Covid killed the Tie

How many men still wear ties in online Zoom and Teams’ meetings? 

My guess is most of you do not, even if you did six months ago. That tie rack is gathering dust in the wardrobe.

I don't believe that this is a temporary shift, and rather it represents a significant cultural shift that was already underway prior to the pandemic. 

Apart from a few of the more traditional and dated professions, few men were wearing ties in normal meeting situations by 2020. Open neck collars with suits, or even jackets and chinos or polo shirts we're growing in popularity and acceptability in most business situations.

Personally, as an older man who has worn ties all my career, I somewhat miss the ability to express oneself in a choice of tie, particularly in being able to stand out from the ranks of boring striped and spotted ties that are de rigueur in the finance and other sectors.

Worse, ties are sometime a symbol of power, authority, experience or even ‘the club’ – not a great attribute in a business setting where equality and diversity should be paramount.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti that tie, but nonetheless, this greater informality is a positive part of a wider cultural shift. Less focus on ‘ticking the boxes’ in how you appear, or conforming to the stereotype, and more importance being placed perhaps on what you say and how you contribute.

In fact, I would go as far as to say the death of the tie could create improvement in productivity! Why? Because if we are focused on symbols of authority and traditional presentation values that are outdated in the modern world, then we can easily lose sight of the things that really matter. We seem to live in a world where everything is driven by marketing and hype over substance.

We need a business model at least that is focused on delivering results, human collaboration, problem solving, innovation and the rest.

You see this in CVs as well - how often do we wonder whether we've got the best person for the job, or just the person with the ‘gift of the gab’ and the most impressive CV ? And why is this? It's partly because we fear that we will be judged in our selection by external bodies and our peers, especially for top jobs in industry and in government.

Not all organisations are like this of course, and many have had a very different style. Start-up’s, the tech industry, and those organisations with a younger workforce who are focused on driving innovation are all examples.

So, if you are still wearing a tie, consider whether it would actually improve productivity if you at least loosened the top button of your shirt! In the post COVID world you will not be judged harshly for this and might even be seen as keeping pace with the times.