Some of us can be a bit too task-oriented in a world where a lot of people focus on maintaining relationships.
If you’re one of the task-focused people, put it on your to-do list to say good morning to every person, every morning. You’ll be surprised how relationship-oriented people will brighten when you acknowledge and engage with them. It may take some time, but it’s worth it.
If you’re more of a maintenance person, you probably already do this, but if you don’t, try it.
It takes so little effort and it makes people feel you care about them. Even if you don’t, it’s good politics because people make meaning from how you engage with them.
As an example, one of my clients was shocked when she found out that her team deduced that she was unhappy with them based on the route she took to walk to the toilet.
Perhaps they detected some unconscious behaviour on her part. Maybe it was about the kind of shoes she was wearing. People will read positive or negatives into what you do. You may as well take control of that by doing something as simple as saying good morning.
