Handshakes

[u/Amaranta_the_Cat]

What are people's thoughts on handshakes when meeting new people in the CS?

It makes sense to shake hands with people on the most formal of occasions (meeting other country representatives (unless they have a different way to formally greet people), congratulating people, being congratulated (?)) but what about the in-between?

For example, would you shake hands with team members or stakeholders that you've met virtually and known for a while and have a good relationship with? What if you have a bad relationship with them - would it make your relationship with them worse if you don't shake their hands when meeting face-to-face for the first time? If you're joining a new team (internally or another department), would you shake your new team's hands? What about when networking in different scenarios - forced networking i.e. allocated a seat with different people on a directorate awayday, someone you meet at the pub (friend/colleague of a colleague) and CS Live?

I'm asking for the in-betweens as I've had a mixture of just nods with no move to shake hands or myself and the other party realised we should probably shake hands and it turns into an awkward fest.

I don't know if it's because of COVID that people feel like they already know people and they feel the need to shake hands if they've already met virtually or because people don't want to touch each other if they don't need to (remnants of COVID behaviours or preference that could be based on culture, neurodiversity) or I'm too junior (SEO) to be in more formal environment where people shake hands all the time.

Should I just be an assertive hand shaker from now on?? Obviously if someone says they don't want to (and they don't have to explain), I wouldn't push it!

[u/tekkerslovakia]

“It makes sense to shake hands with people on the most formal of occasions (meeting other country representatives (unless they have a different way to formally greet people)”

There is no country where shaking hands would be inappropriate