So, what’s your “ZQ?”
That is, of course, your Zoom (or swap that out for Skype or Microsoft Teams) Quotient. Could that be a qualifying screener question now in the 2020s when applying for that corporate job?
The year 2020 saw some people thrive as our world went virtual overnight, while many students, teachers, salespeople, knowledge based professionals, and even some corporate executives spun out from the sudden shift.
With all the new expectations associated with moving our skillsets onto a virtual platform and, eek, having to constantly be on camera, anxiety was definitely on the menu. Suddenly, a whole new subset of communications skills were required, and if you couldn’t rise to the occasion you may have been left feeling like virtual roadkill.
As we move towards Q4 of 2021, it’s plain to see that the seismic shifts we have all witnessed with our economy, work habits, communication norms, and overall preferences, are not likely to return to pre-COVID normal any time soon… if ever. This begs the question: if you are one of the people who did not take to virtual, on camera communication like a duck to water, can your aversion or lack of virtual skills negatively impact your career and your ability to climb the career, sales or corporate ladder?
It’s an interesting debate topic, especially since a recent McKinsey study found that ¾ of people who work in business to business sales and acquisitions still prefer virtual sales calls to pressing the flesh anytime soon.
Virtual meetings and on-camera communications expert Karin M. Reed and Dr. Joseph A. Allen, who researches the science of good meetings, are co-authors of the book, Suddenly Virtual: Making Remote Meetings Work. The book lays out the importance of mastering these virtual, on-camera skills, and gives the detailed Do’s and Don’ts of how to interview, conference, meet up or present on camera. The book also goes into detail about how to navigate hybrid meetings, which have picked up quite a bit of steam over the last eighteen months. The book’s advice is backed by science, as well as anecdotal research, and serves as a bible and lifeline for anyone who’s livelihood is currently tied to looking, feeling, and presenting their knowledge and creativity well, virtually.
About the Authors of Suddenly Virtual:
Karin Reed is an Emmy Award winning former NBC news anchorwoman who transitioned into coaching C-Suite level executives in the art of communicating on camera over the last decade and a half. Suddenly Virtual is her second book published by Wiley & Sons Publishing.
Joe Allen, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Utah, and the world’s leading scientific expert on workplace meetings and organizational community engagement, with more than 100 published articles in academic journals. Joe Allen is also Director for The Center for Meeting Effectiveness. Suddenly Virtual is his first book.
