Zoom fatigue is when you have a general feeling of tiredness and exhaustion due to Zoom meetings or videoconferencing calls. The reasons why they take up so much energy have been explored by a variety of news providers and media, including the BBC, NY Times, TED, and Psychology Today (see below for links to relevant articles). The reasons are that they require a lot of attention, and concentration. As different people in a team meeting are talking, listeners have to switch their attention from person to person, and grasp the content of what they are saying. Additional stressors may also arise due to connectivity challenges and poor or intermittent audio and video quality. Listening can be tiring, and contributing even more so. Good listening requires that individuals do not listen only to reply, but to understand, and take in what is being said. Working on your listening skills is therefore a key requirement for engaging in Zoom and other videoconferencing formats.
What are further reasons that Zoom fatigue may set in? Perhaps it is also the fear of being judged, and the effort that goes into trying to stay professional, especially whilst working from home, as many of us are presently doing, due to restrictions imposed by the global pandemic. To cope, some of us may simply switch off during a meeting, a phenomenon which is quite common during regular face to face meetings too. But this might cause added stress in the virtual realm if a participant then has to catch up or ask “what just happened”.
How do we face our fatigue and improve our calls and attention spans? Sometimes it helps to choose quality over quantity, and to focus calls on specific topics, or even only one topic, instead of trying to cover every aspect of many topics. Less is more. Also, it is important to acknowledge that there is a limit to how much time most people can spend online productively, and without succumbing to Zoom fatigue. These limits may vary in persons, and it is up to everyone to be able to set their own limits and have these respected by colleagues and working teams. Often, preparation is required, and this needs to be factored in ahead of time. Effective online collaboration may also require the use of additional technological platforms such as virtual whiteboards, shared agenda and task distribution lists that can be edited by various members synchronously (e.g. Google Drive, Microsoft To Do, Evernote). Finding an undisturbed space without distractions, and taking health breaks to move and stretch can also increase attention span and productivity levels during online meetings.
A good virtual meeting usually requires a dedicated host or a facilitator. It makes sense to nominate somebody who will run a meeting as a host, without providing all the content, but simply leading the meeting and interpreting, sometimes paraphrasing, what is being said, managing time and moving the meeting from one point to another point. A skilled facilitator would also create a safe space of a collaborative and even transformative nature, in which individuals and collectives can be productive and achieve meaningful results. Handing over to an experienced virtual facilitator makes sense when faced with challenging topics, complex tasks, decision making processes or when trying to surface individual and collective pools of knowledge.
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For further reading and information please look at:
The reason Zoom calls drain your energy (BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting
Zoom fatigue: How to politely decline a call during quarantine (NY Times)
Zoom fatigue is real – here’s why video calls are so draining (TED)
Are Zoom meetings tiring you out? Here’s how to recover (Psychology Today)