Running into ‘Zoom Fatigue?’  Fight  Back!

There’s a lot of discussion about Zoom fatigue, where people are getting burned out with all the video conferencing everyone is doing.  Obviously it’s not a Zoom-specific problem – there are plenty of videoconferencing tools available to burn out on.  It looks like massive video-conferencing is going to be around for a while, so it’s a good idea to combat the burnout whenever you can.

I’m usually a big proponent of videoconferencing whenever possible: it makes people more real to each other, makes it possible to read expressions and body language, and keeps people awake and interested in the meeting.  Videoconferencing does take focus and attention, though; if you’re on videoconferences all day it can get pretty wearing.

There are some steps you can take to help your team (and you!) combat Zoom fatigue.

If you’re giving a speech – in other words, the others in the meeting are only there to be an audience, not to participate – they don’t need to be on video.  Give them a break – you’re the only one who needs to be on, everyone else can turn their video off, sit back, and relax while listening.

Consider occasionally making your regular meetings audio only, especially if they’re early in the day.  Every now and then announce a pajama day – people don’t need to be on camera so they don’t even need to get out of their PJs.

Be sure you know the tool you’re using inside and out.  Because I have many clients, I’m getting a crash course in some tools I’ve never used for videoconferencing.  Explore your tool and give your team a cheatsheet so they can do what they need to feel comfortable.  An example:  I had an interview (I was the one being interviewed) using GotoMeeting.  I’d only ever used the tool for support and one-on-one meetings.  Suddenly I was in the Brady Bunch opener – people were looking every which way at whoever was speaking on their screen.  You can bet before I used it next I figured out how to change that layout.  Some tools have everyone enter with their microphone muted – good to know, especially if you’re used to using a tool that doesn’t play that trick on you.  Changing backgrounds can be fun – anything to break the monotony. 

Don’t assume that everyone in your meeting is familiar with either the tool or videoconferencing in general – send tips, tricks, and instructions *before* the meeting.  You can even hold a teaching session where people can play with the controls without disrupting a meeting.

Remember that people have different learning styles.  I was in one series of meetings where the organizer created the minutes during the meeting, on the screen.  For the reading learners, that was excellent.  Share applications, use the tool’s whiteboard, be sure to cover all your bases.  The more ways to help people focus you can find, the less tired they’ll get.  Doing your daily stand-up?  Put your sprint or Kan Ban board on display and update it as you go along.

You can have fun and do some team-building at the same time.  Declare a meeting a red-shirt meeting – everyone wear something red.  Baseball cap day – everyone wear a cap and say why it’s their favorite.  Silly hats day.  Pets day  - they’re showing up anyway, why not introduce them?  (Or even put the pets in front of the camera instead of the people.)  Assign someone in each meeting to play their favorite music while people are joining.

Have video meetings that aren’t working meetings sometimes.  Lots of companies are having virtual happy hours, where everyone shows up with their own food and drink and relaxes.  One company I know is having online ‘mindfulness’ meetings with some meditation.  I’m even training BJJ over Zoom – it works pretty well, leading me to recommend looking into bringing on a Tai Chi instructor or having an online yoga class.  Or even just have a movie night over Netflix.

Videoconferencing is a powerful tool and one that is clearly going to be with us for the foreseeable future.  Getting people comfortable and avoiding burnout are how we keep it from becoming a burden.