The name tag is still useful. It's a quick visual cue that makes it easier to get to know people and to build your networks. Unfortunately, it presents a number of small problems: It's often hard to see. The font is too small. The name may be the formal one, or misspelled. It can be awkward to try to decipher, especially if you have to put on your reading glasses. 

The post-pandemic "name tag" is the name you put on your Zoom screen. People often put their first and last names, along with an abbreviated title or organization. When you have a roomful of people and you want to remember their names, here's a tip:

Take a screenshot of the gallery view of your meeting. 

Sometimes to get the names to appear you have to move your cursor, but once they do you have a ready-made photo gallery that you can use for later review, follow-up googling, or for connecting others on LinkedIn. 

...and then, of course, there are still in-person meetings, with in-person nametags. You can still practice the old tricks: look boldly at the nametag, make a comment, ask a question. Repeat the person's name. Use your own name tag as a teaching tool. 

Many of us got lazy during the pandemic. All of the tools we used to employ in an in-person gathering went by the wayside. In Zoom meetings we learned that we didn't really need to interact in the same way. We didn't have to learn people's names. The trouble is, follow-up then became less frequent. 

Marissa King and Balázs Kovács wrote in the Harvard Business Review that our professional and personal networks (shrank) by close to 16%, or by more than 200 people, during the pandemic. We encountered a phenomenon called "turtling up," or withdrawing into our shells. 

Now that we're more or less back in business, it's time to stick our necks out again, to spend the energy and time to learn names and build relationships. It can all (re)-start with a simple screenshot.