K-State Research and Extension

“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.

“Talent Management”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

The concept of “Talent Management” came up in a recent conversation. This is the strategy which an organization or business uses to hire, manage, retain, and develop employees for leadership roles. Many businesses lose exceptionally talented employees because their strengths and talents were not recognized. Additionally, an effective talent management strategy is a mechanism to groom and develop future leaders and managers. Managers play a key role in an organization’s talent management strategy, as they must identify talented, exceptional employees. Managers also serve as mentors, providing coaching and feedback to develop employees. Research conducted by the American Society for Training and Development documented that those organizations with the most successful talent management systems also asked managers to discuss the talents and skills of their most talented employees with other managers and leaders. Discussing the organizations most talented employees creates an internal talent pool that various departments can draw from to fill current positions. Do you have exceptional employees in your organization? What is your talent management strategy?

Are you at risk of losing your best employees? For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Customer Service….More Important Than Ever”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

Good customer service is essential to any business or organization. It does not matter if it is a restaurant or a tow truck service, having staff members who leave customers or anyone who encounters your business with that “wow, that was great” feeling directly influences the bottom line. Customer service has become more important than ever as more consumers are purchasing goods and services without ever crossing the threshold of a traditional storefront. So how do we generate those feelings with someone on the phone or in a chat box? Let us start with the basics. What is customer service? Customer service is simply defined as the assistance provided by a company to those who purchase the goods or services it provides. Now on to the tough part, how do we as business or organization provide that assistance? Susan Ward (www.thebalancesmb.com) offers a few simple things that businesses can do to improve their customer service experiences. First, answer the phone. Potential customers want to talk to a person and don’t want to leave a message. Second, don’t make promises you can’t keep. As the old saying goes, “say what you are going to do, and do what you said you were going to.” Third, listen. Simply listening to what a potential customer’s need is important, there is nothing worse than listening to a sales pitch for something you don’t want. Fourth, be helpful even if you don’t make the sale, today. The service provided today has the potential to turn into something much larger in the future. Fifth, train your staff to go the extra mile by providing additional information about the product or other items commonly purchased with said goods. Lastly, empower your staff to offer something extra without asking permission, especially in those circumstances when the “customer is always right.”

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.

“Change”

By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist

“Change is inevitable” and often creates a sense of unease for many individuals. However, we have faced an unprecedented amount of change in the past few months. We have changed how we work, how we live, how we buy groceries, and many other things. Some of these changes have been small and some have been large. Why do we fear change? Change is not always bad, but experts agree that most employees within an organization express some degree of fear and resistance to change. The reality is that the fear of change within an organization is created because employees simply do not understand why the change is happening. A 2018 article in the Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2018/10/dont-just-tell-employees-organizational-changes-are-coming-explain-why offers suggestions on communicating change in the workplace.

 Keep employees informed with regular communications. Communication is essential to successfully navigating change. Communication should be clear and consistent and focus on the purpose of the change (the why).

 Empower leaders and managers to lead and model the change. Leaders and managers often face more pressure/resistance from employees than administration. Providing managers with additional training or resources equips them to drive and model the change.

 Involve employees in the change. Employees must take ownership of the change for it to be successful. Creating ways for employees to provide feedback and engage them in the process makes employees more likely to support the change.

For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.