Today more job interviews are being held via conference call apps like Zoom and Teams. Those looking to nab their next gig are jumping on a Zoom call to chat with prospective employer half way around the world. While a video job interview allows you to widen your pool of potential firms, these digital parleys require preparation if you want to make round two.
For one, non-verbal communication signs are hindered during video interviews. It’s difficult to maintain eye contact. Voice inflections may be distorted through digitalization. Body language is hidden by a narrow field of view. Still, with the right preparation, it’s easy to have a successful video job interview. Here are five must-know tips for newbies.
1. Lighting for a Healthier You
Don’t underestimate your lighting. No, you’re not interviewing for a reality TV show. And, yes, your computer monitor will provide a good supply of light to your face; however, that bluish hue will make you look like Ed Norton in Fight Club. Not the best way to present yourself “employable”. Instead, fight that blue hue with soft, warm lighting around your face. It makes you look healthier and more attractive. To do this, you want low spectrum lighting—bulbs that produce light around 2,700k-3,000k.
Use a small lamp near your monitor (just out of frame) to illuminate your face. Try turning on a room light with a warmer temperature bulb. If you’re in a nice, quiet area during the day, maybe consider sitting outside in the shade. What you’re looking for is to illuminate your face and keep the skin tones warm and pleasant looking. Small adjustments are what’s called for. There’s no need for a three-point lighting setup. So, don’t overdo it.
2. Give Them a Little Background
It’s easy to understate the importance of a good background in your video frame. The most common blunder people make is sitting in front of a bright window. The exterior light “blows out” the image sensor of your web cam, which can’t handle the bright and dark colors at once. The effect is a distracting large white blob of light surrounding an overly darkened face. Shut the blinds. Draw the curtains. Or find another locale.
Also, avoid backgrounds with overly bright colors. These are also distracting and draw attention away from you. Instead, conscript a background of neutral colors like gray, taupe, beige or cream. Walls and curtains of that hue are easy to come by. If your options are limited, try changing your background through the software. Most video platforms have background removal features, which can blur out your surroundings completely or show you calling from some exotic island locale.
Backgrounds that are too busy should also be swapped out. The description “busy” could refer to either a background with kinetic designs or with literal movement such as people at a restaurant. Both are distracting. Such bustling places with people would be inappropriate given the formality of the meeting anyway.
Pro Tip: Strategically place objects in the background that reinforce your personality or reaffirm the “What’s your hobbies, interests?” question. Enjoy playing field hockey? Prop your hockey stick in the corner of the screen. Maybe you’re a dyed in the wool fan of knitting. A carefully placed shawl on the back of your chair is a convenient prop for reinforcing your love—”I actually knitted this sweater I’m wearing!”
3. Get Ready for Your Closeup
Aside from the technical stuff, a video job interview is equal to an in-person interview with respect to decorum and professionalism. Sit up straight. Make eye contact (more on that below) and speak clearly and confidently. Professionalism also means dressing for success. Obviously, everything above the waist is a priority, since the southern regions will be out of frame (unless there’s a fire!).
Clean, kept hair, tie, coat or blouse are the standard boxes to tick. With respect to shirt/blouse color, take the same approach as with the background—nothing too busy or overly decorated. Go for solid colors and simple design. The focus should be on you. While heavy makeup is often avoided for in-person interviews, you’ll want to apply a bit more than normal for video. Much like the theater, video requires a bit more of a dramatic approach to makeup if you want it to appear “normal”.
Remember, your outfit needs to be appropriate to the position. You may have a good idea of what’s acceptable, but if not, do a little web searching to get the right dress code for your industry. Better yet, check out the company’s website “about” page and see what current employees are wearing.
Lastly, opt for smaller headphones, like ear buds, instead of larger, standard headphones. Smaller, lower profile speakers are usually cooler and more comfortable in stressful situations—plus, they won’t cover up that immaculate, newly quaffed hairdo you got in preparation.
4. Achieve a Solid Setup and Proper Eye Contact
Conference calls give you the freedom to do them anywhere. But wherever you choose to interview, ensure you have a solid equipment setup. Shakes and jitters induce nausea in your interlocutor, so don’t try and hold your device steady. Secure it well or invest in an inexpensive phone or tablet holder. Also, rotate your device to frame yourself in landscape rather than portrait mode. It will look more professional.
You will get better stabilization and overall control with a desktop or laptop setup. But keep webcam height in mind. Eye contact is important in a video job interview, but most desktop webcams sit at the top of the monitor. The higher position makes it impossible to appear as if you’re looking the person directly in the eye. You’re either looking at them or the camera, but not both.
To help the situation, lower your webcam to align it with the person’s image. Perfect alignment will, of course, cause the camera to obscure the person’s face, but you should be able to find a workable balance. Alternatively, purchase a transparent webcam holder, which solves the problem or try to engineer a similar contraption yourself.
One last note on eye contact: if you’re going to have notes for reference, put them on the monitor, either physically attached or in a doc. Looking down or to the side when referencing notes breaks your eye contact. To be sure, video job interviews are structured events, but employers expect you to speak extemporaneously. Don’t ever read verbatim from a prepared note and looking away to do so only makes you seem unprepared and nervous.
5. Practice Self-Sabotage
Regardless of the location, you should always do a run-through before a video job interview. Smart preppers do a run through with a friend or family member so they can anticipate questions and practice articulating their ideas. But proper practice includes more than memorizing your employment history; you should also formulate a plan for when things go wrong. And with video calls, there’s a heap of misfortune to anticipate, from low bandwidth issues to misapplied kitten filters. With that in mind, ready yourself for the unexpected by practicing self-sabotage.
Imagine the audio feed is disrupted. You’ll need some way to quickly communicate. Do you know how to find and use the chat feature? You’ll also need to determine if the issue is on your end or the platform’s. What if you accidentally share your screen, which is populated with “cheat sheets” and personal files? Are you familiar enough with the software interface to shut things down?
Compile a list of these types of emergencies, then pick them at random during your regular practice. Learning to adapt and overcome will help you not only ensure a smooth interview, but it’s also a personal trait that employers value in a prospective team member. Who knows, your quick thinking and action may impress them so much it gets you the position.
The social, environmental and technological challenges for the commercial real estate sector are significant. Many building owners and managers are still adjusting to the disruptions of the COVID pandemic, lock downs, remote working, mask mandates, rising energy costs and the move to hybrid work models. Few, if any, anticipated these events, nor the dramatic shifts they would kick start in building management and design.
On top of quickly developing social changes, there’s the long-term environmental impacts of global warming. Much of the planet is already feeling the implications of rising temperatures with increased flooding events, stronger storms, and eroding coast lines. All pose specific risks to property owners, since 10% of the world’s population lives in coastal areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level, according to an UN fact sheet.
Increased migration to cities and urban areas is spurring building development to a faster pace. The World Economic Forum estimates that two-thirds of the global population is expected to live in cities by 2050 and already an estimated 800 million people live in more than 570 coastal cities vulnerable to a sea-level rise of 0.5 meters by 2050. Technological advances pose yet another challenge to commercial real estate owners, as many feel the pressure by market competition and new government regulations to adopt energy and time saving building tech.
Given these social, environmental and technological challenges, it would seem change itself is becoming increasingly accelerated and unpredictable. Making things worse is the fact that we know less about the extent to which these factors affect each other. A warmer climate makes future pandemics more likely, which increases remote working, which reduces greenhouse gases. But higher temperatures also increase HVAC demand, which increases energy usage and greenhouse gases.
The entire system is connected, and each component poses a significant challenge in its own right; however, when combined, they will undoubtedly produce unforeseen outcomes that require quick course corrections at best, and entire paradigm shifts at worst.
While no one can predict the future, they can position themselves and their properties to better manage the unknown unknows. One way to stay flexible and adaptable is to adopt automated building controls built on open source protocols. Open building systems benefit from more technological flexibility, which can act as an important hedge against uncertainty.
Open System Protocols: A Short History
In the late 70’s early 80’s, large companies like Siemens, Johnson Controls and Honeywell took the first steps in connecting systems through electronic networks. Each brand developed proprietary “languages” or protocols that allowed building components like HVAC, lighting and alarms to “talk” to one another. While this created an efficient, dependable and integrated system, it also locked each property owner into the company’s proprietary hardware and software. And since connected systems were intended to last a decade or more, owners had little flexibility for innovation and change. In fact, it was the building systems provider that determined the speed and quality of that change.
Later in the mid to late 90’s, new organizations and companies like Tridium would introduce open protocols like the Niagara Framework, BACnet and LonWorks. These component languages didn’t limit owners to one brand by speaking one language. Instead, they could “interpret” between the other protocols, freeing owners to mix and match brands. Being “open” now meant property owners and managers could change the way they invested and used building technology.
Today, open protocols are a key play in helping evolve the next generation of automated building systems via IoT devices and smart building technology.
Open Systems and Adaptability
With open protocols, owners and managers can adapt quickly to market trends. With propriety systems, you’re locked into one manufacture’s software and hardware. Making upgrades or replacing components can be more costly than an open system. That’s because an open system is much like an open market. The more companies that compete for your business, the lower the price. Having the choice to shop around gives you budget flexibility to stay solvent sudden market fluctuations.
Quality is also affected. With open building systems, you can expand your search for new building systems and components outside a single contractor—who may or may not have the best quality available—and pick the best-of-breed tech. Component quality can vary based on priority, but open systems provide more flexibility for bigger investments. High quality investments are often long-term investments, so CAPEX projects also become easier to plan and deliver.
From a budgetary perspective, the best adaptability feature of open building systems is the ability to connect new devices to older systems. Open systems offer better ROI on legacy components. Building owners can realize their full technology investment by extending the life of older systems, while also adopting new solutions to keep them competitive.
Open source also makes it easier to customise your building systems. Non-proprietary protocols are valuable tools for developers and engineers to create bespoke solutions for the specific needs of their customers. Since connecting devices is easier, solutions are faster to develop, keeping you nimble and on-budget.
The Amazon “Biodome” campus in Seattle, Washington is a powerful brand statement about the company’s values.
Building Brand
Many of today’s biggest brands extend beyond their name recognition and marketing to include their physical properties. From Amazon’s Biodomes to Apple’s Spaceship, today’s corporate facilities and HQs are as much a part of the corporate brand as the logos themselves. But future businesses need not be on the Fortune 500 list to feel the necessity of such architectural recognition. Trends are already moving there fast, as post-pandemic attitudes toward workplace safety, air-quality and hygiene become part of a business’s social contract with its workers and communities. The safety and security occupants feel about a facility speaks volumes about those who own and lease its spaces.
In a recent episode of DCTV, Mitchell Day of Distech expressed the idea that a building is essentially a fundamental representation of a brand’s core values:
“A building is no longer just where you work,” he states. “A building expresses to the public who you are as a company, how you want [the public] to see how you see your employees and your products and who you want to be to the rest of the world.”
Day’s statement not only reflects the growing importance of facilities in general, but it also signals a shift in attitudes towards buildings as a core part of corporate responsibility. Today, brands feel more pressure than ever to adopt sustainable manufacturing processes, low-carbon footprint buildings, alternative energy sources and social responsibility. How a building functions, its efficiency and connectivity are indicators of that responsibility.
Open building systems offer the flexibility to adapt to cultural expectations. As Day himself says: “Open systems provide the power to give people more choices on how they express their brand.”
The Future is Complexity
It’s often said that buildings are “living” things, formed from complex systems working together to produce a habitable and safe environment for occupants. It’s an apt analogy, yet “complexity” is relative. With every passing year, emerging technologies like system integration, IoT, machine learning, smart tech and next gen sensors are making the dream of true system unification a reality. Tech is evolving at such a rapid pace it’s likely in a decade or two, today’s buildings may be likened to single-celled organisms by comparison. The entire “carpentered-world” will seem much more fluid.
While there are downsides to complexity to be sure, one of the biggest upsides is adaptability. The more complex, the more tools you have, and the more nuanced your approach can be. Complexity and connectivity are what property owners, and their buildings, will need to adapt to the challenges of future pandemics, energy transitions and global warming. Open building systems help building owners and managers manage such complexity.
In a post-COVID workplace, “hands-free” is the new buzz world. It’s also the new hygiene standard. At times, it may seem the pandemic has turned everyone into Adrian Monk. But you needn’t be an OCD-suffering detective to solve the mystery of the old hygiene standard; it’s dead—murdered by Delta and Omicron. However, its demise makes way for a new standard, one built with hands-free building tech.
Touchless interfaces, voice command, facial recognition systems are uber-popular among both employees and managers. Some hands-free devices are smart home gadgets carried to the office by new hybrid workers looking to introduce a little domestic convenience. But other employees simply want safer, more hygienic work and communal spaces.
Tech companies are speeding up their response to the touchless standard by leveraging existing tech: smartphones. Every worker already carries a small, powerful computer connected to the internet in their pocket, so why not start there. The shortcut is producing a variety of apps that give workers and managers hands-free control of lighting, elevator access and after-hours air con bookings. The touchless workplace is a safe bet for property owners looking to invest in tech that boosts their property values and occupancy retention.
Access Via Facial Recognition
Facial recognition is a growing tech in facilities access because it provides better safety and a keyless, touchless entry point. Cameras with specialised facial recognition software scan a person’s face to identify them before granting entry. Users simply look at the scanner, are identified, and the system unlocks the doors. While hardly a viable solution for high traffic areas, facial recognition systems do ensure touchless entry points for visitors and better safety for building occupants.
Smart Elevator Apps
Today, “calling” the elevator is no longer a metaphor. Some major lift manufacturers like Otis and Schindler now have apps that let you summon an elevator with your smartphone. Users can use the apps themselves to ask for life service or they can scan a QR code to let the elevator know what floor they’re on. Smart elevator apps are time sizers too. Riders can request the lift as they approach, select their destination, then arrive just as the elevator does. No buttons to press or physical contact to make means a more sanitary ride.
Touchless Audio/Visual Setups
The conference room is full of commonly touched surfaces swimming with bacteria. However, voice activated AV equipment and video launching apps are keeping the presentation room touchless. Companies like Crestron are making touchless AV wireless, letting you manage all your AV equipment and room scheduling one a single app on your smartphone. Imagine having an app to control your presentation equipment. Being able to set custom specifications, including your lighting preferences, blind levels, and audio volume all with one touch of your own smartphone.
Touchless Reception
Hands-free entry tech like automatic sliding and swinging doors are hardly new, but new “touchless” tech for reception are evolving to limit the time visitors are spending in reception. Reducing the number of people in reception reduces the risk of virus transmission.
Rather than performing traditional check-ins, visitors can send instant text messages, voice calls and emails to authenticate their credentials and notify hosts. Once inside, other touchless access points can be granted by reading smartphone data via Wi-Fi. Elevators may be sent, doors opened automatically, areas of the building opened all without the visitors needing to touch handles or screens. Such automated access systems can also perform other duties like contact tracing or administering health questionnaires.
Voice-Activated Lighting
Today’s modern commercial lighting solutions offer hands-free tech features like voice command and app operation to expand control over workspace illumination. Some lighting tech has replaced the traditional light switch with a motion sensor that activates with the wave of a user’s hand. Others control lighting with voice commands powered by popular voice assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google.
Other hands-free light switches have Wi-Fi so workers can turn off lights left on or turn them on before entering the building. Smartphone control also means the ability to schedule lighting at regular intervals or for specific events. Voice activation, motion sensor and smart app lighting controls give workers more choices while eliminating the need for physical contact.
In our quest to compile a list of the best FM online learning resources for 2022, we looked at several important factors. For one, we wanted a good mix of quality and convenience. Some FMs will be looking for professional certification courses, while others may only need a one-off refresher video. Therefore, we included both certifying orgs with full course work along with eLearning platforms with à la carte selections.
Next, we also wanted to list free and affordable options along with paid ones, given the budget crunch many will likely feel this year. Finally, we wanted our list to be time-saving and relevant, so we included samples from each library, catalogue and resource for your consideration. We also think these samples reflect essential skills FMs will need to future-proof their careers. With that, here are a few of the best online online education resources for FMs in 2022.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is a great source for quick, easy courses for specific topics. The online learning platform has several courses on project and workspace management FMs will find helpful. Plus, you can gain some experience in more technical topics like working with BIM software. Here are some FM-related courses we recommend for 2022:
The International Facility Management Association offers full course work for various FM accreditations. However, they also have short eLearning videos for primers into specific topics. While you don’t have to be an IFMA member to buy courses or videos, you do get discounted pricing and access to other benefits. We looked through IFMA’s catalogue of videos and found these gems for 2022.
Organisational Strategy for FM Departments in an IoT World
Bombs, Suspicious Packages & Active Shooters: How Do You Respond at Your Workplace
Creating a Powerful FM Legacy
Communicating in a Crisis
FM Podcasts
Industry articles on BAS and facilities management are abundant, but podcasts are a handy FM online learning resource too. Podcasts are perfect for time-starved individuals or those with long commutes. Here are a few FM-related podcasts to subscribe to this year.
BOMI International webinars (hosted by Lorman) are a must have for 2022 FMs who need to keep up with the break-neck speed of change in the industry. Prices vary from $85USD to $200 based on the topic, and attendees can include a downloadable recording for an additional cost. Lorman’s webinar schedule only runs a few months out, so we took a look at what they had to offer for their January and February line up.
Increase Your Ability to Retain Millennials in the Workplace (Feb 8)
Taking Care of Employees Based Overseas (Feb 8)
Responding to Negative Employee Comments on the Web(Feb 28)
Recent Developments Regarding Force Majeure (Mar 2)
IFMA Knowledge Library
The IFMA Knowledge Library is an FM online learning collection of articles, presentations, white papers and podcasts, all focusing on the latest data and trends for the FM industry. There are four different access levels, which includes two free levels. IFMA members get full access to all content, but those who don’t want to commit can purchase a “Knowledge Pass” for $200USD. Here’s some free and premium IFMA content from the Knowledge Library you’ll want to check out for 2022.
Proactive Maintenance Strategies for Operational Value (Article)
Put Your Money On It: Investing in Energy Efficiency (Video)
Why Facilities Managers Should Adopt a Multi-generational Staffing Strategy (Article)
Employee Experience & the Future of Work (Podcast)
Massey University
Massey Uni offers two diplomas in facilities management available through distance learning. The Diploma in Facilities Management (DipFM) is built for new FM professionals just entering the industry who want to strengthen their skills with foundational knowledge, while the Graduate Diploma in Facilities Management (GradDipFM) is aimed at professionals holding a non-FM related tertiary qualification, such as engineering, commerce or science. Both courses are one year full-time, but can be completed part-time. Also, both offer the option to exit at certificate level on completion of four papers.
Many industries use pressurised rooms to stop cross-contamination between one area of a building and another. For example, semiconductor makers use positive pressure rooms (PPR) to ensure their integrated chips are free of contaminants in the air. Hospitals and clinics employ negative pressure rooms (NPR) to contain the spread of infectious diseases. The difference between positive vs negative pressure rooms is mostly one of pressure differential and air flow. Both approaches use air pressure differentials to control ventilation and contamination.
Pressure Differential
Anyone who’s ever let go of an un-knotted balloon has witnessed the propensity of air to move from a higher pressure area to a lower one. The bigger the pressure differential, the faster the balloon will fly around the room. Building managers use HVAC equipment, fans and ventilation systems to control this natural propensity of air to escape—to keep the “balloon” knotted as it were.
The natural movement of air without the aid of mechanical equipment like a fan is called “passive” air flow, and techs use passive air flow to keep debris and contaminants from entering or exiting a room. If done correctly, the result is a stable environment with lower or higher air pressure than the surrounding area.
What’s a Negative Pressure Room?
To create a NPR, HVAC professionals must move air out at a faster rate than it comes in. That is, a negative quantity of air maintained. The purpose is to control the direction of passive airflow. When someone opens the door of an NPR, negative pressure draws passive air inside, forming a barrier against the escape of pathogens or dust. Interior air then moves through a filtration system to remove contaminants before safely exiting the pressurised environment.
What’s a Positive Pressure Room?
Positive pressure rooms maintain a higher air pressure inside than the surrounding environment. Air escapes the room without letting in outside contaminated air. PPRs exist within surgical theatres and in vitro clinics where contamination is possible. PPR hospital rooms often house immunocompromised patients susceptible to infection or disease. Because PPRs form barriers to outside spaces, their HVAC systems must filter out any contaminants from the interior air while ensuring optimal pressure and safe air quality.
Air Tightness
Pressure room designers try to keep rooms as air tight as possible, but some leakage occurs through gaps in doors, windows and electrical outlets. Designers often outfit NPRs with ante rooms to minimise leakage. These entryways are also safe areas for removing PPE or as a failsafe against pressure loss. Airtightness is also a cost issue. The more leakage, the more energy required to maintain a room’s negative or positive pressure.
Air Comfort
Like any conditioned environment, pressurised rooms must also maintain humidity and air temperature to ensure comfort and safety. Air quality is particularly important for medical facilities, since suboptimal humidity levels can contribute to illness. To aid air quality, HVAC technicians design HVAC systems to include specific numbers of air changes per hour (ACH) based on the size of the room. ACH is a measure of how often air within a space is replaced every hour and is essential to combating contaminated, stale and unhealthy air.
Testing and Monitoring
Smoke tests are a common way to test the effectiveness of a pressurised room. They’re cheap and easy to administer, but aren’t continuous or highly accurate. During a smoke test, technicians create puffs of smoke next to known intakes like registers or under doorways. If the smoke flows inside or outside, then a pressure differential exists. The smoke just needs to move in the right direction. Electronic pressure monitors offer continuous, accurate monitoring, but they’re expensive to purchase and install. Still, accurate testing and consistent monitoring is the best way to maintain the effectiveness of a pressurised room. Inadequate or infrequent testing puts patients and others at risk.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has extended the use of pressurised rooms to combat the disease. The idea has extended beyond the hospital room to include waiting rooms, triage, bathrooms and other areas that could contain contaminants or susceptible people.
While pressurised rooms are helpful for health care workers, patients and staff, they also present challenges to HVAC techs and facility managers. Expanding the number and size of pressurised areas in any building means paying more attention to resulting issues like high humidity levels, sticky entryways, mold growth, and increased energy costs. These are new challenges FMs and engineers will need to address as the built environment evolves to meet social change.
In every act of communication, we strive to influence others. Even when our communication is simply to inform, we seek to align someone else’s view of reality to ours. While we can influence others’ behaviors, the higher aim is often to change their minds as well. However, it’s this sense of “mind control” that burdens the term with negative connotations today.
It’s often thought that to influence someone is to hold a hypnotic power over them, usually for nefarious reasons or personal gain. Someone or something is a “bad influence.” We often ascribe the act to politicians, cult leaders, or Rock-and-Roll lyrics. Social media “influencers” are opportunistic marketers. Irresponsible folks drive “under the influence.” You get the idea.
Even though the term has gotten a bad rap recently, the premise of influencing as a part of communication isn’t nefarious at all; in fact, it’s a basic component (and outcome) of any effective communication. And savvy communicators understand how to use influencing strategies to get their message across more effectively. Here are some tips on how to communicate better by influencing your audience.
Soft Landings Approach
Influence requires an understanding that most people fear and resist change. Even when your audience knows change will be beneficial, some push back is inevitable. At these points, communication can become strained or breakdown. When possible, you can influence a successful outcome by easing folks into change rather than “ripping off the bandaid.”
“I do a lot of organisation transition and change management,” says Phoenix Lavin, a veteran FM who’s worked in the industry since 2003. “Sometimes that change is painful, and there’s a bit of grief and disruption.” Lavin suggests meeting resistance to change by taking elements of a “soft landings” approach:
“A soft landings approach incorporates taking the time to introduce people to change. Rather than leaving people feeling like change is being forced on them.”
Phoenix Lavin
“A soft landings approach incorporates taking the time to introduce people to change. Rather than leaving people feeling like change is being forced on them.”
People fear change primarily because they feel a lack of control. In these moments, fear tends to consume our focus, making it tough to communicate. Engage in active listening and let your clients vent their frustrations. Allowing your audience to express their anxiety, lets you identify and focus on the source(s) of that anxiety. You may not think their “problems” are a priority, but by refocusing and being empathetic, you make your audience more receptive to your own ideas.
Also, invite your audience to contribute to the project. It will give them a sense of control. “It’s about how they can see themselves in this new building/facilities,” Lavin explains, “and how they feel engaged and part of the build and operation process.”
By engaging your audience in the problem solving process, you also give them stock in the solution, and they come away from the conversation confident they’ve contributed. You will know your soft landing was successful, if your audience comes away not knowing they’ve even “landed.”
“I’ve got to gently move you around here so you barely realise you’re going around the corner,” Lavin explains. “Then voila! All of sudden now it’s your idea not mine. That’s the influencing component of good communication.”
Avoid Language that Creates Hierarchies
As is often said of words: they matter. The wrong words can alienate your audience by putting others at a lower level and/or yourself within a higher one. We often interpret these linguistic positions on an unconscious level, but they impact our audience’s reaction nevertheless. To level the field, choose language that communicates equality. Lavin provides a relevant example for facilities management:
“In our industry, we are often shackled with the term ‘service’ (which is linked to the term ‘servitude’). What we hear in that word is: You are here to do something for me, and, therefore, I am greater than you. When we look at communication, we’ve got to understand our audience and adjust our language so we’re not in a position of servitude, but in a position of competency and credibility.”
Instead of “customer,” Lavin suggests using terms like “stakeholder” or “end-users” to refer to the people benefiting from your input and expertise. This is especially important in relation to in-house management.
Another loaded term to avoid is “discussion.” Within it, Lavin says, lurks aggression and an imbalance of power. “It’s a one-way exercise,” she says. “It says I’m pounding something into you. I’m going to say what I have to. Instead, I tell people to use open terms like ‘dialogue’ or ‘conversation’ or ‘chat’.”
Some words and phrases may create or reflect frustration as well. As tensions rise in our conversations, our language often becomes more formal sounding or even legalistic. Try to maintain the same level of formality and tone as when you began the conversation, otherwise, your audience will immediately detect such changes, become defensive and make your influence less effective. “These are subtleties,” states Lavin, “but they’re how you change the dynamic of a conversation for the better or worse.”
Include Yourself in the Conversation
In the spirit of equality, speakers and writers should also include themselves in their arguments and narratives. Say “we” rather than “you.” Self-inclusive language helps eliminate hierarchies and signals that you have a stake in the outcome too, that you’re acting in good faith. It also forces you to empathise. If your message is “we’re all in this together” then the implication is that everyone must appreciate one another’s perspective.
“Anyone who is an effective communicator puts themselves into the narrative,” explains Lavin, “not in an arrogant way, but in an understanding, empathetic way. We can take a lesson from Te Reo Māori. In Te Reo Māori, we could start a meeting by saying tēnā koutou which is Greetings to everybody in the room (3 or more) or we can say tēnā koutou katoa which is greetings to everybody, and I’m including myself in the statements going forward.”
“Anyone who is an effective communicator puts themselves into the narrative.”
Phoenix Lavin
Inclusive language is also a prime launching point for bolstering your own credibility and experience. Politicians often use unifying language to great effect. Most never pass up a chance to point out their “working class roots” or “humble beginnings” to connect with their constituents. There’s a simple reason for the ubiquity of this approach: it works. If you’re sincere about your connection, your audience will (and should) respond positively.
“If you’re part of the organisation,” Lavin explains, “then communicate that these decisions are affecting you too. Let’s say you’re at the top table for an expensive capital replacement, and the stakeholders say, The business can’t sustain this. Your response should be: We understand the hesitancy, and we understand the drivers of the business. As a part of the workforce, I understand this. That type of language creates an unconscious connection. So, suddenly you’re not just a person saying I want something from you. You’re saying We need to do this together.
Got an Expert? Bring them Along
Credibility is such a key part of influencing that it’s foolish to omit someone with expertise in the arguments and ideas you’re presenting. Too often, we feel overly confident or too prideful to admit our ignorance of a topic, opting instead to “fake it ‘til we make it.” It’s a dangerous gamble that can tank your influence if you’re outed by a technical question. Lavin advises that if you think your credibility may be questioned, to bring someone else into the room:
We always think we have to do difficult conversations on our own, but we don’t. There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘Oh, I’ve brought Ms. X along with me today because she’s currently working with X systems and she’s got a better overview and understanding of this.”
The need for expertise requires FMs to build and maintain professional relationships. Find people who can provide you with answers and guidance when you’re stuck. “I still need to bounce things off people,” Lavin admits. “I’ll ring people and say, I’ve got to bounce this off you. This is where I’m going, and I can see it’s not going to work but I can’t quite see my way out of it. When you’ve got a great network of people who have skillsets different from yourself, you can do that.”
Conclusion
At its most complex level, the art of influencing is about abiding by simple courtesies of communications. It doesn’t take an advanced degree in communications or being a master orator to be empathetic, inclusive and thoughtful about the words you use. There’s no “political correctness” to abide by. For most managers, these “strategies” are basic mores of professional conversation. Often the real art of influencing is not in the execution of these simple courtesies, but in the remembering to do so.
