You SHOULD wave at the end of video calls — here’s why
Anyone who says otherwise is wrong
Video calls are different from in-person meetings
Waving at the end of a video meeting mightfeelodd because no one waves at the end of in-person meetings. And sure: it would be weird to wave at a bunch of people you’re sharing a conference room table with.
But video calls aren’t like real-life meetings — at all. At the end of in-person meetings, you get to stand up at the same time as everyone else. You maybe walk away or stay for a bit and chat. What you don’t do is click a red button and suddenly disappear.
Video calls end suddenly. There’s nothing organic about it. Spending a few seconds waving and saying goodbye provides a sort-of-organic end and makes the whole thing feel more human. Internet linguist Gretchen McCullochput it well:
I couldn’t agree with this more. Humans aren’t machines — we’re social animals. We want to feel connected to each other, even in a work context. Suddenly hanging up feels inhuman (because it is). Waving and saying goodbye solves this problem.
Waving is corny, and corny is good
The other day, I stumbled uponthis charming op-ed, wherein author Alexander McCall Smith recalls being told by a well-meaning coworker that you’re not “supposed” to wave at the end of Zoom calls:
This made me sad. Here’s a person who’s happy to see other people during a very difficult year, and that happiness takes the form of a wave. And he’s told not to do this because it’s not cool — rude, even.
I mean, it’s true: waving at the end of a meeting isn’t cool. The cool thing to do is to just, like, mysteriously disappear, into the night, without ever acknowledging that you appreciate another human person.
Work is better if we all feel safe expressing appreciation for each other, and waving at the end of meetings is one small way to do that. It’s a little embarrassing,aggressively corny, and serves no purpose other than sincerely acknowledging the other people in the call. But that’s why it’s great.
I think our workplace is better because everyone waves. Yours would be too.
Story byJustin Pot
Justin Pot is a staff writer at Zapier who previously wrote for How-to Geek, Digital Trends, and TNW. He loves technology, people, and natur(show all)Justin Pot is a staff writer at Zapier who previously wrote for How-to Geek, Digital Trends, and TNW. He loves technology, people, and nature, not necessarily in that order. You can follow Justin:@jhpot. You don’t have to. But you can.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
