He looked as if he were about to explode!

As I stood at the front of the conference room doing my spiel on the Analytics Patient Data Workshop, I noticed one person fidgeting a bit. His leg was crossed over the other and his foot was rapidly moving up and down as if keeping the beat to a frenzied song in his head. I kept talking through my slides, fielding questions along the way. Eventually he crossed his arms over his chest. We all know what that means, right? Not good. Then someone asked the question, “Can you secure individual fields on a patient record so that some users can see them and others cannot?” I knew my stuff and said, “Not at this time. Although it is technically possible, it would impact performance so we chose not to do it.”

The foot really got going and was now accompanied by huffing. He looked as if he were about to explode! And then it happened. He slammed his fist on the table and blurted, “I am sick and tired of sales people lying to me!” Oh, boy. Houston, we have a problem!

Looking around the room I could see the very embarrassed faces of his colleagues who were surely wondering what I was going to do next. By the amount of eyerolling I witnessed, I got the feeling that this guy had a bit of a reputation for having a short fuse.

As I stood there in shock, I rapidly processed what had just happened.

1. I didn’t take it personally which kept me from reacting defensively (sort of).
2. I knew that he firmly believed that he had been lied to – I acknowledged his feelings.
3. It was not possible for me to change his mind with what I knew at the time.
4. I needed to buy some time.

I assumed the power pose . . .

and said, “Rich, I am not sure what happened, but I will find out. I think this is a good time to take a break. While I’m on the break, I will make some phone calls and see what I can find out. When we resume the meeting, I probably won’t have an answer, but at least the wheels will be in motion.”

As project managers, body language is so important – whether observing your audience or paying attention to your own movements and posture. While you are watching them, they are watching you! Here are some tips on things that are within your control to improve your own body language:

1. Be Self-Aware. The first step to body language improvement is awareness.
2. Study Others. Look at other people — especially people you admire.
3. Mirror the Other Person.
4. Be Aware of How You Cross Your Arms and Legs. …
5. Make Eye Contact.
6. Relax Your Shoulders.
7. Don’t Slouch.
8. Face Your Conversation Partner.
9. Lean in.
10. Mind your Fidgeting.
11. Know where your hands are.
12. Relax.

I am kind of kidding about the power pose, but the rest of this is true. I don’t recall how I looked when I addressed Rich. It was many years ago. I just wanted an excuse to include Wonder Woman in my blog.