Zoom Fatigue Is Real – Learn How to Master It!

Chocolate chip cookies. What do cookies and Zoom have in common? Both are wonderful, in limited doses. When overdone, they can leave us feeling pretty terrible. We all know the adage about too much of a good thing.

Zoom is quickly following the route of PowerPoint and conference calls as an unbelievably effective, but often overused tool. Used properly, this tool is very beneficial, but when used improperly, it becomes a hindrance. Ever try hammering a nail with a jigsaw? 

Let’s face it, Zoom can be exhausting. Yes, seeing the faces and homes of all of our colleagues felt great in week 1 and week 2, maybe even during week 3, but by week 7? How did we end up in a position where ALL calls need to be via video?

Answer: 

All calls do not need to be done by video. While video conferencing can be extremely effective, it can wear down even the most resilient individual after 10 straight video meetings. 

Why? 

Heightened awareness and the sense of being always “on.” Yes, everyone can see your face around a conference table or in a typical meeting room but everyone is not solely fixated on you. 

While others aren’t “solely fixated” on you via Zoom, it certainly feels that way, with every box neatly stacked directly in front of your eyes. Talk about raising the level of self-consciousness! 

Zoom takes on the aura of a performance, and as anyone who has ever performed can tell you, that requires A LOT of energy and recovery time.

So, how to use Zoom more effectively? Here are a few ways to become more comfortable and effective when using video conferencing.

1) Planning

Think back many, many moons ago to the good old days…let’s say January 10, 2020. Eons ago. Think about the laundry list of meetings you had to attend. How many did you need to be physically present for? 

Save Zoom for important calls and meetings. As with all things, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences. Remember to use the Zoom app as a tool, not a default. 

2) Agenda

You are all dialed in, staring at each other. It is a very orderly call until one team member interrupts another. Then another person echos the interruption. Before long, the call is off course. Just as someone is about to course correct, we get….a frozen screen and no one knows what do to! 

Video conferences are tailored for an agenda and a moderator/leader; it becomes unwieldy without both. An agenda will keep things focused and also ease the feeling of needing to be hyper-vigilant at all times because you know what is coming next. 

Right now we are in a very frightening time, and one of the reasons is, we have no idea what comes next. There is no COVID-19 playbook to lean on; no experience. Meetings don’t have to follow the same trajectory. 

3) Relax

Only dressing from the waist up is way too relaxed. Staring into the camera on your desktop or laptop is way too intense. Just because you are “on video” doesn’t mean you have to be on. 

Quick tip - when possible, turn off the view that shows you…you! We are all self-conscious, and having the ability to see yourself is both a.) distracting and b.) too rife with the opportunity to be self-critical. Don’t do it. Turn off the angle (there is a cool feature on Zoom called “hide yourself” — I would highly encourage you to use it.) Focus on everyone else as it will make you feel better and will help you become a more engaged participant and presenter. 

4) Just Not Too Much!

There will be life after COVID-19 and co-workers and clients will appreciate the relaxed tone we took in terms of personal presentation during the immediate onset of quarantine. What was acceptable and even endearing at the beginning of this crisis will change over time. It always does. Be in front of that curve, and one way to do that is to… 

5) Dress Up...Before It Matters

I put on a button-down, jeans, and even shoes, before every video call. This is not for the reason you might suspect. It is not for my audience, although that is a nicely added benefit. It is for me. 

The reality is that when you are dressed “for work” there is a psychological shift. This concept has been studied and it makes sense.

6) Using Senses Makes Sense

Smell. Taste. Touch. Three words, this just begins to scratch the surface of what can get lost when communicating via video (or on the phone rather than in person). The office you worked in had a certain smell and taste. Research shows us that smell and taste are much more interconnected than we think. 

Even movements as small as adjusting a chair in a conference room or touching an object in a colleague’s office changes an experience through the use of touch. Video conferencing makes it much harder to access those senses. 

The two remaining senses, hearing and seeing are changed as well. Staring into a tiny camera on a laptop, tablet, or computer is much different than being in a conference or meeting room, and the intensity of it can be overwhelming for anyone who is not used to it. 

The ambient noises in the background of a home are usually different than those in an office setting. So 3 of the 5 senses are much harder to access, and the two remaining senses are accessing information differently. 

So what do you do to be more memorable? Verbalize those senses! “Would you like a warm cup of Starbucks extra roast?” Typically evokes more of a sensory response than “Would you like coffee?” We are all missing many of the sensory experiences that are no longer available. Utilizing brief sensory language when discussing topics will make you more memorable. 

7) Narrative Development

If you thought it was hard to get someone to pay attention to a PowerPoint deck with 75 slides, each laden with 100 words when people met in person, good luck in this current environment. It is not necessarily for the reason you might think (although, in many cases it is). In our pre-pandemic world, we were faced with endless distractions. 

Now those distractions have changed - kids zooming in classes, people you love around your workspace 24/7, neighbors walking by, the nonstop media blitz that is even more intense than before, and the list goes on. 

It is simply harder to remember granular detail when they have so much competition. By having a clear message and building a narrative around that, the chance that your message will carry further and last with someone longer goes up exponentially. 

Again, Zoom and other video conferencing solutions are wonderful tools and I count myself lucky to have access to them. That being said, these tools have limitations as well. Life is very, very intense at this moment in time, and a full day of video conferencing only adds to that intensity. Utilizing some of these ideas should minimize the fatigue and increase memorability and overall organizational effectiveness.

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