NEWS & ARTICLES - LEADERSHIP
ZOOM FATIGUE, WHY ARE WE ALL SO EXHAUSTED? IAPCO Member: OIC Group, Italy
Who would have ever thought that we would need to come
In addition having our own face and image magnified on
up with the concept of Screen Fatigue, or more precisely
the screen during calls, in which we observe ourselves and
Zoom-Fatigue?
how we move and interact, is in itself quite bizarre. Marissa Schuffler, workplace and wellbeing expert adds: “When you’re
We have all felt it at some time or other over these past few
on a video conference you know everybody’s looking at you;
months. We cannot really explain it rationally as we have been
you are on stage, hence the social pressure and feeling that
at home, in our comfortable baggy-home clothes, but we are
you need to perform. Being performative is nerve-wracking
exhausted; why is this happening? Should the online meetings
and more stressful.”
not feel like less of an effort than in-person meetings? Gianluca Petriglieri recommends careful consideration We have tight schedules of one video call after the other
regarding the following:
and we are sitting in the same spaces, doing the same things day after day.
Think Carefully about what needs to be a video-call meeting and what does not
Various studies are highlighting how there is a “cognitive
Could the video-call meeting have been an email?
overload” as we try to decipher and understand what is going on via the screen, connecting to our colleagues and our
Choose whom you invite with care
various work scenarios. The cognitive overload that we are
Do you really need 20 people on the call?
experiencing comes from our brain needing to work more to read the other signals that are usually readily available in a
Don’t waste people’s time
face-to-face meeting. Our brain is trying to compensate for
Why are we meeting? How long are we meeting for?
aspects of communication that are lacking through the
What is the task?
two-dimensional world to which we are all connected. Take care of your body and brain Video calls require more focus than a face-to-face chat. “Video
Don’t schedule yourself back-to-back, move around,
chats mean we need to work harder to process non-verbal
exercise, and make sure you’re drinking enough water.
cues such as facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, and body language; paying attention to these consumes energy. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we are not. The dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting” - Gianluca Petriglieri MD, and Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD. 16
| Dec 2020
