Since March 2020, many organizations have embraced telecommuting in adherence to health protocols. The number of teams using video conferencing has increased dramatically, with a strong indication that this trend will continue as the pandemic abates. While the flexibility of working remotely has provided many companies with the ability to continue business with minimal interruption, this increase in video conferencing has led to a newer phenomenon now commonly referred to as zoom fatigue, a ubiquitous term for exhaustion related to all video conferencing platforms.
Common symptoms and causes of zoom fatigue
As the name suggests, zoom fatigue is a form of mental and physical exhaustion. It can manifest in the form of eye strain, stiffness, stress, and anxiety. For some teams, lower productivity levels have cropped up as individuals are less keen to switch back to normal computer tasks after hours of camera time. Causes have focused mainly on:
Excessive eye contact
Unlike in-person meetings, video conferencing creates an environment where participants maintain focus on several faces simultaneously while also making continuous eye contact with the speaker. Due to this hyperfocus on each individual, breaking away from the screen can be viewed as disinterest, poor attention, or disruption in active listening.
Decreased mobility
Team members that normally work in an office environment are now bound to the same place for most of the day. What previously seemed like an inconsequential walk to a conference room is now understood as a valuable break from a desk, stretching legs and engaging in casual banter with colleagues. With video conferencing, meetings and regular work tasks live back to back with fewer interruptions from screens, causing increased exhaustion throughout the day.
Video conferencing inside and out of work hours
While social distancing recommendations continue, video conferencing has also replaced many interactions with friends and family. The sheer volume of hours spent in front of cameras creates a dulled experience that has mixed pleasure with obligation, reducing an individual's willingness to appear engaged and stimulated.
Ways to reduce zoom fatigue
Organization leads have begun implementing methods that reduce exhaustion throughout the day, attempting to lessen the physical and mental stress of excessive video conferencing.
Switch to audio-only calls
In an effort to replace the in-person experience of an office environment, teams working remotely jumped straight into video conferencing as the default communication method. In reality, many meetings can be successfully managed by voice calls, eliminating the need to stare into a camera for hours on end each day.
Encourage movement and switching off cameras
By allowing individuals to physically move about or switch off their camera entirely as they see fit, video meetings will feel less rigid, easing the level of intensity. Flexibility also reduces the feeling of monotony and burnout, meaning participants may feel more inclined to engage and communicate.
Eliminate meetings altogether
Before scheduling another meeting, team leads should assess whether a meeting is truly warranted to address a subject. Apps like Slack provide companies with chat tools for groups. Project management tools like Trello and Asana offer abundant ways to communicate as a group or with individuals on specific projects.
Schedule socially distanced meetings when possible
For offices that allow for an adequate social distancing space to gather, in-person meetings can be a good change for some teams. Weekly or even monthly meetings can break up the routine of remote work, re-energize morale and help team members reconnect. For smaller offices, renting a meeting space for off-site gatherings can be another positive alternative.
While the pandemic created an accelerated push towards the digitization of the office space, a regression back to the old status quo is virtually impossible. According to a statement from Gabriella De La Torre, CBRE director of strategic advisory in Dubai, "the outbreak of Covid-19 has triggered a shift in mentality, for both employees and employers and supported by the technological development we will not fully go back to the previous, inflexible work from office setting rather than adopting and evolving to a hybrid approach. We expect these trends to continue into 2021." Dubai remains one of the best investor markets in the region, and successful companies in the city have embraced this hybrid model, accepting change as part of the future. With this continued evolution of office dynamics, adapting and supporting the needs of critical team functions like communication will always remain an essential part of productivity.