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How can you build human connections from behind your laptop?
Our human connections are under pressure
Feeling connected with other people is a basic human need. It promotes our health and helps us work together towards common goals. Our feelings of human connection help us to function well in very diverse circumstances.
Unfortunately, our mutual ties are under great pressure, within society at large and within individual organizations. Employees who collaborate remotely or work in a hybrid office environment are particularly affected.
A lack of connection with colleagues is one of the biggest shortcomings of remote work according to employees in a large-scale study recently published by McKinsey. According to the Dutch survey “The state of hybrid working 2023”, 33% of employees find it more difficult to build relationships with remote colleagues compared to co-workers in the office.
Video calls apparently do not succeed in fostering the human connections we need. How is that possible? And what can we do about this without giving up the benefits of working remotely? A good understanding of the role of non-verbal communication in building productive working relationships can help us find a solution.
With our eyes we can achieve more
We chat, send emails, we call. But when the stakes are high, we want to see each other: in the office, or in a video call when a physical meeting is not practical.
Apparently, we often find exchanging mere words insufficient to achieve our goals. We also want to see and be seen. We feel a strong need to communicate with our face and with our eyes while we listen and talk.
With the help of our eyes we can achieve more. We need our eyes to build trust, to show empathy and understanding, to persuade, to trigger honesty, and much more.
The eyes are the windows to the soul
When we speak to each other in the office, we rely on the signals that we see and send with our eyes. Seeing each other helps us discover what others think, what they desire and feel. With the help of our eyes we also communicate our intentions, our opinions, and a wide range of emotions.
Our eyes constantly send signals that influence the perceptions, emotions and opinions of everyone we meet. This helps us to get things done in the office. When we look people straight in the eyes with our gaze, we are perceived as more credible, more sympathetic and more confident. These perceptions enhance our performance and foster collaboration.
Our eyes also allow us to detect subtle eye signals sent by others, such as changes in the size of their pupils and the direction of their gaze. These signals contain useful information that we interpret very quickly and to which we respond with the words we speak and the eye signals we send.
It is as if our eyes are receiving and sending information at the same time, actively helping us to achieve our goals. We are so much used to communicating with our eyes that it happens mostly unconsciously.
Our eyes even allow us to penetrate deep into the brains of the people we meet, building an emotional bond with them. Looking each other in the eye leads to synchronization of brain activity, which makes us feel connected. Our feelings of connection promote mutual trust and cooperation.
“The eyes evolved more than 500 million years ago for vision…
but are now essential for interpersonal insight.“
Our cameras obstruct us
The communication with our eyes that we need to really understand each other is not achieved in our video calls. On our screen we see our video contacts looking down. They never make eye contact with us. They seem constantly distracted.
When we seek to make eye contact and look at the eyes projected on our screen, we fail hopelessly. We appear to be looking down on the screen of our video contact, because our camera is usually placed above the computer screen. This makes us appear uninterested and not engaged. Our credibility suffers.
When instead we make the effort to look into the camera to send eye contact, we won’t be able to notice the reaction on the face of our video contact displayed on our computer screen. It is impossible for us to respond quickly to this visual feedback: eye communication is blocked.
It is therefore not surprising that our connections and trust are under pressure. We are increasingly forced to collaborate with colleagues and business partners who work at other locations without the support of eye communication. Our laptop cameras and webcams are failing us.
“the direction of someone’s eyes provides essential cues in social interaction“
Fauville et al, in Technology, mind, and behavior, 2022
A new communication device offers a solution
We need a video technology that empowers our eyes. We need a device that allows us to deliver our eye contact to the screen of our video contact when we look at the eyes displayed on our own screen. We can then support our calls with natural eye communication and build deeper working relationships from behind our laptop.
The products of eyeQ make this possible. By using eyeQ for your calls instead of your laptop camera or webcam, you are able to use the communication powers of your eyes. Your video contacts will experience a deeper connection with you during your calls.
When your video contact also uses eyeQ in the call, you are both able to deliver eye contact to each other. The meeting will then feel much more genuine. You will now regularly look into each other’s eyes, especially at the moments that matter. Video calling will almost feel like a meeting at the office. You will both feel fully connected now.
Want to know more? Get in contact with us or visit the home page to find more information.
