Body Language in Business Part 3

Pease (1984) has noted various other sorts of known gestures: * Straddling a chair (sitting backwards) using the back of the chair as a defence against aggression.

* Fluff-picking (picking imaginary fluff off clothes) approval or deliberately withholding evidence.

* Both hands behind the head controlled, dominant, confident.

* Hands on hip/in belt s.e.xual aggressiveness or sizing one another up.

* Tie-straightening preening in males as a courtship gesture.

Equally, one can use various props such as cigars, pipes and spectacles to send gestures. How and where smoke is blown, how cigarettes are held, when spectacles are put in the mouth are all interpreted as meaning something, whether the "actor" meant it or not. Indeed, film actors deliberately use certain actions to convey the motives and mood of their character. Anything put in the mouth may be thought of as a gesture of rea.s.surance or possible aggression.

Gestures are important at work. Leaders sometimes "choose" symbolic gestures such as Winston Churchill's V for Victory sign. They become recognized by the way they do things point, adjust their gla.s.ses, fiddle with their cufflinks.

Posture.

A person's posture may result from early psychological rather than physical experience. Adolescents may hunch or stoop to disguise breast development or excessive height. Long periods of depression may lead to the adoption of the depressive's characteristic sagging pose even after recovery has been made. Some argue that just as body posture is an index of emotional health (tensed muscles lead to bad posture), so you can change (relax) emotional states by changing posture. Indeed, the Alexander Technique is based on diagnosing and correcting posture. Yoga and Chinese t'ai chi aim to improve general well-being through exercising or manipulating the body.

The three main human postures are standing, sitting (which includes squatting and kneeling) and lying. Shown "stickmen" figures, people can easily, accurately and reliably identify states of mind or qualities such as suspicion, shyness, indifference, puzzlement and so on. Thus one can signal relaxation by asymmetrical arm and leg positions, a backwards and possibly sideways lean and hand relaxation. The arms, legs and trunk alone and together can give strong messages of states such as anxiety, s.e.xual flirtatiousness and humility.

Some researchers have noticed how body movement communicates various desires in courtship or psychotherapy. Nonverbal cues of courtship readiness include preening the hair and adjusting the stockings. Cues from positioning include facing one another with the torso leaning inward so as to exclude others. Actions of appeal might involve flirtatious glances, crossing the legs or exposing the palm of the hand. Posture in a selection or appraisal interview can give a good indication of how tense or relaxed a person is. A conference speaker's posture can also give an insight into his or her level of confidence.

Women used to be taught "deportment". Ballet is the physical and often extremely beautiful expression of emotion. Catwalk models learn to move in a particular fashion.

Body posture conveys clues about the health and mood of individuals. At work we want our managers to be fit and positive. This message can be put across in how they sit and stand, and how they change their posture.

Many have observed the "postural echo" or the idea of matching. People seem unaware that they mimic or copy the posture (and gestures and speed) of those to whom they are talking. It happens all the more with people one likes. This phenomenon has also been called emotional contagion and occurs when two skilled people are communicating about strong emotion.

Bodily orientation.

One of the few things business people can control fairly easily is the way in which they orient themselves to others. This is usually done by the way that furniture is arranged. Thus one can interview across a desk (face-to-face, diametrically opposite); over the corner of a desk (at 90 in a cosy corner), or side-by-side, facing outwards.

Orientation of the body (the pointing of torso, feet) has been thought of as indicating where people's thoughts are, or where they really want to go. People standing and talking can face each other at various angles (head-on, side-by-side), and they can, through orientation, include or exclude others. Opening to a triangular position, while conversing with two or more people simultaneously, indicates acceptance.

Body pointing as well as the less obvious but also less conscious feetpointing often indicates the person to whom ideas are addressed, who is favored in a conversation and who is liked or disliked. Seated body orientation (as well as distance) is, equally, very indicative of the nature of a relationship. Chairs can be arranged to symbolize or control a relationship, or may be moved over time to redefine it.

Inevitably, sitting opposite a person often symbolizes opposition. It is no accident the British have a two-party oppositional system, given the architecture of the House of Commons. People leave restaurants more quickly when seated opposite one another, unless tables are particularly wide. Sitting side-by-side often symbolizes cooperation and support, but it can be uncomfortable if people are seated too close together or if they feel they are not getting enough eye contact.

Round tables are democratic and connote cooperation. There is a business organization called the Round Table, and King Arthur's knights sat at a legendary round table. Various United Nations tables are round(ish) symbolically indicating the equality of all in the circle. Theatre "in the round" too has a quite different feel for both audience and actors. Round tables are becoming more popular in business, tending to replace the more common formal square, oblong or rectangular shapes. Square tables can be awkward at least some people have to sit diametrically opposite one another. Square tables also have a more closed and exclusive feel than round tables, which appear easier to join.

Rectangular and oval tables are still found in boardrooms and cabinet meetings. The person who has the greatest power tends to sit in the middle, or more commonly at the head, while the rank of those attending is defined in terms of distance from that person.

Most work is undertaken sitting down and sitting still, but some managers have discovered the benefits of having meetings standing up. This index of emotional health usually ensures shorter meetings. Leaning on something is considered to be a disrespectful posture (like the person at the bar, the farmer at the gate) because it signals inattention and relaxation.

Angle and distance of chairs from one another is important, but so is height. Sometimes chairs, like thrones, are elevated to symbolize power and influence. Pease (1984) has noted that desk seating positions (at rectangular tables) can be in several different positions: * corner position: indicating friendly, casual communication but with a partial barrier (this position is favored by GPs); * cooperative position: people sit next to each other; * cooperative defensive position: people seated opposite each other with the barrier between, but an understanding that half the s.p.a.ce on the table/desk is one person's territory while the other half belongs to the other person; and * independent position: diagonally opposite, at maximum distance, avoiding eye contact.

Room layout can dictate orientation, which may help or hinder the communication intended to take place in that setting. This is why conference rooms' layouts are so important. You can walk into a room and detect by its design what sort of communication tends to occurs there. Does it encourage partic.i.p.ation and provide an opportunity for all those present to engage in the talk, or is it only convenient for the speaker and the members of the team seated in the front row?

Territory.

The study of s.p.a.ce is called proxemics, and the study of how humans communicate through their use of time is called chronemics. Strictly speaking, territory is not a bodily signal. But we do signal differently when in different territories, and often send clear defensive messages as to what delineates a territory. Like animals, people try to establish and maintain territories, albeit fleetingly. The "unmanned" towel on the beach, the coat on the chair and the suitcase on the seat all indicate that somebody has staked out that territory. We all know the different feel a meeting has if it is held in the boss's office; if the boss visits you in your office; or if you meet in an a.s.signed meeting room. Most houses have public and private rooms areas designated as being appropriate for outsiders and insiders. The same is true of public buildings for example, hotels, which have "staff only" signs. Often there is a dramatic difference in the quality of decor between different territories: plush to drab, carpeted to bare floors.

Just as actors differentiate between front-of-house and backstage, so businesses differentiate between front-house and back-room. Indeed, we have the term "back-room staff". Dress, language, posture and physical contact are all quite different in these different zones. It is possible to make distinctions between different "psychological" zones. First, there is a very private zone in the office. It may be the employee's small but very personal workstation and locker. Then there is the shared inner-group zone of the working department or division. Here, people have marked out favorite chairs and so on that are known to, and respected by, all those in the group. Comfort with interpersonal distance is a function of several features: s.e.x (men having narrower intimate zones than women); culture (Anglo-Saxons like more distance than Latins); and area population density (rural people stand further away from each other than do urban dwellers).

It has become common to distinguish between four zones: intimate (less than three feet), into which professionals are not allowed to intrude apart from medical and quasi-medical people; personal (three four feet), which one may have to share in aeroplanes, for example; social (fourtwelve feet), for most strangers and colleagues at work; and public (more than twelve feet), for all other interactions.

Meetings held in public s.p.a.ces are quite different from those in private s.p.a.ce. The use of s.p.a.ce is also very culturally different. The j.a.panese see the shape and arrangement of s.p.a.ce as having clear, tangible meaning, yet in public they cling close together in crowded groups. Americans carry a two-foot bubble of privacy around themselves. For privacy, some people for example, Arabs retreat into themselves; others retreat behind closed doors.

Territory is important in business, particularly when entering another's territory. How close should one approach the desk or chair of another is a.s.sociated with that person's status. People who enter a room and remain near the door signal a lower status than those who walk right up to the executive's desk. The time between doorknocking/entering and hearing/answering is also status-related. The more quickly the visitor enters the room, the more status he or she has, while the longer the executive takes to answer, the more status he or she has. A senior manager can walk into a subordinate's office unannounced, yet the latter has to wait outside the office of the former to be allowed in. Subordinates leave the senior's office when the telephone rings, while the former does not always answer the telephone, to give the boss the full attention he or she deserves.

Physical areas have special significance because they are the territory of a particular person and are a.s.sociated with high/low status people in particular social roles. The physical layout can determine how people use s.p.a.ce in waiting rooms or common rooms as designers of airports or hotels know very well. The "trick" is to give people a sense of being in private territory while ensuring the maximum number of people can use the facility.

The physical environment.

The size, shape and furnishings of rooms effect how people communicate in them. The House of Commons in London appears to suggest a two-party system: us versus them; blue team versus red. Churchill memorably remarked that we shape our buildings and afterwards they shape us. Rooms leave cues to who lives and works there; how they interact, and how frequently. They tell of status, power, inclusion and exclusion.

The Chinese have pa.s.sed on their interest and belief in feng shui. The main presumption of feng shui, which literary translates as windwater, is the presence of life energy chi and its two states of yin and yang. Feng shui is the practice of balancing negative and positive charges of chi through the design and architecture of the physical environment. It is believed that success in all areas of life, including health, relationships and career can be achieved through the harmonization of living and working s.p.a.ce around people. Objects are positioned in a certain manner to attract or reflect chi in the right proportions.

Though feng shui is uniquely Asian, Westerners seem to be intrigued by the tradition too, to the extent that there are international groups and a.s.sociations claiming that feng shui should be regarded as a scientific discipline. However, despite its popularity, feng shui seems to be based on superst.i.tious beliefs of lay people rather than on hard scientific evidence. Though similar in concept to bipolar magnetic fields, there is no proof of the existence of such a life force as chi. On the other hand, it might be that by arranging individual objects and structures in an organic or holistic manner, and by relating individual parts or objects in the structure back to the whole s.p.a.ce a building occupies, a deeper level of comfort is achieved. Alternatively, popular feng shui might be nothing more than the placebo effect.

Environmental psychologists know that people evaluate and behave in rooms according to they way they appear. They can be stylish, light and airy, as well as comfortable or functional, or conformist. They also know about environmental modifiers that can change mood and behavior. These include sound (music), lighting and smell. Supermarkets are very aware of the power of sound and smell on behavior.

What of the structures and design of rooms and of the possibility of movable objects. How do people like to sit in restaurants? Which tables are more popular? What is the ideal shape? The answer to these questions is: four-person, round tables placed against a wall.

Note how people rearrange their s.p.a.ce to introduce or remove perceived barriers. Equally, they personalize s.p.a.ces with objets d'art or bric-a-brac. Consider how neighbours fight over territorial invasion.

The world of business is replete with many fine examples of how people choose and use s.p.a.ces to control communication and show rank. Thus executives have their corner offices, with bigger windows, on the top floor. They have more s.p.a.ce higher up; some are even ensuite. They may have "protective" outer rooms with guards (that is, personal a.s.sistants). They have maximum privacy and control. They have big desks but uncluttered offices. They are more likely to have a meeting table than files, filing cabinets or even computers. They are decision-makers, not knowledge workers and it shows.

Architects know that the way they design prisons, old-people's homes, or student dormitories can profoundly influence interactions in them. Proximity and propinquity affect the amount of contact, which often grows into liking, but density and over-crowding have significantly negative consequences on social interaction.

The quality of conversations can be powerfully determined by conversational distance. We have already mentioned the so- called socialconsultative distance which varies between 1.5 feet and ten feet and is most commonly used in everyday interactions. However, should you sit side-by-side, opposite or at right angles to someone? How far apart should you be? Is it always beneficial to have a barrier (that is, a desk or table) or not? It is clear that the seating alone is instructive: it can be changed to indicate leadership, dominance or cooperativeness (see Figure 2.1).

Look at Figure 2.1. Which arrangement would you prefer, and why? Which would be better for negotiation and which for information sharing? Which would be better for a business lunch or a romantic dinner?

Figure 2.1 Two chairs at an oblong table: four possible positions The moral of the story is simple. The physical environment reflects how we move and our distance and angle in relation to one another. It symbolizes, contains and encourages certain conversation topics and tasks. An astute awareness of these factors in business can have very significant consequences.

FEEL THE UNSPOKEN.

Touch (or body contact).

Touch is probably one of the most powerful and primitive means of contact and communication. These days, we live in a non-contact culture hence the power of touch. Children explore the world by touch, until the inhibitions of our society penalize it. Touch has a primitive significance of heightened intimacy. In the 1960s psychotherapists used so called "encounter groups" and "T-groups" to explore the therapeutic benefits of touch (among other things). Argyle (1975) noted that, in Western society, there are many types of body contact: Patting head, back Holding hand, arm, knee Slapping face, hand, bottom Guiding hand, arm Punching face, chest Embracing shoulder, body Pinching cheek, bottom Linking arms Stroking hair, face, upper body, knee Laying on hands Shaking hands Kicking bottom Kissing mouth, cheek, b.r.e.a.s.t.s, hand, foot Grooming hair, face Licking face.

Tickling anywhere.

People in Anglo-Saxon culture touch for various reasons: attempting to persuade or obtain a favor; when sympathizing; when giving orders and advice; when excited or happy. Most people can distinguish between the professional touch (of doctors, hairdressers) the social touch (of greeting or farewell); the friendly touch (of sports people when they celebrate, or among families); and the s.e.xual touch (to bring about or increase arousal).

Body contact is dictated by relationship: whom, where, when and how much. Touching one's spouse, children, friends, relations and strangers is governed by very different rules. Touch can signal s.e.xual arousal, nurturance or dependence, affiliation and aggression. It is often used as an interaction signal in greetings and farewells and in guiding others. Touch is used with great meaning at grand ceremonies, such as confirmations, ordinations and weddings. It often signals the pa.s.sing on of a continuous chain of authority. It is used in prize-giving and initiation rites. You are more likely to touch when asking a favor or trying to persuade someone; and when giving information or an order rather than when receiving or responding to one.

Many gestures are easily recognizable, though often unacceptable at work: the shoulder, waist or full embrace (hug). People can detect and correctly cla.s.sify such gestures as being functional/professional versus social/polite or friendly.

The 'meanings' of touch are many: * Positive emotions and affect: from nurse, therapist, carer, symbolizing affection, support and rea.s.surance.

* Negative emotions, such as anger and frustration: hitting, slapping and squeezing another person.

* Specific and discrete emotions: stroking and patting for sympathy.

* Playfulness and humour: tickling, "false" punches.

* Influencing and persuading: holding the upper arm while shaking hands.

* Conversation control and interaction management: tapping a person to remind of something.

* Responsiveness: touching to indicate agreement, empathy, involvement in the conversation.

* Task related: this is the functional, directional touch when engaged in cooperative tasks.

* Symbolism: usually of warmth, friendship and inclusion.

The handshake is one of the most over-interpreted of body signals. We are told that it is an integral part of personality and a symbol of a power struggle. Whose hand is "on top", how vice-like the grip and the weight-on-the-foot relative to the hand are all supposed to provide information. The hand has "palm power": one can have a submissive, recipient, open gesture like a beggar or a more aggressive, palmdown gesture.

The handshake can be described by the nature of the grip, the power of that grip, the number of "pumps" and who reaches out first. The dominant handshake is characterized by a palm down, firm but short shake.

Various typical handshakes have been described: * glove or politician: both hands used by one party to cover the opponent's hand, trying to give the impression of honesty.

* dead fish: cold, clammy, limp.

* knuckle grinder: the macho handshake which squeezes the fingers only.

* stiff-arm thrust: no bending of the arm.

* arm pull: sometimes found in children.

Another interesting quandary in the "modern" handshake is what to do with the other (left) hand. One can leave it limp at one's side; or grab the other person's wrist, elbow, upper arm or shoulder to show various att.i.tudes such as sincerity, honesty or a caring quality.

Some handshakes, of course, have no hidden meaning. Those with arthritis or whose hands are integral to their career, such as surgeons or musicians, may avoid handshakes or give weak shakes, not because of their lack of confidence or power but because of their fear of damaging their hands. Handshake gestures may have been learnt in childhood and have little to do with carefully thought out patterns of dominance and submission.

People also self-touch. This is often a.s.sociated with cleaning, grooming and attending to appearance. Such touching is also a.s.sociated with comforting or protective gestures because it appears more in situations of stress and anxiety. People can "leak" their fear, disgust or prejudices by self-touching.

For those of us living in a non-contact culture, the power of touch is all the more real. People can be disarmed by touch, a trick known to many. Touching is heavily pre- and proscribed. When, where, how and why we touch each other is dictated by a range of social rules never more so than at work. The handshake, the pat on the back and the few other contact behaviors are all carefully prescribed, and breaking the rules can have very serious consequences.

Withdrawal of touch is also a powerful means of influencing. A shaky, feeble handshake is readily ascribed to a weak or unconfident personality by many. Not responding to socially accepted touching, such as air kissing or hand giving, can be a serious breach of social rituals.

Odor.

For too long, psychologists neglected the role of smell in communication. Odor is a powerful communication system among animals, and we humans are all personally aware of the olfactory consequences of such things as stress and s.e.xual excitement on our own bodies. People know that some smells are able to summon powerful memories. There is now considerable interest in "pheromones", a term coined in 1959 from the Greek pherein "to carry" and hormon "to excite". The chemical secretions are used by all primates to mark territory, a.s.sert dominance, repel rivals and attract mates.

Adults have scent glands under their arms and around their genitals; body hair traps scents which are powerful markers. It is the way in which clothes capture, turn stale and "chemicalize" these body odors that make them unpleasant.

People in Western societies seem determined to eradicate and replace natural body odors. For many, the morning begins with the use of soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, scented shampoo, deodorant and cologne or perfume. Individuals have distinct, reliably detectable body odors (sweet, musky, lemony) that are a function of health and diet. Doctors have been urged to use their sense of smell in diagnosis. Animals are now being trained to do so as they have acute odor sensitivity.

Anthropologists have pointed out that odor communicates racial, cultural and family traits that help to identify us and relate to a range of acceptable and avoidant behaviors. Because smells are so clearly a.s.sociative, environments are deliberately "sprayed". The smell of baking bread and freshly brewed coffee has been used to help sell houses. Some shops use the pine and spice smells of Christmas to try to induce greater sales in the festive season. Hospitals and dentists try to hide or mask smells a.s.sociated with those places because of the extent to which they are a.s.sociated with pain and anxiety.

To demonstrate the power of odor, one study required men on a selection skills course to evaluate the merits of a particular woman for a secretarial job. The only difference between her and various other interviewees (she was a trained actress) lay in the perfume she was wearing. Surprisingly, she was evaluated as more able and technically skilled when wearing a popular perfume. In this sense the scent gave her a "halo effect" smells nice, is nice; smells good, is good.

It seems that the human odor-communication system is primitive, and operates for most of us beneath the level of awareness. Few people are able to send or detect complex messages or signals by the choice of chemicals to spray on themselves, and most are not in a position to alter voluntarily the central nervous system in order to induce particular scents. Most of us operate on the pleasant/unpleasant dimension and are utterly reliant on the erratic feedback of others to determine reaction.

Equally, the social problem of telling somebody about "bad breath" or "unpleasant odor" is fraught with embarra.s.sment. All this leads to the conclusion that most of us have very little idea of the effect our natural and unnatural scent has on those we meet.

Smell at work.

How do you design shops, arrange products and create ambiance to maximize sales?

Researchers have found that you need to get people in the right mood to maximize impulse buying. So how to (quickly, cheaply and efficiently) change mood? The answer is in things such as smells and music. Both have immediate a.s.sociations. They have been described as emotional provocateurs, which appear to be both powerful and primitive, and they seem to work at an unconscious level.

Music is used to quicken the heart and the pace (for example, marching music) as well as to relax people. Few state occasions, or indeed any with rites-of-pa.s.sage significance, take place without music to signify the mood and meaning of the occasion.

Scientists are now also beginning to play with smell or, if you prefer, aroma. It is now perfectly feasible to develop cheap, synthetic but impressively realistic scents of anything you fancy. Baking bread, warm chocolate, sea breezes, "new car smell", or new-mown gra.s.s it is all possible!

Smells can make you hungry; or relaxed; or even cross. Some researchers have attempted to use smells to increase sales. They found the best smell to pump into a petrol-station mini market was the smell of "starched sheets", because garage forecourts are dirty, oily places and people have a clear concern with the cleanliness of the food (especially fresh pastries) on sale in the shop. The exceptionally clean a.s.sociation of starched sheets "does the business". People's concerns about cleanliness disappear and they buy more.

Smells have a.s.sociations, some of which are shared. As noted earlier, buildings such as hospitals and rooms such as dentists' surgeries have distinct smells that can almost induce phobias. Christmas has its own smell, as does the seaside.

Individuals too have specific smell a.s.sociations. Thus unique smells like Earl Grey tea, Pears soap, or particular perfumes can have unusual effects on individuals. And the same smell can have opposite effects on two different people. The smell of tea, for example, can bring both pain and pleasure: memories of boredom to some, and excitement to others.