Ignore what I have said in the past!
The new rules for video-conferencing
On October 28, 2019 I posted an article stressing the importance of turning on your video camera in order to be fully present and fully participative in meetings.
Many of us have seen our lives change to the virtual world of videoconferencing whether your platform of choice is Zoom, Teams, Webex, and this new world has worked well for helping us keep connected to far-flung colleagues or family recently introduced to the fun of a Zoom quiz. But the very thing that makes video so powerful (the more immersive experience, people’s reactions are easier to gauge) is also its disadvantage when done for eight hours straight. It is physically exhausting!
Fast forward to present day, a mere eight months later and I am now telling you to do the exact opposite. As we move into the summer holidays (in the northern hemisphere), it is more important than ever to take time away not only from the camera but from your job. Taking a break recharges the soul and causes you to focus on other important parts of your life like self-care!
Video-fatigue is a very real phenomenon. Hours spent in the same chair in the same position on a platform which allows people to see your every smile, frown and moment of inattention uses up a huge amount of energy. Day after day, the end of the week cannot come soon enough. And for those of us whose lives used to be frequently interspersed by meeting-free days hopping onto planes and in and out of airports, the hit of these video marathons is a double whammy.
Over the past few weeks we have been having very different conversations with employees – one which is asking people to think about when they can turn the video camera off. Maybe a meeting where they don’t need to speak, or a meeting with large numbers of attendees. It’s OK to go “old-school” back to audio only. I have found that planning which meetings each day should have video, which can be audio only and which could be a walking meeting out in the open air (preferably with other people doing this as well!) makes for a more varied and sane day.
Something to think about – your body and your brain will thank you for it later.
Account Executive at Full Throttle Falato Leads - We can safely send over 20,000 emails and 9,000 LinkedIn Inmails per month for lead generation
9 个月Claire, thanks for sharing!
Director, Global Customer Advocacy | Tech | LGBT+ Champion in Asia Award | Speaker | Mentor
4 年Loving the article title as this resonates VERY well - thanks for sharing, Claire Macland (she/her)! Especially when working on tiger teams or general projects together, I find quick (yet diligent) 5min "daily huddles" as a check-in works well. It forces only necessary topics (no sidetracks), holds people accountable, and then lets you get on with your day. Of course, to execute this means 100% trust and precision! In the meantime....maybe I will invest in a cardboard cutout of myself. :)
Global Leader Human Resources Business Advisory, Global Tech leader.
4 年Great article Claire (as always) - today my team meeting is going ‘old school’ as you say - no video and the team are going to be doing it away from their normal locations - so out walking or in a park etc......
Leadership Coach, Executive Mentor, Supervisor | Create Mentoring Programmes | Board Chair | Trainer | Speaker
4 年"planning which meetings each day should have video, which can be audio only and which could be a walking meeting out in the open air" is a brilliant idea. Love this, Claire
Director @ Connection2Channel | Channel Marketing, Channel Strategy, Channel Recruitment, New Business Development
4 年They say that writing a short story is much harder than writing a long story. In the same way, I would argue it's much harder to hold a short meeting (say 15') than letting a windy, unfocused 30' run on to 50'. It doesn't help that the default 'minimum' time we can schedule on our Outlook calendars is 30'.