Video platforms are making us tired, lazy and less productive
Do you remember when the COVID-19 pandemic caused workplaces to close? For many people, the switch to remote working was as intriguing as the virus.
Video communication tools such as Zoom and its competitor services were soon in hot demand.
Our early virtual encounters were casual and more revealing than office-based meetings. We saw coworkers and other contacts in their home environments, paraded our pets and culinary successes, and felt at ease dissecting lockdown frustrations and sharing diversionary therapies.
Zoom’s usage skyrocketed in the same way PowerPoint slides became ubiquitous decades ago. It is estimated there are 300 million daily meeting participants on this platform, and for many it has become a fatiguing, not intriguing, experience.
In February 2021, Stanford University professor of communication Jeremy Bailenson outlined in the prestigious journal Technology, Mind and Behavior four reasons Zoom calls are more exhausting than in-person communication.
1. Receiving too much close-up eye contact
The size of faces on screens are unnatural, as is the amount of eye contact.
“Our brains interpret it as an intense situation that is either going to lead to mating, or to conflict,” Professor Bailenson wrote. “What’s happening, in effect, when you’re using Zoom for many, many hours is you’re in this hyper-aroused state.”
Possible solutions: reduce Zoom window size; move screen further away; use an external keyboard.
2. Juggling a higher cognitive load
Non-verbal communication is natural when we are with someone in person. We subconsciously make and interpret gestures, movement and other cues. But in video chats, we have to work harder to send and receive signals.
With Zoom, everyone’s front and centre, not just the speaker. And that’s exhausting.
“You’ve got to make sure that your head is framed within the center of the video,” Professor Bailenson said. “If you want to show someone that you are agreeing with them, you have to do an exaggerated nod or put your thumbs up. That adds cognitive load as you’re using mental calories in order to communicate.”
Possible solutions: take “audio only” breaks during long meetings; establish ground rules for turning cameras off.
3. Seeing yourself “in the mirror” all the time
Most video platforms create a mirror-effect during the meeting. Professor Bailenson said studies show that when we see our reflection, we are more critical of ourselves.
“It’s taxing on us,” he wrote. “It’s stressful. And there is much research showing there are negative emotional consequences to seeing yourself in a mirror.”
Possible solution: hide self view after a few seconds once you’re framed properly and your surroundings are appropriate.
4. Restricting movement
Unlike in-person conversations and phone calls where we can move around, video meetings constrain us. We stay centred within the camera’s field of view and keep our face large enough for others to see. Our typical posture is sitting and staring straight ahead.
“There’s growing research now that says when people are moving, they’re performing better cognitively,” Professor Bailenson said.
Possible solutions: sit further away from the camera allowing you to move a little but still stay in view; switch to “audio only” during long meetings so you can move around; establish ground rules for turning cameras off; make a phone call instead of video.
Besides making us tired, video is making us lazy
Canadian philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “medium is the message”. He observed communication mediums or platforms overshadow the content they deliver and divert from their intended purpose.
PowerPoint quickly became “the message”, at the expense of critical thinking and good presentation preparation.
University of Toronto management professor and ethnographer Sarah Kaplan noticed that, rather than people asking for new analysis or insights in meetings, they were asking for more PowerPoint slides. “... most people were making strategy by making PowerPoint,” she said. “The slide itself becomes the end goal as opposed to the ideas or the analyses that are embedded within it.”
In our work with multi-disciplinary professionals we see people booking video meetings without asking “why do I need this meeting and what will it generate?” Too often message senders put the onus on time poor receivers to discern what’s important and what’s not.
Audience-centred and outcomes-focused communication is under threat.
Wrestle back control of good workplace communication
Many people report to us the volume of written and verbal communication has jumped markedly with remote working.
Always keep in mind the words of the great Irish playwright Oscar Wilde: "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
More Zooming doesn’t ensure better communication and business results.
In March 2021, Georgetown University associate professor in computer science Cal Newport observed we are having more Zoom-type meetings for two reasons.
Working remotely is prompting more unexpected questions and scheduling a meeting is often the easiest way to relieve anxiety of new and pressing issues. “... if a meeting related to a new issue is scheduled, you can trust it won’t be forgotten, and you therefore now longer have to keep track of it in your head.”
It’s easy to schedule online meetings. “Pre-pandemic, setting up a meeting meant reserving a conference room and requiring your colleagues to physically relocate themselves at your request. There’s enough of a cost here that you might think twice before casually convening conversations.”
Newport said most people are setting up more meetings because the cost, in terms of effort, economic and social, seems minimal. But it’s not.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser noticed the impact of Zoom on employee wellbeing and issued a note to team members mandating Zoom-free Fridays.
Reverse your meetings
Newport champions the practice of “reverse meetings”. This involves setting times each week in your calendar, so that coworkers can stop by via video, live messaging and/or phone without an appointment. If you have an issue to discuss with colleagues, you visit them individually during their “office hours”. Newport said this approach saves time and helps keep topics focused and moving ahead.
He also encourages over-stretched workers to set meeting quotas per day, whereby “each person has three afternoon slots every day for meetings, and that’s it”. Following this tip, reinforces the scarcity / value of meetings and ensures there’s enough focus time for other types of work.
AND Remember YOUR phone
It might be old technology but it’s still a goodie. Sometimes making a phone call can cut through the clutter and noise of the newest workplace communication apps. Socialising an idea or concept over the phone can boost your work’s priority and get things done quicker.
Zoom and its competitor services are key business communication tools. They have helped transition us to a blend of remote and in-office working. So, it’s important these tools work for us, not the other way around.
Are your Zoom encounters strengthening or stymieing effective workplace communication and productivity?
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Will Durant, American historian, philosopher and writer.