`how are you ?`

My boss asked me this question recently and it took me a few seconds or so to answer. For some reason, a bell rang in my head and I internally echo’d the question for myself. In all honesty, I had difficulty answering it.

This specific question got me thinking.

Have formalities and greetings become too rote and mundane to the point that it just became lip service?

Apart from the requisite – hi/hello, good morning/afternoon/evening and the how are you, are we even interested in actually knowing how the person at the other end of the line is doing? Are we prepared to go into that conversation when the other end actually starts sharing ?

The reverse would also be, are we prepared to be truthful when we do get to ask how we are doing? Or do we end up having a default response to the point that it all just goes down to the business of the intended conversation?

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly has forced us to re-evaluate how we do things given the shift in how we work, how we socialize, how we communicate. We lost access to nuances that gives us context clues when working and communicating with people. But then again, it also makes us go back to the basics. Basics like actually thinking about what we want to understand thereby asking the right questions for starters. But beyond that, to relearn the Art of Listening to Understand rather than to Respond.