hosted by someone other than me. I was invited to present as the guest speaker and gave my favourite type of presentation, an open-ended presentation which moves in the direction of where the audience decides to take it. If you ever ask me to present, ask me for this type of presentation. The attendees were very much engaged, with so many questions that we didn’t get around to everybody.
Behavioural Change Since COVID-19
I know it’s an observation from just one event, but what I found in terms of behavioural change since the pandemic, is that at the event, there was none. The world of WA seemed very much as I left it pre-COVID-19, with handshakes galore and little distancing. That’s not a criticism, it feels safe here and I fell back into this normality with ease. It’s difficult to unlearn behaviour and adopt new ones, especially when the circumstances feel unchanged.
However, I’m still certain that some behaviours, at an individual level, have changed and that these behaviours will remain. Just this morning, as I cleaned the equipment from last night’s art/nonverbal communication workshop series (Sculpt and Sip, Emotions, Expressions, Drawing and Clay), I was thinking about my heightened awareness of germs and transmission. It’s early days, but I suspect this behavioural change will continue–I’ll be cleaning equipment like this long into the future, regardless of whether there’s a pandemic or not.
Whether you’re from a place which has or hasn’t been significantly affected by COVID-19, what is your experience of behaviour change in yourself or others around you?
