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It’s nice to -er- meet you. Well, that was awkward. If you’ve come face-to-face with a new human in the past few months, you can probably relate to this uneasy introduction. Due to COVID-19, shaking hands is off-limits, so how do we replicate this common greeting going forward and could the handshake be gone for good? Infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says, “I don’t think we should ever shake hands again, to be honest with you.” Like never?
“Shaking hands has been the de facto greeting in international business, politics, and society for the better part of a century.” Its origins go back millenia and now one virus threatens to erase this time-honored tradition. Research has shown that people are more likely to work with those who shake hands at the start of a negotiation as it demonstrates trust and cooperation, so what are we supposed to do? Is there an adequate substitute? If so, we’d like to know. Tell us what you think here. (We’ll share the results in next week’s email)
There are also those who believe the handshake is already on its way out, regardless of whether there’s a pandemic or not. Kanina Blanchard says there are actually more conventional ways of greeting than shaking hands, as other countries with different customs are gaining influence in international business. But, I think we can all agree that things have most definitely changed, and they’ve likely changed for good. We can shake on that – or maybe not.
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