How Staff Can Maintain A Welcoming Environment with Social Distancing, Handshake Alternatives Expert Patti Wood

How Staff Can Maintain a Welcoming Environment with Social Distancing

Saying "Hi" without the high five and other tips for greeting guests without the usual body language cues.
June 2, 2020By Arthur Levine
At their heart, attractions and parks are highly social spaces where people join together in pursuit and celebration of fun. When the folks that operate the New Hampshire family entertainment center (FEC) Space Entertainment Center wanted to rebrand, they acknowledged the core mission of their business by incorporating the word “social” in the facility’s new name. But as they were getting ready to unveil the rechristened Block Party Social, the pandemic nixed their plans.
“We were joking that maybe we should call it, ‘Block Party Social Distancing,’” says Ron Weinberg, the FEC’s director of strategy and marketing.
Joking aside, Weinberg touches on pressing challenges that attractions face as they retool for the coronavirus era: How do places that are inherently social accommodate social distancing? How can they continue to project an image of carefree fun while adhering to “new normal” safety measures? How can employees provide the same quality of customer service while shielded behind a facemask and standing at least six feet away from guests?
Attractions are going to need to figure out new ways to connect with visitors, according to body language expert Patti Wood. The coach and consultant, who has worked with Ripley’s Believe It or Not and wrote “Snap, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma,” says that physical touch, such as handshakes and high-fives, equals three hours of face-to-face interaction.
“It immediately establishes rapport and trust,” she notes. “It helps make people feel safe in the environment.”
With the shortcut of physical touch now, not an option, Wood suggests alternative body language behaviors. For example, even at 100 feet away guests would register broad waving motions from employees. “It signals the primitive brain that this place is safe,” she says. “At 15 feet, we break through the stranger barrier.”
So, what could employees do within the zone of 15 feet to the prescribed social distance of 6 feet? Wood says anything that would make guests feel comfortable and communicate fun, such as juggling, dancing, or generating bubbles, would do the trick.
With 29 locations across the globe, KidZania will be doubling down on the non-verbal gestures and other body languages that is already featured in its culture, explains Jorge Guisasola, COO. For example, associates at the roleplaying centers greet guests by forming the letter “K” with the index and middle fingers of their right hands and placing it in front of their hearts. As part of the chain’s retraining, associates will also mimic some of the theatrical movements exhibited by KidZania’s costumed characters.
“Eyes communicate a lot,” Guisasola says, “but mouths and half of our faces will be covered, so we will need to compensate with a lot of body language.”
Wood agrees that eyes can express a great deal and that engaging in eye contact is critical in a post-COVID environment. “Eyes can show a crinkled, sincere smile above and beyond the mask,” she notes and suggests that attractions train employees by having them stand in front of a mirror with masks on and observe what happens around their eyes when they smile.
Rob Norris, president of Seabreeze Amusement Park in New York, understands that guests value the friendly, smiling employees who greet them on the midway and operate the rides. It will be important, perhaps more than ever, to maintain that dynamic during the pandemic.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but we know if you smile behind the mask, your face lights up,” Norris says.
In addition to smiling and eye contact, Wood also recommends that employees tilt their heads when they engage with guests. “It shows submission, friendliness, and a desire to listen and attend,” the body language expert says. To help disarm and reassure children, whom a masked stranger may put off, she suggests that employees bend their knees and get lower in space when encountering them. While the action would project approachability, Wood cautions that staff members shouldn’t linger in a crouched position, because it might encourage youngsters to think it’s okay to move in for a hug.
Behaviors such as these convey what Wood terms “open body windows.” She says it shows that “I feel safe having these vulnerable parts of my body open to you. I’m not dangerous. It’s safe, and I’m welcoming you into my space.”
One way to help overcome the challenges imposed by wearing masks is to make the masks themselves more attractive. Block Party Social is having fabric masks imprinted with the FEC’s new logo.
Big Thrill Factory, which operates two FECs in Minnesota, is ordering fun masks with facial expressions on them. It is also having signs printed that staff members can hold up for guests to see from a distance. Some might be functional, such as one used in a queue that says, “Next.” Others might have fun visual symbols printed on them such as a thumbs up. Of course, employees could give actual thumbs up or use other non-contact gestures like clapping.
These are some of the simple strategies that Barry Zelickson, owner of Big Thrill Factory, and his team are developing to counter the restrictions that facemasks and social distancing introduce. “Yelling would not make a better environment,” he says with a laugh.
At the large KidZania locations, guests often ask for directions to different locations within the facilities. Instead of verbal explanations delivered from a distance, Guisasola says that associates will use open arms and hands to walk them to the destination. “It will be more gentle and friendly for the visitors,” he says.
Operators know that all of the new procedures as well as the general anxiety caused by the pandemic could be stressful for their front-line workers. And stressed-out workers cannot maintain the fun atmosphere that is the hallmark of attractions. That’s why it is as important for facilities that are reopening to focus on employees as on guests.
“We want to create an environment where our employees still enjoy their jobs,” says Seabreeze’s Norris. “We want them to feel comfortable being here so they can have the same relationship with guests that they had in the past.”
Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

ALTERNATIVES to the HANDSHAKE for GERM-FREE GREETINGS by Patti Wood Body Language Expert

HANDSHAKE ALTERNATIVES 
For Face to Face and Online Interactions

For you and for your company

(suitable to send out to your team)

By Patti Wood, Body Language Expert, Speaker and Coach

 I wanted to give you and perhaps your company handshake alternatives that can feel comfortable for you and your team. I want to make sure you feel prepared so you don’t fear to greet others and you don’t have that awkward moment when you and the other person won't know what to do and someone feels bad and your time together is impacted. Those milliseconds can make a big difference. Because the greeting ritual has physiological benefits, I also encourage you to create a nonverbal greeting and goodbye ritual when you interact online via Skype or some other format. I want to have ways to acknowledge how special each human being on this little blue planet is and what a sacred thing we do when we interact heart to heart and talk with each other.

First know that without an acceptable form of touch, we will be losing an invaluable bonding mechanism that helps us feel safe and lets us bring down the “stranger barrier” and connect.  I share this with you because I want to emphasize that greeting rituals allow not just to create a positive first impression and connect and reduce conflict. If you don’t shake hands or have an alternative ritual, there is a cost.  I have done three years of academic research on handshakes and greeting rituals and let me share, you need to do some sort of ritual even online.

Start the Greeting Earlier. If you are face to face start at about 8 to 6 feet out. If you are shaking hands you typically smile when you are four feet apart and again as you get close. If you start the greeting earlier, you can create contact in time to signal that you want to create a different ritual and NOT SHAKE HANDS.  What you want to do is slow down the greeting, so you have the time to change the greeting graciously.

Wave- hold up your open pam and wave. An open palm signals directly to the primitive brain that you come in peace and friendship. It was said to have originated with American Indians to signal to others that you held no weapon and come in peace. I highly recommend you use this in your video and live stream interactions like Facebook live, Zoom and Webex. To make that seem more natural move your upper body forward slightly as you wave. Practice it a bit before you go online. And I recommend that you use it as an online goodbye as well. 

Salute and Wave combo. Place your hand palm down near your forehead. As you make eye contact with the person and before you get too close, keep your hand at head level, flash your palm outward to show you come in friendship. You can do this from anywhere from 8 to 3 feet out. Military members raise their right hand so that their fingers touch their forehead in a salute. Typically, we salute someone to publicly show or state our admiration for them. You may not know that it meant to also convey the message of good health and goodwill to the recipient.  The word itself, Salutem, in Latin, means health, safety, greeting, and survival.

 The LEAN IN - with your arms at your sides with a slight bow lean in  -This shows that first of all are NOT offering your hand but also that you come in peace and still allows you to acknowledge the person as special, that you honor them and that the and the interaction as special.

The NAMASTE – Originally a Hindu greeting and used in the 2000s by celebrities who didn’t want to shake hands with fans in red carpet greeting. The Namaste is a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. In Hinda, you actually say the word NAMASTE but you don’t have to but its a beautiful greeting and the actual ritual its called “Añjali Mudrā;”  In Hinduism, it means "I bow to the divine in you".

THE PEACE SIGN or Victory V  -  I wanted to offer another option that signals a greeting that could catch on as we battel whatever this cold/flu/virus gives us and come out in peace and victory. This thought of creating this for our season of germs started with my friend Carl who is a biker. He is smart, cool and he greets fellow bikers on the road with a peace sign. Yes, the peace sign! Who knew the hippy, bead wearing right hand up, palm facing out with two fingers spread in a slight “V” greeting?   Remember, we like people who are like us. The various versions of the peace symbol given by bikers show other bikers they have something in common. Bikers will slightly raise their fingers off the handlebars in the peace “V” to greet fellow drivers, especially those riding similar bike brands, type of bike or helmet.

  During World War II, Victor de Laveleye, a Belgian refugee, suggested during a BBC broadcast that his countrymen use the letter V as a rallying sign. The “V” is the first letter of victoire (victory) in French and vrijheid (freedom) in Dutch. Soon you could see “V” in graffiti all over Belgium and then all of Nazi-occupied Europe and given as a hand sign. It was a message that said to the occupier that “he is surrounded, encircled by an immense crowd of citizens that don’t want this occupation.  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill popularized the V symbol as victory.  1958, the artist Gerald Holton began using the graphic representation of the “V” in an opposite way from the World War II usage, casting it as a symbol for peace to create the peace symbol.         

It is a greeting that shows others your own beliefs and desires and asking in return, "Are you part of my tribe? Will you interact with me in harmony?”

I suggest that if you are meeting face to face or online with business associates, friends or family that you talk about how you would like to great. Perhaps pick a team or family or friendship tribal greeting ritual like the fist bump was created to show we are in this together.

Because we also need a ritual to show we are done and grateful for the interaction will return in peace again I suggest you end with one of these rituals or your own special parting as well. I also suggest you think of how you might want to change your signature line to adjust to what's going on. I have been using Take Care as my online signature for many years in my business and personal life because I want people to know I send them care and want them to go carefully, perhaps you may think of a new way to sign off your emails and texts as well.

 and Whatever way you choose to greet I want to remember to think of the sacredness of each person. We are in this together spinning on our little blue planet.  

Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.

Older Version
ALTERNATIVES to the HANDSHAKE for GERM-FREE GREETINGS

For you and for your team

(Suitable to discuss and send out to your team.)

By Patti Wood, Body Language Expert, Speaker and Coach

With concerns about germs, you and your team may want to have an alternative way to greet others rather than shaking hands. If you’ve been in my body language and first impressions program, you know that a handshake is equal to three hours of face-to-face interaction. That ritual is wired in for many of us, so you want to make sure in those critical milliseconds where you're changing the ritual that you have a new plan and don’t have that awkward moment in which someone feels bad and your time together is impacted negatively. 

Your greeting is a way to acknowledge how special each human being on this little blue planet is and what a sacred thing we do when we interact heart-to-heart to talk with each other.

Options that avoid palm to palm hand contact.

Greetings provide an invaluable bonding mechanism that helps us feel safe and lets us bring down the “stranger barrier,” create the first impression, connect and reduce conflict. In my research on handshakes and greeting rituals, I have learned how important it is to do some sort of ritual, including ones that you can do several feet away. 

Start the Greeting Earlier, at about 8 to 6 feet out.

When preparing to shake hands, you typically make extended eye contact, smile, and put out your hand when you are four feet apart. For the new ritual, start greeting early and look and smile at six to eight feet. You then create a signal you will not shake hands.  You need to plan and act ahead of the four feet, before the other person puts their hand out and change the natural progression graciously so you can still build that rapport and not just freeze in place. 

Now let’s start with least contact options and then move to other low contact options.

Slight bow - You simply place your arms at your sides, lean towards then give a slight mini bow -This shows you are NOT offering your hand but, you come in peace. It still allows you to acknowledge the person as special, that you honor them and your interaction to follow. You can also cross make this more heart-centered by actually placing your hand crossed over your heart as you bow. 

Salute and Wave combo. This one you can do even 10 feet out or closer.  Place your hand palm down near your forehead. As you make eye contact with the person and before you get too close, keep your hand at head level, flash your palm outward to show you come in friendship. You can do this from anywhere from 8 to 3 feet out. Military members raise their right hand so that their fingers touch their forehead in a salute. Typically, we salute someone to publicly show or state our admiration for them. You may not know that it also means to convey a message of good health and goodwill to the recipient.  The word itself, Salutem, in Latin means health, safety, greeting and survival.

The NAMESTÉ - The namaste is a slight bow with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. Originally a Hindu greeting and used in the 2000’s by celebrities who didn’t want to shake hands with fans in red carpet greeting. Tn Hindi you say the word namaste. You don’t have to but it’s a beautiful greeting. The actual ritual is called “Añjali Mudrā;” In Hindi, it means "I bow to the divine in you".

THE PEACE SIGN or Victory V - I wanted to offer another option for you that signals a greeting that could catch on as we battle whatever this cold/flu/virus gives us and come out in peace and victory. The idea for this started with my friend Carl who is a biker. He is smart and cool, and he greets fellow bikers on the road with a peace sign. Yes, the peace sign! The hippy greeting: right hand up, palm facing out with two fingers spread in a slight “V” greeting. The various versions of the peace symbol given by bikers shows other bikers they have something in common. Bikers will slightly raise their fingers off the handlebars in the peace “V” to greet fellow bikers.  

During World War II, A Belgian, suggested during a BBC broadcast that his countrymen use the letter V as a rallying sign. The “V” is the first letter of victoire (victory) in French and vrijheid (freedom) in Dutch. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill popularized the sign as victory. If you show the peace symbol it shows others your own beliefs and desires and asking in return, "Are you part of my tribe? Will you interact with me in harmony?”

The Graceful Dodge

If you see the potential handshake that goes to shake hands you can merely stop in place and smile and offer one of the options below this but if they continue to try to shake hands.  

Break eye contact

1.     Step forward on your left foot. (Your right foot is your “handshaking foot” – the foot that normally moves first for a handshake so with the change you are sending a signal to the approaching person’s limbic brain that you are changing the ritual.) This is a new habit that you can start immediately for the germ season and you can include left foot forward on all the options.

2.     Present only the left side of your body, which effectively closes off your body windows and again stops the handshake.
Pre Corona Virus you would touch then on their left forearm but we need to avoid that contact for now. 

Whatever way you choose to greet, I want you to remember to think of the sacredness of each person. We are in this together spinning on our little blue planet. 

For now, I would not recommend any contact even to clothing but, here are the ones those with contact. 

THE ELBOW TAP- With this greeting you still get contact. And it's fun. 

THE DAP or Fist Bump - This is a touch option so you may need to hold off on it but, I just love what it means! The “dap” – two fists bumped together, knuckle to knuckle, originated in the battlefields of the Vietnam War. My friend John was a marine in the Vietnam War We created the Fist Bump so that if the other guy knew the “secret greeting ritual,” it helped them identify friend from foe.  A fist says, “I have power and I am willing and able to fight.” Each fist moving toward the other symbolizes a sense of determination and power. When n two or more people high raised arm bumps its a symbol of unity, a feeling of “we will win this together “

This content is modified from my book SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma. 

(If you decide to go ahead with shaking hands, you have an after option. Shake hands and discreetly slip away to wash your hands or have Purell in your pocket or purse. Infectious viruses clinging to a tissue can last for about 15 minutes, but viruses on the hands between their PH and the porous nature tend to fade quickly. Most will be only a minimal threat 30 seconds to ten minutes. We think of hands as being the germiest thing, but according to research, hard surfaces, like metal and your phone are much worse. We check our phones 58 times a day and touch our phone as we interact with it a whopping 2,600 times a day.)

https://blog.rescuetime.com/screen-time-stats-2018/?fbclid=IwAR1ivb_G-PMbBlPqE5MnOL7v79eJA5gVW6e2FWvLPCx-3zMegKU2P4YjCvw

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2018/apr/how-often-use-phone-every-day.html?fbclid=IwAR156zpG0I7CkpvP0aC3JBQv1katgkltEpnk_sZWrjQ2RqPaItpJ7hpnDZo






Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.