How to help reduce fatigue when using Zoom or Teams
OK, for the last 18 months we have all been forced to slog through the day using video conferencing or meetings software such as Zoom or Teams and I for one find it exhausting.
However at the end of the day it looks as if this technology is here to stay, as the nature of work and meetings has now changed forever. Perhaps now is a good time to embrace what is possible.
Here is some advice and tips that I am now following to help enhance the experience:
Hide the “Self View”. This means you won’t be able to see yourself. It turns out that looking at ourselves in the mirror all day is exhausting. Also hiding your face from your screen means that you can focus more on the other meeting attendees.
Rearrange your workspace so that light is not coming from behind you or change your background using the app. This makes the meeting so much more comfortable for everyone.
Make eye contact. Talking to a screen, we often forget there is a human behind it. Thus we often don’t realise that we have been staring at their chin for the past hour instead of their eyes. In real life eye contact is natural but in today’s technological world we need to remind ourselves to look at the camera every so often. Doing so allows you to create a connection with the other person and get more out of your conversation.
I know of organisations where the internal culture is for everyone to turn off their cameras for all meetings. The result is that no direct contact is established and the participants can’t interpret the body language or expressions beyond the actual spoken word. This in my opinion is not a healthy situation long term. Human beings are a social species and failure to socialise in this way leads to diminished cooperation, which is bad for teamwork.
I am hearing of individuals working from home with the benefit of more freedom but the downside is a lonely, more insular working environment and the yearning for the interaction that has been lost as a result.
There are many tips for using the tech but here are three basic ideas that we can all consider. Just search “Tips Zoom or Teams” for the tech solutions.