Keywords: Networking

When someone makes an overture, and you choose to reject that offer, you’re violating social norms, says Andy Molinsky, a professor at Brandeis and the author of Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process. “Transgressions of professional norms like these can feel awkward because your actions break the routine and script of how you tend to express warm greeting,” he says. Also, it’s a “micro-refusal,” which can be uncomfortable and risky. You may worry that you’re making a bad impression or sending an unfriendly message. This can be even more challenging in cultures where there is high-power distance and people are expected to defer to the higher status person as to how they prefer to greet. This may result in an awkward dance where you try to figure out what you both feel comfortable with — a fist bump? Touching elbows? Feet? Just a wave or a bow? — and who should follow whose lead.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-to-avoid-shaking-hands