Let’s be honest. You maintain two separate conversations at the same time more than you realize. You text when you are on virtual calls. You read emails while on the phone. You glance at your phone to see who called when talking with others. Much like a traffic cop, you are constantly directing messages to pass, stop, or go. This is not your grandmother’s multi-tasking. This is the new normal of budgeting your attention across multiple message streams. It’s a huge problem for developing quality relationships with those who matter.
Years ago, I attended a multi-day workshop hosted by Senn Delaney. They taught us the lesson, Be Here Now, and it has always stuck with me. One potential downside to being fully present during group meetings and 1:1s is that you appear less busy than everyone else. While you are trying to be fully present and others are playing the game of, "Look how busy I am", you can run the risk of looking like you don't have enough "work on your plate." It sounds silly, but I see this impression management game being played all the time. Has anyone else experienced this?
Years ago, I attended a multi-day workshop hosted by Senn Delaney. They taught us the lesson, Be Here Now, and it has always stuck with me. One potential downside to being fully present during group meetings and 1:1s is that you appear less busy than everyone else. While you are trying to be fully present and others are playing the game of, "Look how busy I am", you can run the risk of looking like you don't have enough "work on your plate." It sounds silly, but I see this impression management game being played all the time. Has anyone else experienced this?
I've seen it, David.
Sometimes I take notes for me.
Sometimes I take notes to give an impression for those speaking.
I try not to care about taking notes for those watching/judging... but at times it can become performative.
I feel like I've struggled with this lately--it's hard to stay locked in when you're on back-to-back meetings some days. This is a good reminder.
Zoom or in person, John?
Much harder for me when a window into distraction is a click away.
Might need to only do video calls with my browser on lock down