As Swiss businesses return to in-person meetings, can we also go back to our old greeting habits? Here are some tips for navigating today's business world.

The pre-pandemic handshake was a sure thing. It was the ice-breaker in every new encounter, a leveler between hierarchies and one of the human interactions most missed during the pandemic.

In Switzerland the handshake has a huge cultural significance. It is a pillar in daily social interaction as well as being legally binding. Up until the pandemic pre-school children would line up outside the classroom to shake the teacher’s hand as they entered.

With hands joined, business deals were sealed.

Then came corona and we had to train ourselves to resist the urge to stick out our hand every time we met someone new. Where not initiating the handshake would have been seen as a cultural faux-pas previously, to do so suddenly became a threat to our vis-à-vis. 

Kiss right, left, right

Fast forward to Zurich’s Paradeplatz today, it almost seems as though the handshake never disappeared. But are we basking ourselves in a false sense of security every time we reach out to grab someone’s hand?

How do we know who feels comfortable going back to the old fashioned handshake, and what about cheek kissing? Is that back too?

Useful Strategies

Not knowing how to act makes us feel extremely awkward. Citing etiquette experts, «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) offers some strategic approaches, which might help us in our daily interactions.

1. The art of negotiating or the «are we, aren’t we?» question

«It’s good to see you, are we shaking hands?» is a good way to navigate the uncertainty, the paper says. 

When to use:

  • At the beginning of every face-to-face meeting

2. Avoiding offense or the «it’s-not-you-it’s-me» method

Say you are concerned that you may be the contaminator to avoid making the other person feel rejected, it adds. 

When to use:

  • When a colleague is standing too close
  • When there are too many people gathered in one room
  • When you are asking someone to put on a mask

3. Showing empathy by admitting that you feel awkward

Admitting one’s own awkwardness at socializing might also go a long way. It could become the new icebreaker.

When to use:

  • Whenever