Camera fatigue, early meetings, and hugging again

As a leader of a small business trying to navigate the ongoing implications of the Pandemic (COVID is still rampant in Colombia, in case you wondered), I've been trying to learn more about ways of working that will be best for my team at Coschool. It's interesting to reflect on what other organisations and ourselves are doing well, and not so well. Furthermore, we have a vested interest in understanding how to support people to build effective relationships and manage their emotions at the moment, given the core focus of the business on social & emotional learning. We're not perfect at this stuff internally, but we reflect and we try to get better.

1. Camera fatigue

I wouldn't be surprised if you've seen more people with their cameras switched off increasingly over the last few months. Our eyes and our brains are tired. Our calendars have been filled up with more zoom/teams/meets meetings, in a strange urge to compensate for the lack of being together in person. Whilst the issue of over-meeting is clearly a problem (for us as well, one successful measure has been creating "Miercoles de concentración" - a day where internal meetings are banned), I want to highlight some insights on the benefits of keeping your video OFF. Check out this tweet from Adam Grant and the research he cites.

That's right, non-video communication enhances empathy and video communication can reduce collective intelligence. There's a worthy time, place, and intention for video calls, but perhaps as Adam suggests, we should pick up the phone more often and switch our videos off more in meetings.

2. Meeting times

Ok, perhaps I'm going to need to take cover from my Colombian colleagues on this one, but I'm going to say it. The Colombian culture of meetings before (or during) breakfast (or let's say before 0830am) is not a good thing. It never was in the first place (although it was handy for beating traffic jams, I'll give you that). As for the school days that start at 6am... don't get me started. I'll just say three words: inhumane, counter-productive, and unhealthy.

Nowadays, many people's home-lives are blending with their work-lives. That looks different for everybody. Those with kids, or living in households with limited space/bathrooms/desks are all experiencing unusual and complex challenges. Just because we're not commuting to work, why should we replace that time with a first meeting of the day?

Let people exercise, have time with their families, have a good healthy breakfast before working. I'm determined to push Coschool towards having no internal meetings before 9am, and ideally none before 10am. I did a poll recently on linkedin, and I think the data speaks for itself: 82% of people would prefer to have their first online meeting after 9am.

3. Returning to gathering in person

Again, I'm just here to share some of the wisdom from Brene Brown, this time from her recent conversation with Priya Parker. Sometimes I wish I had a miniature Brene Brown doll on my desk who would remind me what to do. She is a phenomenal podcast host, researcher, and educator.

Frankly, we are in no-man's land when it comes to meeting in person; a big messy, gooey, gray area that can be both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Hugs, handshakes, masks, "vaxxed only", personal space. What to do? What not to do. It's messy. Priya, author of The Art of Gathering, describes the moment with optimism:

For decades, we have been gathering in very specific ways that in a lot of cases haven’t been working for people, and rather than rushing back to those formats, we actually have an opportunity to pause and to ask like, How do we want to do this now?

She leaves us with a few concrete tips, that I'll be thinking about as I prepare for a potentially awkward small team picnic in the park later today (it's Miercoles de concentración, I know, but this is a different type of gathering!):

1. The host of in-person spaces has a responsbility (and an opportunity) to set the rules form the space. E.g. "We'll be hugging and not wearing masks for anyone who is comfortable" or "Elbow bumps and face masks only today". This helps people prepare and understand if they feel comfortable attending. Clear is fair!
2. This is a golden moment for experimenting. We should embrace the chance for experimenting and test & learn as we go. E.g. at a friend's wedding they used colour coded bracelets (green = hug me, yellow = elbows only, red = keep your distance).
3. Talk about it! It's important to create spaces to talk about the awkwardness of meeting again in person. Listen to other perspectives. Everyone will see it differently. Be inclusive. Don't forget that for many working from home is actually way better and more comfortable than being together in person.

What are you learning about ways of working and workplaces at the moment? Drop me a comment!

p.s. We just put out our first full learning experience for businesses and organisations on these matters and more, Edumoción para el trabajo. If you'd like to run a pilot of the course in your business, drop me a note and we can hook you up with a big discount.