“Video Conferencing Fatigue”
By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist
Video conferencing fatigue (i.e. Zoom Fatigue) is unfortunately become a term that many in the workplace have become familiar with. In today’s business environment, we are meeting more virtually than ever before. What exactly is it that makes a two-hour remote meeting more tiresome than the same meeting in person? Experts suggest that video conferencing is more difficult because we have to work harder to stay engaged and some aspects of video conferencing are more stressful than we think. The most common source of distraction is multi-tasking while on a video conference. The platform lends itself to reading emails, and do other things at the same time, but these distractions are more stressful than most realize. Another source of stress is that we become more aware of what is behind our cameras, that pile of papers that need filed on our desk or all the other stuff that accumulates in an office. The third common source of stress is simply that technology often lets us down and the fear of an unstable internet connection or mic failures during a meeting is real. So what can we do to make video conferencing less stressful?
1. Stay engaged in the meeting, take notes just as if you were in a real face-to-face meeting.
2. Don’t be afraid to turn off your camera and mute your microphone. Just because it is a video conference does not mean you have to be on camera or that everyone needs to hear your dog barking. Do your part to minimize distractions.
3. Organizers should schedule breaks. We all need mental, physical and visual breaks from our workstations and screens.
4. Have an agenda for the meeting and attempt to make conferences held remotely as short as possible. Consider what you can get accomplished during a 30-minute session when everyone is actively engaged.
5. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Things happen – internet connections become unstable, microphones quit working and cell phones still drop calls.
For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.
