Network Magazine Summer 2020 | Page 60

THE QUICK READ
• When it comes to making a good first impression , the cleanliness of a facility , adherence to social distancing , and personal hygiene will now be the first things that many people notice
• OHS training and implementation is based on the probability of a hazard posing a risk and the processes of mitigating that risk – so even if COVID precautions can seem over the top , adhering to them is best practice for you and the facility
• If you tend to use touch in your greetings , in the form of high fives or a hand on the shoulder , you ’ ll need to put those on pause
• Stand a little further inside the room when you greet and farewell participants , and let your body language and verbal communication do the work
• Some fun remarks throughout the class can go a long way to building rapport
• Some participants may feel selfconscious about weight they have gained during their time away from classes , so be considerate in the language you use .
Clean first impressions
In the months since the pandemic was declared , most of us have become accustomed to a normal that is very different to that pre-COVID . Personally , I have become accustomed to seeing and using hand-sanitiser when I enter a shop , business or waiting room . I ’ ve become completely accustomed to avoiding touching high-touch surfaces any more than I need to , and my perception of what is too small an amount to put on card has reduced significantly as more businesses encourage us to tap and go with contactless payments .
In the Winter 2018 edition of Network magazine I wrote this article on rapport building and referred to the way that we welcome our patrons to our classes . While this is still important , in the world of a pandemic that isn ’ t the first thing that people notice . Instead , it is now preceded by some other things that we , as instructors , may contribute to but are unlikely to have the final say on , namely the cleanliness of a facility , adherence to social distancing , and personal hygiene . These will be the first things that many people now notice .
Taking these issues seriously and getting them correct is , therefore , of paramount importance . Even if you don ’ t believe in the threat of COVID-19 and regard it as a ‘ bad cold ’, keep in mind that some of our patrons could be immune-compromised to the point where even a ‘ bad cold ’ could be fatal . Thus , writing off a disease over which a pandemic has been declared as being of little consequence could be taken as viewing the lives of those patrons as expendable . I will let you decide if that is likely to keep people returning to your classes or centre .
Connecting from a distance
We all build rapport in many different ways , but it seems likely that certain methods of connecting with our participants and members will have to be put on pause for the foreseeable future . If you tend to use touch in your greetings , in the form of high fives or a hand on the shoulder , for example , you ’ ll need to rethink , as this is an obvious casualty of the pandemic .
If , like myself , you like to stand at the door of your room at the beginning and end of the class to greet and bid goodbye to your participants , you may also need to consider whether this will be adhering to social distancing requirements .
While these precautions may seem completely out of countenance for some , it is important to remember the reasons for them . Consider the impact if you had unknowingly been exposed to the virus , you gave someone a high five and then a couple of days later you developed symptoms and tested positive . Suppose that after the high five the patron touched their face , caught the virus and then ended up in hospital on a ventilator or , worse , the disease proved fatal . Consider the practical and reputative implications for yourself , the facility and the industry – not to mention the emotional toll such a chain of events would have on you .
While it may be tempting to downplay the likelihood of such a thing happening , we need to consider that all OHS training and implementation is based on the probability of a hazard posing a risk and the processes of mitigating that risk . While COVID is a new risk to work with , the principles of mitigation are the same .
60 | NETWORK SUMMER 2020