Working together on Zoom

 Since the arrival of Covid-19, I have been working entirely on Zoom. Having worked with international clients for many years, I have lots of experience and feel confident. I know not everyone feels the same, so I’d like to share a few ideas about why and how this works so well:

•  I like to think of you sitting in your room or space, and me sitting in mine. There’s nothing virtual about our presence on either side of the camera, we are both tangible beings in real time;
• Your familiar and private space at home is likely to feel very comfortable;
• We are already used to connecting – either in person or over the phone – so we are both able to transfer our ability to communicate and connect through the lens of a camera;
• We can continue to experiment with sometimes sitting and sometimes standing, as well as moving around. Being hands-free is a big advantage, and I will wear a headset for our calls;
• There is a temptation to have rules like “I must sit still” or “I must maintain eye contact” and instead I propose we act as if we were knee to knee, which naturally includes looking away, shuffling to get comfortable and generally keeping ourselves comfortable;
• Big advantage to your schedule – no more travelling to the office for our appointments (although I do suggest you take that time to prepare and process either side of our meeting);
• Zoom is easy to use – you may already be using it for business – and instructions for how to download can be found here;
• If Zoom is unfamiliar, after downloading I suggest you take some time to familiarise yourself with the microphone and camera controls ahead of time;
• If the technology fails, we will agree on our backup, for example by phone;
• Given the focus of our work is somatic, it’s also helpful to experiment with the best location for your camera. My colleague Rob Burgess (whom I highly recommend) has generously extended his own guidelines which I think you’ll find very helpful;
• Finally, for the fine print, please take a few minutes to review my Digital Policy.

If you are a new client and this has settled some of your concerns, please go ahead and contact me to set up our first contact.