Agghhh another day, another video call…or 2 or 3 or 4 or more. It’s exhausting! Employers are, at last, recognising this and calling for ‘Zoom-free Fridays’ to get back the breaks and balance we need. It’s time to tackle our zoom-fatigue and bring a bit of energy to virtual interactions.
This time last year we were probably involved in only a few online meetings across our working week AT MOST, reaching out to global colleagues and/or the minority that were working from home.
Everything has changed in the last 12 months. Our work relationships now pivot around the webcam. Most of us are still WFH full time and, I wager, we’ve ALL had enough of online meetings…You’re on mute.
So why do virtual interactions drain our energy? Here are 5 quick explanations worth knowing:
Sustained and intense attention to words and faces means our brain has to work a bit harder. Plus, we have to put in more emotional effort to appear interested and to engage!
Looking at multiple faces simultaneously overwhelms the brain with excessive stimuli. Then there’s all the background info – bookcases, interesting art, family members, pets – which increases our cognitive load
Seeing oneself can act as a stressor. We can overdo it as a little box on a screen, turning interaction into a series of performances!
Constant distraction: What if the kids run in? Was that the doorbell? What about my physical background? What does it say about me? What are they seeing? Am I glitching? How did I freeze?!
People often behave more aggressively in virtual interactions – a number of examples have gone viral in recent weeks. Without the physical in-person connection our brains get fewer signals to practice self-restraint, creating more room for impulsive behaviour or over-familiarity – known as the “online disinhibition effect”
So, how about we get creative and build some better routines to revive our virtual interactions:
Humans have a finite reserve of energy for making decisions and behaving well. Disrupt the negative cycle by taking a bio-break, eating, exercising before a virtual meeting, or by breaking up longer meetings into shorter ones.
Move! Stand up and stretch regularly throughout your day. Build in a change of scene, the simple act of relocating to a different room is energising - remember those conversations we used to have on the way to meetings? Try standing or walking meetings; moving improves our creativity.
Think about how many online meetings per day is too many. Ask yourself, which of today’s meeting can I take off camera?
Stop looking at yourself! Switch off your self view.
Make use of break out rooms - where tech permits - for smaller 1-1 interactions.
Encourage plain backgrounds to reduce distraction and the ‘visual noise’. Use virtual backgrounds to help with this.
Remember to engage in non-screen connections – how about an audio-only phone call?!
Re-create informal interactions and make time for non-work catch up on how everyone’s doing. Virtual meetings tend to get right down to business and skip the human factor but just five minutes of non-business-related conversation can set the team on a much more positive, productive course.
Reflect on your preferred working style and how that impacts on communication methods. Personality types, whether introverted, extroverted or somewhere else along the spectrum, all play out in the virtual working world too. What about others’ preferences? Consider these.
And then when you log off from work and jump on a Zoom with family or friends share with them some best practice on what you need and what you don’t need…