Remember when Zoom meetings seemed novel and kind of cool for a lot of us? Well, Zoom fatigue has hit a lot of workers hard these past few months. In last week’s blog, we tackled the reasons behind Zoom fatigue. As we quoted Harvard Business Review, “In part, it’s because they force us to focus more intently on conversations in order to absorb information. Think of it this way: when you’re sitting in a conference room, you can rely on whispered side exchanges to catch you up if you get distracted or answer quick, clarifying questions. During a video call, however, it’s impossible to do this unless you use the private chat feature or awkwardly try to find a moment to unmute and ask a colleague to repeat themselves.”
Ashira Prossack, a forbes.com contributor, researched ways to overcome video meeting burnout. As promised, here are three more of her suggestions:
- Set and follow an agenda – Sometimes Zoom meetings can drag on much longer than they need to, and this can exacerbate feelings of Zoom fatigue. To keep meetings on track and on time, set and share an agenda with everyone on the call. That way everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them and what the meeting will cover, as well as how long it will be. Try to not exceed the scheduled time by firmly following the agenda and reigning in anyone who rambles and gets too far off track.
- Schedule breaks – If you have control over your schedule, don’t pack it with back to back video meetings. Give yourself a break between Zoom calls to decompress. This isn’t just relevant for Zoom – it’s helpful to have at least ten minutes between meetings so you can wrap up one meeting fully before moving onto the next.
- Pick up the phone – Not all meetings require actual face time – sometimes a phone call is just as sufficient, if not more so. Phone calls can be taken from anywhere which allows for much more flexibility. You don’t have to get dressed up or put on makeup for a phone call, and with all the added stressors of working from home, that can be a really nice bonus.
What ways have you come up with to make virtual meetings easier on your workers, we’d love to hear. As you know, our workers at VersaTel Solutions are experts at working remotely. All of our bookkeepers, assistants, and Process Management professionals work remotely. Reach out to us if you need seasoned remote workers. We’re here to help.