Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to recognize your colleagues as whole people
Speaker 1: and not just people who happened to do a job.
Speaker 1: During a recent episode of the Creative Confidence podcast, Suzanne
Speaker 1: Gives Howard and remote work experts Sasha Connor talked about
Speaker 1: leading teams that thrive in remote and hybrid contexts. Howard
Speaker 1: shared results from a survey about ways teams were promoting
Speaker 1: positive culture during remote work, among them, greet the dog.
Speaker 1: What this phrase means is that if someone's dog shows
Speaker 1: up on their zoom screen, it is okay. You can
Speaker 1: acknowledge that it happened. You can greet the dog rather
Speaker 1: than get annoyed at the doggy's presence. Furthermore, when you
Speaker 1: greet the dog, that implies that you know the dog.
Speaker 1: You know the dog exists because you've had a conversation
Speaker 1: with your colleague about his or her pets. You have
Speaker 1: learned the pets names, You remember them. Oh look it's Max.
Speaker 1: Hi Max. Is a much nicer way to have a
Speaker 1: video conversation than cheese. Can you make the dog stop barking.
Speaker 1: When you greet the dog, you recognize the colleague as
Speaker 1: a whole person. You recognize your colleague as someone who
Speaker 1: does a job, of course, but also someone who has
Speaker 1: and cares for a pet. This builds a lot more
Speaker 1: trust in connection and makes people far more content with
Speaker 1: their work. Now, obviously, this principle goes way beyond dogs.
Speaker 1: More broadly, it's about knowing and respecting our colleagues and
Speaker 1: acknowledging their experiences, in all their breadth and complexity. Whatever
Speaker 1: they choose to share about themselves, we honor, we greet
Speaker 1: the dog, We ask about the grandkids, We compliment the
Speaker 1: pretty flowers on the desk. Now, of course, you do
Speaker 1: want to respect people's privacy. Sometimes people choose not to
Speaker 1: share things, and that is their call. But if someone
Speaker 1: mentions a dog, then you can mention the dog. You
Speaker 1: don't need to create the impression that there are important
Speaker 1: parts of life that need to be hidden at work.
Speaker 1: You also don't need to pretend like we live in
Speaker 1: some strange alternate universe where no one has caregiving responsibilities.
Speaker 1: If your colleague has a sick kid home from daycare,
Speaker 1: you don't have to pretend that you don't hear the crying,
Speaker 1: you can acknowledge it. I'm so sorry, Sadie's not feeling well.
Speaker 1: Do to call me back later at a better time.
Speaker 1: Your colleague can choose if she wants to power through
Speaker 1: or deal with the issue, but either way, she will
Speaker 1: appreciate that you understand, and honestly, you will be able
Speaker 1: to have a much better call later if you can
Speaker 1: do it at a time that she chooses that works
Speaker 1: for her. This mindset also allows you to give grace
Speaker 1: to yourself. Long time listeners know that I have had
Speaker 1: a kid leap into the screen during a virtual speech
Speaker 1: I was giving. He escaped his babysitters clutches when she
Speaker 1: was dealing with the baby, and at first I tried
Speaker 1: to ignore him, but then he started banging on things,
Speaker 1: so best to bring him in for a quick cuddle
Speaker 1: and a wave, and sure enough he stole the show.
Speaker 1: Everyone was far more eager to wave and talk to
Speaker 1: him than me. Well why not, he's way cuter. The
Speaker 1: same is probably true for your colleagues offspring. Even if
Speaker 1: they are being mischievous, they bring a lighter side to
Speaker 1: our work days. If the last year and a half
Speaker 1: has taught us anything, it's that our colleagues our whole people,
Speaker 1: and we can work together better when we honor that
Speaker 1: instead of trying to hide it. So today aim to
Speaker 1: greet the real and metaphorical dogs in your colleagues lives.
Speaker 1: They will feel understood and accepted, and your team will
Speaker 1: work together better. In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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