Read the room—and the Zoom.

Just because a global pandemic forced us all to log more hours in virtual meetings and engage in more Slack conversations doesn't mean we're good at them. We've all endured the uncertainty of knowing who should talk first when several of us start at once. Or logging in to a call with a full mosaic of faces but no one speaking. How do you allow folks to dissent or share a hard perspective? If someone appears confused, do you call them on it or message them privately? And if we found those scenarios challenging when we were all remote, how can we manage our teams and facilitate effective meetings when some of us are on-site and some are on-screen? How do we navigate a hybrid workforce? How do we build relationships and trust when some colleagues share a long history and others have never laid eyes on one another in real life?

This book explores how to develop, practice, and demonstrate your emotional intelligence and social skills in a virtual or hybrid setting. With the latest psychological research and practical advice from leading experts, you'll learn how to make everyone feel heard, draw everyone's voice into the conversation, and make real connections—whether your people are in a conference room or a breakout room.

How to be human at work. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

Heidi K. Gardner