Transforming the Workplace One Glance at a Time

The Post-Covid era has begun and with it comes a new set of observed workplace behaviors and norms that were uncommon, or even unheard of, pre-pandemic. Some of these include employers showing more care and awareness for their employees’ mental health, as well as being intentional in finding new ways to decrease workplace stress. Along the same lines, work-life integration and leadership support are becoming more popularly encouraged by organizations, which increases perceived organizational innovativeness (1). Post-pandemic workplaces have also become more collaborative due to the social deprivation experienced during the pandemic, as well as work flexibility being an expectation rather than an amenity (2). These changes are all positive and transformational to the future of work, and thankfully, they are here to stay. However, some negative behaviors have surfaced as well. In this article, we’ll be focusing on a basic, yet important behavior, you’ve been hearing for decades… eye contact. Yes, eye contact. And when leaders are made aware of the seemingly subtle, but major impact that it has on collaboration, perspective-taking, and intercultural creativity, we will see our workplaces evolve before our eyes one glance at a time.

The Decline of Eye Contact

With limited in-person interactions during the pandemic, social anxiety caused by re-entering the workplace is normal, even for people who never struggled with it before (5). This anxiety manifests itself in many ways, with one of them being a lack of eye contact during interactions. The popular rise of work interactions being done through online video platforms results in challenges you may be unaware of. For starters, the flat screen diminishes the intensity of non-verbal cues, a problem that is magnified by a higher number of participants on the video call. Also, with the camera being located at the top of laptops, perceived eye contact cannot be made unless gazing into the camera instead of at the person on the screen (3). With the demand for eye contact being more relaxed due to challenges such as these, its value will need to be emphasized and reflected by leaders as employees migrate back to in-person work environments.

How Important Could Eye Contact Be?

You’ve heard the saying, their eyes said it all… that’s because we are wired to pick up human data by looking people in the eyes. In the Create and Grow Rich Podcast, guest speaker, Dr. Michael Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, says making eye contact with someone synchronizes our brains (3).

Brain synchronization is when you and another’s brain begin to process information similarly. It even leads to being physically in-sync with one another as well, such as with heartbeats, breathing, and movement. Cool, right? Even better, this process also activates your social brain network, meaning brain regions that deal with social interactions. Sharing positive eye contact with someone is critical because it leads to a release of oxytocin, which is a peptide hormone in our brain that once released, leads to brain synchronization. Without eye contact, your brain will be starved of data that it wants and needs (3).

Translate the Data

A study conducted at NYU in 2017 measured a teacher and her students’ brain activity using EEG technology and found that the classrooms that had higher brain synchronization with their classmates and teacher performed better, were more engaged, and gave the course a more favorable rating (4).

So, how does this data translate in the workplace?

Brain synchronization allows for finding collaborative solutions to problems and enhancing teamwork through perspective-taking, which is key for business leaders. Perspective-taking, or viewing a situation through the lens of a perspective other than your own, is enabled by the activation of the mentalizing network, which is one of the three parts of the social brain network. The social brain network comprises the perceptual pathway, emotional pathway, also known as empathy, and the cognitive pathway (3). Perspective-taking is the cognitive pathway of the network, and focuses on understanding how others’ minds process and interpret information. Dr. Platt says there are two goals in perspective-taking, one being it boosts innovation and creativity, and the other is it allows you to better connect with the people around you (3).

Eye contact increases one’s ability to take on the perspective of others, by leading to brain synchronization, but also by sharing emotional states during eye contact, due to the activation of the limbic mirror system (6). Actively engaging in eye contact also increases “your ability to be self-aware, other aware, and your ability to shift perspectives and adapt your behavior in different cultural situations”, which Create and Grow Rich Podcast host, Genein Letford, defined as intercultural creativity (3). This skill proves its relevance in the workplace by enabling leaders and employees to have a greater understanding and respect for one another, taking ownership of one’s own behavior and being aware of how it’s impacting their environment, as well as creating a space of inclusion and cultural diversity. Another way to help promote a more inclusive and culturally diverse work environment is to be aware of the similar-to-me effect, which is a cognitive bias explaining why we prefer people that think and look like us. This effect is the reason it’s easier to interact and engage in eye contact with people like ourselves, but think of all the incredibly helpful data you could collect as a leader by proactively looking into the eyes of those who are different from you!

Implementation

Learning how to accurately interpret the meaning and differences of eye expressions help to increase emotional intelligence, which leads to improvement in every area of your work and personal life. One way to improve this skill is to take tests, such as Simon Baron-Cohen’s Reading the Mind in the Eyes test that Dr. Platt recommended (3). Being able to better read emotions with limited information helps you more easily “get inside the mind of others” and to understand others’ perspectives as Dr. Platt says. But, before enhancing your skill of interpreting eye data, you need to make sure that as a leader, you’re creating and facilitating an environment that prioritizes workplace interactions. You can embrace the culture of a flat organization, even if your organization has a strong vertical hierarchy, by relating to and initiating non-work related conversations with all people of the organization, being an active listener, and of course, maintaining eye contact while doing so! Creating more opportunities for natural socialization in the workplace can help start these conversations and encourage meaningful eye contact. One way to do this is to increase group work and team projects, even if the task is able to be completed individually, sometimes it’s not as beneficial for the innovative, collaborative, and inclusive workplace culture you’re trying to develop. Another way to implement more perspective-taking and eye contact is through encouragement from leadership for employees to prioritize participation in company-wide events and team-building activities. Leaders should attend these events, and go with the intention of getting to know their employees better, personally and professionally. And throughout all of these social settings, to increase the likelihood of engaging in eye contact and conversation, it’s important to refrain from looking at phone screens, no matter how tempting it may be.

What if your company is still mainly remote? No worries, you just have to be even more intentional! Dr. Platt suggests for individuals to look into their computer camera while listening or speaking to others on a video call, especially when wanting a higher impact in their delivery. This may feel unnatural, but the perception of eye contact, even through a screen, can, as we learned, do wonders for your professional relationships and workplace culture. Also, to lower social anxiety, sensory overload, and the feeling of being disconnected, try to decrease the number of participants in meetings, if possible. If your company is too large for this, then breakout rooms are a great option as well! Lastly, provide more bonding opportunities by virtually hosting enjoyable, team-building activities, such as movie watch parties and happy hour socials.

Some guidelines for eye contact are to hold their gaze for 4-5 seconds at a time and to resist the urge to abruptly look away to break eye contact, instead gesture with body language, such as nods, to decrease the awkwardness you may feel. Also, hold eye contact for 50-60 percent of the conversation, which should be applied to both while listening and talking (6).

Although eye contact may only be 5 seconds long, it has profound impacts on enhancing team collaboration and emotional intelligence, as well as helping people diversify their perspectives, leading to higher innovative and creative businesses. We need eye contact more than ever in our post-pandemic workplaces, not only to bring back a sense of normalcy, but to transform the culture and future of work.

Catching Leadership offers offsite leadership retreats to unplug from technology and allow leaders to really listen and try to see alternative viewpoints through the eyes of others. To learn more, check out the retreats and the variety of other services offered by the experienced talent management and leadership development consultants at Catching Leadership. Contact Michael Leytem, CEO of Catching Leadership, at mleytem@catchingleadership.com to learn more.

References

1. Wu, A., Roemer, E. C., Kent, K. B., Ballard, D. W., & Goetzel, R. Z. (2021). Organizational Best Practices Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 63(12), e925–e931. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002407

2. Cerutti, Kristin, and Laura Grodoski. “Five Post-COVID Behaviors and Attitudes That Will Reshape the Workplace.” Work Design Magazine, 24 June 2020, https://www.workdesign.com/2020/06/five-post-covid-behaviors-and-attitudes-that-will-reshape-the-workplace/.

3. Letford, Genein. “How Neuroscience Is Informing Leadership, DE&I and Intercultural Creativity for This New Era – Dr. Michael Platt, Wharton School of Business – Episode #66.” CAFFE Strategies, 4 May 2021, https://caffestrategies.com/podcasts/how-neuroscience-is-informing-leadership-dei-and-intercultural-creativity-for-this-new-era-dr-michael-platt-wharton-school-of-business-episode-66/.

4. Communications, NYU Web. “Why Do We like Our Classes? and Each Other? Our Brain Waves Tell Us, New Research Shows.” NYU, 27 Apr. 2017, https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2017/april/why-do-we-like-our-classes--and-each-other--our-brain-waves-tell.html.

5. Welch, Ashley. “Why You May Experience Social Anxiety as You Emerge from the Pandemic.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 23 Mar. 2022, https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-you-may-experience-social-anxiety-as-you-emerge-from-the-pandemic.

6. Eatough, Erin. “Eye Contact Is Important (Crucial Really) in Communication.” Eye Contact Is Important (Crucial Really) in Communication, 9 Sept. 2021, https://www.betterup.com/blog/why-is-eye-contact-important#section1.