1/23/2024 0 Comments Zoom fridays![]() ![]() When you are Zooming you don’t have to show up to the meeting (e.g., commuting), and you can often multi-task (considered rude if you are actually in the room). However, a better way to look at Zoom is as a tool to enhance productivity. NO: I, too, value and miss in-person meetings. ![]() Compartmentalizing times are also important considerations, realizing employment is not 24/7. They can be exhausting as one feels a need to appear interested, and in absence of many non-verbal cues, intently focus on words and sustain eye contact. Zoom meetings tend to increase cognitive load taking up considerable conscious memory capacity. Much like meeting in-person, online meetings can be efficient when appropriately organized and focused. YES: There are limits to usefulness and effectiveness of Zoom meetings. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research Balancing virtual versus live connections may be the most important post-pandemic challenge enterprises face. Physical meetings may be required to spark general creativity and brainstorming. Virtual meetings may be most useful to connect project collaborators quickly. At a minimum, staff meetings should be no longer or more frequent virtually than they were in live space. YES: Zoom and other virtual meeting spaces are running into diminishing returns and often damaging productivity by interrupting more valuable work. Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University All said, businesses should encourage Zoom-free time. Contributing factors being screen time, focus required and onscreen stimuli. Studies are showing burnout from overuse. The extended day-after-day use makes “Zoom fatigue” a real issue. Video calling has become the default for communication - now more than the phone call. YES: While some research indicates virtual meeting platforms like Zoom are part of a productivity dive, the tools proved critical in the wake of COVID-19. Reginald Jones, Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation Virtual meetings will prove to be an important addition to the corporate toolbox, but today, they are overused and create frustration and fatigue among employees who find that “real” work has to be done outside of traditional work hours. In most cases, employees need uninterrupted time to do meaningful work. YES: Businesses would be shocked if they calculated the wasted and ineffective time spent by employees, especially management, on virtual meetings. ![]() Eliminating unnecessary meetings, creating clear agendas so that meetings can be completed in less time, and inviting only those who need to attend are all actions that could yield productivity gains for an organization. With less time in meetings, employees will have larger blocks of uninterrupted time to focus on their projects. YES: Many organizations might find that they can raise productivity by spending less time in both Zoom and in-person meetings. This can help combat Zoom “burnout”, by allowing movement and less screen time while people listen or participate. Go back to using the telephone or turn off the cameras if you need to view presentations as a group. Employees have proven they can be productive remotely. We entered this new world overnight and management needed to visually see the workforce productive. It seemed like every meeting turned into a Zoom call when it worked perfectly fine as a conference call before. YES: Due to the pandemic, some companies may have overdone video conferencing. Again management needs to figure that out. Not everyone will have the same proportions of need for solo versus group time. Most work requires a combination of meeting and communication time and a time to focus alone. This question beckons the need for management to be cognizant of too many meetings with too many people involved, which used to happen with in-person meetings as well. NO: This is really not a decision one can make for all businesses. Zoom and Teams have been very effective at Scripps during the pandemic and we will continue using them avoid lost productivity resulting from driving to and from multiple locations for in-person meetings. But naming one day as a Zoom-free day as some companies have done is just gimmicky in my opinion. NO: I do believe companies should promote a healthy work-life balance, encourage staff to take time off to refresh, and establish programs that encourage health and wellness. Meetings should have a clearly specified start and end time and be limited to those whose participation is essential. I know I can easily lose focus if I’m not actively involved in an online meeting. But as with so many other promising innovations, if we don’t put limitations on technology, we’ll find that technology is putting limitations on us. YES: Online meetings can be a great way to cut travel and commuting costs and benefit the environment.
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