{"id":49932,"date":"2021-05-06T22:26:34","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T02:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=49932"},"modified":"2025-01-23T03:31:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T08:31:59","slug":"social-interactions-post-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/social-interactions-post-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Interactions in the Post-COVID-19 Professional World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before the global pandemic reached the United States in March 2020, a typical professional introduction would involve a handshake and not socially distant conversations. Now, while the light at the end of the tunnel seems closer, we still are going to have to adjust to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/strange-days-covid-19-and-the-new-normal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cnew normal.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-49934\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/airfocus-MyXr1AbAjJU-unsplash-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p>So, what does this mean for the future of business social interactions? Of course, I\u2019m not a mind reader or a medical professional when it comes to the future of the world and COVID-19. This topic is something I\u2019ve been pondering a lot in recent months, and I hope some of you all can relate to it too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Fist Bump? Elbow bump? Handshake?<\/h2>\n<p>I remember all the time walking the halls of public school and thinking someone wanted to do a handshake and they actually wanted to \u201cdap\u201d me up (this is kind of like a different handshake, except there are like 30 different variations of dapping someone up). Back then, I\u2019d mess it up all the time. Luckily adulthood was much easier before COVID-19. Now? It\u2019ll depend on many different things: first and foremost, we should be following CDC instructions. After that has been established, what\u2019s next? Will the handshake make a return, or will the fist bump reign supreme? My guess is that eventually the handshake will return, but it will take a while. What I hope for is the professional world to embrace all three as acceptable forms on introduction, as weird as that might be in a post-COVID-19 world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-49935\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maxime-GsuoClhxMDE-unsplash-50x28.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Office Lunch?<\/h2>\n<p>Before 2020, catered and crowded lunches in the conference room were typical (and sometimes expected). Now? Probably not, at least in the immediate future. So what will this look like for 2021? Potentially outdoor, socially-distant catered lunches are the future (perhaps a picnic?). Of course this isn\u2019t the most preferred method, but at the moment it appears to be the safest. While the team bonding conference room lunches may be gone, organizations will still make the best of it!<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>WFH?<\/h2>\n<p>Working from home wasn\u2019t widely adopted until March 2020, and now it has been proven to be an effective way for companies to operate. This begs the question, are we going to be more effective through video calls than in the office? It could go either way, but it\u2019s an interesting question that we\u2019ll figure out the answer to soon. In my opinion, I think offering both to employees is the way to go. If these strange days have proven anything, it\u2019s that a lot of workplaces are ready to offer both to employees who desire either.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-49936\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nelly-antoniadou-9X1P46Y2KJo-unsplash-1-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Happy hour?<\/h2>\n<p>The local restaurant is hosting a weekly happy hour down the street and all your coworkers go after work and talk about anything but work. Now? Some places are fully open while other areas are still fully closed, and ensuring you\u2019re not breaking too many COVID protocols is also something to keep in mind. While this isn\u2019t exactly in a professional setting, this is an extension of office life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>I know that this blog doesn\u2019t deliver clear instructions on exactly how things should go in a post-COVID world. At the moment, we still don\u2019t know a lot. While it\u2019s great vaccines are more widely available now (I\u2019ll be getting my second shot this Saturday!), there&#8217;s still a lot medical professionals are trying to figure out about the phases ahead. What physical health and mental health concens we will need to address? What will &#8220;business as usual&#8221; look like? In the meantime, while we wait for more answers, you can read more about COVID guidelines for returning to work and information about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/covid\/vaccines\/stay-up-to-date.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">COVID vaccine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the global pandemic reached the United States in March 2020, a typical professional introduction would involve a handshake and not socially distant conversations. Now, while the light at the end of the tunnel seems closer, we still are going to have to adjust to the \u201cnew normal.\u201d So, what does this mean for the future of business social interactions? Of course, I\u2019m not a mind reader or a medical professional when it comes to the future of the world and COVID-19. This topic is something I\u2019ve been pondering a lot in recent months, and I hope some of you all can relate to it too. Fist Bump? Elbow bump? Handshake? I remember all the time walking the halls of public school and thinking someone wanted to do a handshake and they actually wanted to \u201cdap\u201d me up (this is kind of like a different handshake, except there are like 30 different variations of dapping someone up). Back then, I\u2019d mess it up all the time. Luckily adulthood was much easier before COVID-19. Now? It\u2019ll depend on many different things: first and foremost, we should be following CDC instructions. After that has been established, what\u2019s next? Will the handshake make a return, or will the fist bump reign supreme? My guess is that eventually the handshake will return, but it will take a while. What I hope for is the professional world to embrace all three as acceptable forms on introduction, as weird as that might be in a post-COVID-19 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":49241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,75],"tags":[533,415,472,521,56],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Social Interactions in the Post-COVID-19 Professional World - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With many organizations preparing to return to the office, how will social interactions look in professional settings? Let&#039;s take a look.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/social-interactions-post-covid-19\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Social Interactions in the Post-COVID-19 Professional World - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With many organizations preparing to return to the office, how will social interactions look in professional settings? 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