Give permission to drop in and drop out without social cost.
technique — attributed to Natalie Jones Hallahan
At her virtual receptions, Hallahan tells guests they can put some social norms aside. Enter a conversation delicately. Leave one delicately. Drop in and drop out. Move from group to group. The permission is explicit because the social norm being suspended is also explicit, and without the announcement, guests apply the physical-event etiquette in which leaving a conversation feels rude. Once the new rule is named, the room operates differently. People circulate, conversations form and re-form, and the network density of the reception increases. The technique is small. The effect is structural.
For organizers of virtual and hybrid networking events. The permission has to be stated explicitly at the opening, not assumed.
permission, social-norms, virtual-networking, etiquette