Less content, more connection.

There’s a lot happening online right now.

Social media use has hit record levels in the last few weeks. Whatsapp use has shot up 40% globally – over 70% in Spain. Video calling has more than doubled. LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook users are posting more, and people are watching more.

This increase in connection is unprecedented, and incredible. We’re joining group chats, games nights and remote meetings with open hearts, tossing our principles about screen-time out the window, and it’s brilliant.

Not all online interaction counts as connection, though. There’s a lot of noise out there, as we scramble to sense-make. Advice. Blogs. Videos. Photos. Screenshots of remote meetings. Helpful tips to make it through lockdown.

I don’t know about you, but it seems to depend what mood I’m in when I scroll, how it lands. Some posts really hit the spot. Others feel hollow, or add to my overwhelm.

A great friend Lisa O’Neill recently said something recently that stuck – “What we need is less content, but more connection.” Bang on, right?

Nothing we do or say is ever going to reach everyone the same, now more than ever. Online presence aside, how do we connect with our teams and clients, who are all in different places? It’s hard to get right. Even talking about it is adding to the noise. Meta, eh?

In this week’s “new normal” webinar, we talked about this environment we’re all trying to make sense of. The space and mandate to transform, as traditional business-as-usual collapses. It was a fantastic chat - but honestly, it wasn’t the best webinar I’ve run.

The content/ connection ratio was off – I did too much talking, and not enough listening and opening the floor to sharing. Oops. Our team debrief immediately afterward was clear – we need to be mindful of that ratio, in everything that we do. Fewer posts, more phone calls. Less talking, more listening. Less ‘help’…. and more help.