Body Language Casual Corner Seating Arrangement
Cue: Casual Corner Seating Arrangement
Synonym(s): Kitty Corner, Right Angle Seating, Sitting At The Corner Of The Table, Across The Corner Of The Table.
Description: A seating arrangement where people sit at the corner of rectangular tables.
In One Sentence: The casual corner seating arrangement is defined by sitting across the corners of the table and is a way to maintain separation but also collaborate.
How To Use it: Use the casual corner seating arrangement when you want to provide a client with some privacy but also want to be relatively intimate. This is effective when working on a project that requires independent thought such as brainstorming new ideas or when going over fine details. Friends and family should also meet this way as it is creates a less confrontational feeling.
Context: Social, Business
Verbal Translation: “We sit close to one another in a casual way but still maintain our separation by having the corner of the table between us.”
Variant: The chairs can face forward toward the table reduce eye contact or at angles so as to face the other person directly which is more intimate. See other seating arrangements for variants such as Competitive Head-To-Head Seating Position Arrangement and Cooperative Side-By-Side Seating Arrangement.
Cue In Action: a) When meeting to discuss the acquisition of a new business, the partners sat at the corner of the table to share information and discuss the possibilities amicably. b) When interviewing for the new position, the boss decided to meet over the corner of the table to build comfort and rapport rather than interview in her office across her desk.
Meaning and/or Motivation: Sitting across the corner of the table preserves closeness, but also offers a partial barrier to maintain privacy. This seating position is unique because it allows for independent thought, but the proximity still permits intimacy through closeness rather than aggression and secrecy as with a head-to-head arrangement.
Cue Cluster: We usually see cooperative and engagement cues such as leaning in, business eye contact and head tilted at forty-five degrees to show interest and so forth.
Body Language Category: Barriers, Body pointing, Blading, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Rapport or rapport building, Seating arrangements.
Resources:
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