What to do in the absence of traditional networking?
I have been in alumni relations for 20 years. I’m used to a firm handshake, big smile, and “working” a room to meet and engage with as many people as possible. This has been a significant source of finding new volunteers, prospective donors, and recently – a way of attracting clients to a fledgling nonprofit consulting business my partner and I launched in January. The pandemic we find ourselves in portends at least a substantial pause in the way that I have traditionally gone about my work, and could portend permanent changes as well.
As people are standing 6 feet away or more, a handshake is unwelcomed, no matter how firm and confident. As the majority of people wear masks in public, my biggest and warmest smiles are obscured. Emotion is literally masked behind an array of facial gear that strip people of the ability to display their feelings and discern those of others, and overtly portrays that personal interaction is undesirable. We are collectively and actively avoiding meeting and congregating together, and opportunities to meet and engage people in person are nonexistent. I don’t know when or if these precepts I’ve built my professional livelihood upon are returning, and what form they well take when they do, but it is clear to me that things have changed drastically for the foreseeable future.
So I find myself asking: how do I connect and communicate with people both familiar and new to me? How do I portray the warmth, competence, enthusiasm, and genuine interest that I so easily convey when meeting someone in person? What avenues do I pursue, and what are best practices within those realms? What does this portend for the ways I approach my work?
As I ponder the evolution of engagement and communications work, I’ve made these three basic commitments to myself and to our company:
Experiment and try new things
Monitor and learn new platforms, their capabilities, and their evolving social norms
Embrace an attitude of service and a desire to help, and ensure our communications reflect this commitment
Let’s explore these tenets further:
Experiment and try new things
This is the PERFECT time to be trying new things. People and organizations are all in the same boat of trying to figure out new realities. We are generally not expecting high production value and seamless experiences on new endeavors, and we are all a lot more patient as organizations and individuals learn the technical, practical, and strategic aspects of new technology, platforms and initiatives. I think it is best to be ahead of the curve and experiment/learn/lead now amidst an exceptionally forgiving climate, and to be seen as an innovative leader of change as you help the industry figure it out. The alternative is to sit on the sidelines as others gain prominence and expertise, and THEN make your mistakes endeavoring to learn/replicate the success of others within a far less forgiving climate that expects you to be up to speed.
Get out there and TRY IT NOW – be on the forefront!
At Prosper Nonprofit Advisors we’ll be implementing free drop-in virtual office hours to convene with and help non-profits, and are also offering more intense pro-bono consulting to select nonprofits up to our capacity to do so. We’ve just purchased Doodly to add unique and interesting animations to our communications, and will be learning its best practices and adding it to our communications arsenal. In my business as an author, I’ve used Facebook Live for the first time to collaboratively write a rhyming story with a live audience, and to celebrate the 4-year anniversary of the release of my first book, Reach for the Stars, with a reading of the story. I also used Zoom to have a live conversation with the illustrator while audience members tuned in and asked questions.
In each case, nothing was perfect, but they were well received, the audiences found them useful and engaging, and we learned each time we did something new.Monitor and learn new platforms, their capabilities, and their evolving social norms
As people turn to virtual meetings on Zoom, Google Hangouts, and other platforms, I’ve started learning the functionalities of each, and how they might lend itself to our specific purposes. As you consider various platforms, ask yourself these questions:
a. Do you meet virtually with only small groups of people?
b. Do you want to be able to break a larger group of participants into smaller “groups” while you are all on a call?
c. Do you need to do a webinar format versus group discussion?
d. What security considerations come into play?
e. What type of participant information do you need to track?
There is a nice analysis of cost and functionality of ten different virtual meeting platforms at https://www.g2.com/categories/webinar/free, and you can explore different price points for systems that meet your needs.
Additionally, I’m attending a number of events and programs in virtual spaces – partly to hear the content, and partly to learn how others are employing technologies in different types of formats. I want to also understand what are considered best practices, and to discern the social norms within those spaces. I’ve been to virtual meetings, happy hours, webinars, classes, trivia nights and a host of other types of virtual events, and I’ve learned a great deal by participating in each. Find virtual programs in different formats – many of which are free right now – and join in as a participant to learn what systems are capable of, the scenarios they work best for, and to understand the experience from a participant perspective.
I’m also monitoring the evolution of social norms for in-person meetings. Will the handshake be replaced, and if so, by what? Will we import greeting rituals from other nations and cultures? For instance, this article by CNN lists some greetings from other countries that could potentially replace the handshake: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/handshake-alternatives-gestures-around-world-trnd/index.html. Our expectations, behaviors, and comfort level with touch and proximity will likely change significantly as we emerge from social distancing, and I’m curious to know the forms that respect, kindness, and warmth will take when we greet people, both new and familiar, in the future.Embrace an attitude of service and a desire to help, and ensure our communications reflect this.
I surmise that, right now, people are looking for either answers, help, collaboration, diversions, or all of the above – NOT sales pitches. I use this foundational assumption to help shape the ways we meet new people, capture their attention, and connect with them in meaningful ways amidst today’s disconcerting and uncertain climate. My partner and I started Prosper Nonprofit Advisors to help nonprofits achieve their engagement, philanthropic, and communications goals, and nonprofits are in need of new thinking and strategies more now than ever. We are in a position to help by providing our expertise and adding to the dialogue, and there are initiatives and services we are providing at no cost that we hope will help organizations navigate uncertain and rapidly evolving circumstances.. We want to use this strange time to provide outlets for nonprofit leaders and professionals to think through their challenges together, be a hub of learning and innovation, and utilize our knowledge and passion to help the nonprofit sector persist through the circumstances in which they find themselves. In fulfilling our desire to help and be part of the solutions, we are confident we will also earn the trust of those we work with and within nonprofit industry, and be top of mind as circumstances stabilize.
Wishing you good luck as you shape the evolution of your organization, and let us know if we can help!
Cheers,
Kevin