In short, being adept with small talk is an important component of your arsenal of social skills. Grant Thomson, managing director of Versent. Even if your religion is important to you, you should try to avoid talking about it at work. Would you like to see your own or others enhance their leadership and management impact by using behaviours that work? In Silicon Valley, you are encouraged to be as visible as possible and to have a loud voice in your sector, especially as a woman where statistically we are not very good at self promotion. Although this mandatory fun might have felt a little awkward at first, the teams that didnt engage in such rituals struggled to adapt to the new normal and reported feeling less connected. Im going to try some of these tips. For those of you from the sub-continent, cricket is an excellent conversation topic. His participants completed a battery of questionnaires designed to measure happiness and well-being, and it turned out that higher levels of well-being were associated with less small talk and more substantive conversation. Small talk turns out to be a big deal! Without real intimacy, relationships wither. Weight and Physical Appearance Published on July 8, 2019 7 Inappropriate Conversation Topics in the Workplace Claudia Reiners In this post Show In the Anglo-Australian context, individuals are more loosely connected and interact on a basis of equality than the Chinese. However, I also noticed that it didn't come at the cost of hours put in at work. They place value on their personal wellness in the workplace including the relationships they have with the people around them. Once your coworker mentions that they have children, then you can ask some questions about the family. Australians value their work-life balance. Australia is shockingly expensive. While it feels good to get something off your chest, be aware of who's in the room (or the Zoom) when you're doing so. Don't worry, the job will get done. Your blog will be part of their required reading. It's been nearly 20 years since I, a Pom, arrived in Australia from London (via two years in Hong Kong), to take over a the local office of New York-based ad agency. As you probably noticed, many of the previous questions were really focused on specific challenges or problems, but this question is a little more open-ended. Even in the winter all these pubs are full of people out on the pavement having after-work drinks. Once you start to get to know people better, you dont have as much need for small talk. In this way, the powerful but subtle skills of small talk can be widely shared to benefit every hybrid team. Even when meeting participants are present and ready to go, they may not actually unmute or turn on their video function until the meeting is formally started by whoever is in the chair. What I am no longer surprised by, but constantly reminded of, is the limitless capacity for innovation. Good day! This will help quieter colleagues or those from diverse backgrounds to feel included. Bane Hunter, executive director of GetSwift, Seven out of ten Australians think English is crucial to national identityDavid Freund. Hello, Im studying applied linguistic and in this carees sometimes talk about how is the language in differents places, so in this moment we are talking about the workplace and I feel that this information help me to undertand more the antology that I read. Small talk is extremely important but its also socially and culturally complex. This may help you learn more about what they do. Cookie Policy |Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy. (Supplied: Suvi Selenge) Life's wish. That is when they arent doing road work (laughing). Partners help each other grow by merging identities and taking on each other's qualities. A managing director of the Australian arm of a global firm. Is Your Relationship Making You a Better Person? And how many times a week do you begin with "I love this weather, what do you think?" Irony and sarcasm are common in Australia, which can occasionally offend someone who is not familiar with this aspect of the culture. Not necessarily a bad thing, just visibly different. Bradley Delamare, CEO of Tank Stream Labs. For this reason, the hybrid workplace benefits from shared interaction scripts that capture typical small talk sequences. Before Covid, you probably chatted casually with your colleagues for a few minutes as you all arrived in a meeting room and settled down for a team catch up. There's also much less hierarchy in workplaces here, compared with Asia for example. This data helps us to gauge the effectiveness of our communications and marketing campaigns. What surprised me initially was that Australia's reputation for hitting the beach, beer and barbecue with the thinnest excuse proved to be true. Learn more and adjust your preferences in Cookie Settings. In both cases, people are signaling a desire to establish a mutually comfortable level of involvement in the conversation. I certainly see a significant difference in how "hard" people are willing to work to achieve productivity gains. For example: "Beautiful day, isn't it?" "Lovely. This question is great when making small talk, because it enables you to talk about something that youre engaged in right now. Its been well established by researchers such as Amy Edmondson that this is a critical driver that helps virtual (and hybrid workplace) team dynamics, innovation and high performance. Research reveals why social mobs enjoy cancelling people. Rena Phuah, Advertising product specialist at Allure Media. Frank: My God, Cheryl! Being friendly and showing interest in your coworkers can really help you in your career. Maybe it's because everyone in Sydney loves coffee so much, but I have managed to get in front of some really senior people just for a coffee. Use these 85 strategies and reflection questions to clarify your next steps. Teens Who Dont Date: Socially Behind or Socially Skilled? It is critical for the success of todays hybrid workplace that everyone acquires the sociolinguistic skills that underpin trust, well-being, good relations and productivity. Your perspective was really helpful. Invite each person to take a minute or so to share just a little about whats been happening in their lives professionally and personally. We definitely behave and speak differently around colleagues context is key to communicating well. . Next, lets talk about responding to questions about work. In the UK, the working culture is more about getting the work done, heading home and living separate lives to your colleagues. It's about being able to be your real, authentic self at work. What a great way to approach work and life! Jessica Arrowsmith, beauty editor of Popsugar Australia. We're lucky enough to have a culture that encourages early adoption, so why don't we see more risk being taken? So how can you prepare for ice-breakers when the best thing to do is to pick up on the thread? Trust is built and then maintained. Its hard enough for any newcomer to the workplace, but when youre operating outside your first culture, it can be even more stressful. Thanks for sharing your experience. However, its still related to work. The guests were required to police their conversations by sounding the alarm and changing direction if they perceived that the conversation was drifting in the direction of small talk. Thanks for telling me about your new project. Jocular banter can be misinterpreted. As an expat, I see that the culture here is for Australians to work very hard and take their jobs and careers very seriously. The trick is to be skillful in the use of both types of talk in your social interactions. Make Small Talk an intentional item on your agenda at the start or end of a meeting. In British work culture it's considered perfectly okay to invest in high-end clothing and to wear designer items - in fact, it's often encouraged as it shows status and affluence. Discover Why and What It Requires. Thank you so much for sharing. Any exciting new projects/clients on the horizon? This is a small but meaningful gesture in a world that's wholly connected over a digital network. Traffic or the daily commute, especially in major cities, Recent viral YouTube videos making the rounds, Local sporting events, especially if the team is having a good season, Major television or entertainment events, like the Super Bowl, the Oscars and the Grammys, but only if theyve happened recently, Popular TV programs, Netflix, and Amazon series, Local tourist attractions, especially if youre new to the area, Weekend plans, if its Thursday or Friday, Upcoming holiday plans, especially if a long weekend or a major holiday is approaching, Upcoming vacation plans, if its a high travel season like the summer or school vacations, Recent weekend trips or vacations, if you know theyve come back from one, Compliments on a new hairstyle, especially if it was a major change, Compliments on an article of clothing or an accessory, Questions about where to buy specialty items that you know your coworker is interested in, such as gourmet food, cool shoes or jewelry, Food, especially if youre at a meeting where food is provided or its breakfast or lunchtime. There is an app you can download, that records all the conversations. Moreover , this try to ease of things before talking about serious topics . After a colleague volunteers information about their family, this is usually an indication that it is a safe topic and one they probably like talking about. Another topic to avoid is health. Stick to the script. The small personal disclosures that characterise social chitchat among co-workers show goodwill towards each other. Dont mention orthodontists. We should all have techniques to break the ice, so everyone can feel relaxed and be themselves. Small talk refers to an informal, polite conversation that often focuses on unimportant or trivial topics. And then there is no "set lunch break". I've known lots of expats who've transferred with their company and realised they totally underestimated the cost of living, especially if they planned to stay long term and buy a home. We use cookies to make our website easier to use and to make the content you see more relevant to your needs. It's part of Australia's DNA and I see it reflected in our own business agile, diverse, innovative with speed to market as a key point of difference here and internationally. Before Covid-19 and social distancing, small talk was a daily workplace ritual for most of us. You could eat lunch together once a week, as an example. Analytics cookies:these cookies are used to track the use and performance of our website, email communications, and services, as indicated above. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. Employees can also ask themselves, Have I been feeling more or less connected today? Whom can I reach out to if I need support? and What relationships are the most important to me? Meanwhile, simple strategies like regular brief check-ins can do a lot to alleviate employees feelings of loneliness. When you ask these questions, pay attention to your intonation. Sport and television are usually fairly safe topics of conversation. Re-create casual collisions. Some organizations have found creative ways to orchestrate informal virtual interactions among employees. Learning what is appropriate to say in certain situations will come with time, but you need to work at it and challenge yourself by stepping out of your social comfort zone. The party turned out to be a rousing success, and those in attendance confirmed that it was one of the most interesting and stimulating social events that they had ever attended. I'm Malaysian and used to work in Malaysia. Religion is a very personal belief for many people, and its considered to be part of your private life. Im sorry to hear that youre concerned about offending someone. If someone asks you about your day, try to focus on being positive and productive: These types of responses give you and your coworkers something in common to talk about, especially if you work on similar projects. Even though youre in the office, you may not feel like talking about work while youre on your break or just interacting in this brief, casual conversation. If this sounds like you, then you have an aversion to small talk. You dont want to ask someone who hates sports if they saw last nights game, or someone who doesnt own a TV if they watched the latest episode of this years hot show. She does not need her job but our employer needs her. Partying 4. Australians have a unique set of business etiquette rules in comparison with other business cultures. HBR Learnings online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Writing Skills. Some even arrive at meetings exactly at the start time to avoid having to chitchat. In London it's a free-for-all and loads of buses are so busy they don't even stop. Gemma Labadini, business development director at Allure Media. If thats the case, dont forget to say, Nice talking to you! or See you later.. It starts with understanding what's appropriate during small talk. On Day 1, I personally encountered the following interesting twists on both the English language and indeed the normal office lexicon .. Doco -> Document, Preso -> PowerPoint presentation and the classic Spready > Excel Spreadsheet! Ms Selenge lived in a traditional Mongolian ger. For example, studies indicate that people are happier when they talk to others, even if it is just strangers on a subway, and even if it is just small talk. Sure! Sometimes I'm still surprised that we can speak the same language, and yet I've had conversations that have gone on for a few minutes before we've actually been able to communicate anything. It starts with G'day (hello, but said fast). These minimum standards of employment include hours of work, flexible working arrangements and leave and related entitlements, amongst others. It isnt gossip. www.executivecoachny.com/small-talk-workplace/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.0.0 Safari/537.36. UGM research and that of others such as Jessica Methot and her colleagues shows that, despite these interactions being fairly superficial and short, small talk is nevertheless meaningful and carries a range of important benefits. Remember, its veryimportant to practice small talk small talkis a skill, and all speaking skills take practice! You should also avoid talking about religion. Now, such a conversation would only take place between people who are close and probably good friends. That place where people share a joke, a coffee, lunch, Friday arvo drinks and really connect with each other. Try these thoughtful questions to check-in during a crisis.). The positive effect of these small regular exchanges builds working trust and good relations. They were engaged in 2012 and Ms Selenge came to Australia two years later, along with her daughter and son . I hope that your students find these resources helpful theyre really designed for people living in the US who are doing the best they can to succeed here! Most taxi drivers love to have a chat so it's the perfect opportunity to practise your conversation skills in small talk. Frank walks into the staffroom as Cheryl takes a biscuit from the table and eats it. Its normal to avoid the topic. This allows Australians to achieve a level of surface friendliness across different relationships. These small, unstructured social conversations foster cohesion, job satisfaction and productivity. Jokes at anyone's expense 7. Stereotypically, Americans are more tolerant of small talk than people from other places and expect to encounter it in social situations. Published December 9, 2021 in Teamwork Dominic Price Work Futurist 5-second summary Feeling connected to your colleagues isn't about high-fives at the office. Also, be sensitive to the nature of the conversation. There are also consistent gender differences in how small talk plays out. We might be laid back, but being. Managers should also steer teams away from potentially controversial topics like religion, politics, and romantic relationships. (Check out my video on Hows your day been? and all its variations for more ideas on what to ask and how to respond. People often underestimate how much others like them after a first meeting. Heres what I did.. Some people hate small talk because they perceive it as a waste of time and as an impediment to a meaningful conversation; others may hate it simply because they are not good at it. Sharing a few small (often fairly superficial) items of personal history and current circumstances helps the team to bond. In the UK we had a blanket, industry-wide lunch break of 1-2pm. I like it. Despite the "give it a go" image, I'm always surprised that we tend to reward safe-playing mediocrity when we should be hugely more optimistic and competitive as a nation. Our American friends found concepts such as workplace profanity, four weeks' annual leave, regular intra-office romantic liaisons and an open bar on Friday afternoons anathema to their own experiences. I have to say overall there's much more of a "get shit done in work hours" type attitude here than elsewhere. Ice-breakers at the interview are even more difficult because most often it is the first time youve met the interviewers. I want to remind you to be careful when discussing work. A little bit of knowledge can be helpful as long as you dont pretend to be an expert when youre not. They grow your network, provide you with information, and make uncomfortable situations more bearable. I was very impressed with the way Australian businesses work with and for Asian companies. I arrived here as an expat 20 years ago originally on a working visa with Ernst & Young.