Tips for when employees zone out in Zoom meetings

FALLBROOK – The coronavirus pandemic changed the world into a planet of

remote workers, but several months into the pandemic some companies and

individuals are still grappling with the challenges of working apart.

Employees have more distractions at home, and some can find it harder to focus.

Questions persist, such as: Can video conferencing be as effective as in-person

communicating? Will workplace culture – and production – suffer from a lack of

traditional human interaction?

“Many companies and employees weren’t prepared for this major life switch,”

Cynthia Spraggs, a veteran of working remotely, author of “How To Work From

Home And Actually Get SH*T Done,” and CEO of Virtira, a virtual company that

helps other businesses work remotely, said. “Companies became obsessed with

maintaining their brick-and-mortar culture despite the fact their offices were

completely deserted. I heard several horror stories about companies mandating that

employees eat lunch on camera or play bar games with cocktails on Zoom after an

exhausting workday.

“Not only were these extra obligations not necessary, they didn’t take into account

the busier new lives of harried workers – many now with home-schooled kids and

juggling schedules with spouses also working from home. Some remote

workforces have transitioned smoothly, but a great many need to learn how to

adjust,” she said.

Drawing from experiences she has had advising companies on how to work

remotely and maintain performance, Spraggs offered some tips on getting the most

out of online meetings.

Flex your virtual meeting time. 

“From managing hundreds of regional and global online events, I can tell you the

maximum anyone should be in an online meeting is four hours,” Spraggs said.

“Two hours is much better for a maximum. When they run longer, your

participants are going to experience significant muscle and eye fatigue, not to

mention be tempted by the incredible distractions that come with working

remotely.”

Template everything. 

When managers ran meetings in a conference room, they could ban phones and

have everyone’s attention. With remote meetings, managers have lost that control.

“They need to build virtual walls and a structure to keep things on track,” Spraggs

said. “This is where templates for meeting agendas, action items, business reviews,

etc., come into play. Make these available from the central dashboard and reinforce

on calls where they are and how to find them.”

Protest pointless meetings. 

“Pointless includes inviting a whole host of people to a meeting who don’t need to

be there,” Spraggs said. “Don’t take valuable chunks of work time away from team

members for a call they don’t need to be on.”

Treat meetings like contract discussions. 

Spraggs said that back in the day informal meetings in a physical office sometimes

allowed employees to shine in front of their bosses.

“But online loosey-goosey meetings without any real point don’t get anyone

anywhere,” she said. “To accomplish anything of substance, set a strong agenda

and stick to it. Get opinions from everyone. For the introverts not comfortable with

sharing, consider implementing anonymous input forms. You’ll be amazed how

engagement increases. Like a contract, you need to document what the team

decided, and what the priorities are. Put those in the meeting minutes, distribute

and follow up on them.”

Don’t drive yourself to distraction. 

“Train yourself to cut down distractions to improve productivity,” Spraggs said.

“Turn off your phone and notifications. Otherwise someone is going to ask you

something and there will be that dead air as everyone waits for you to respond.

“Many companies are trying to replicate the in-person experience by wanting to

get everyone in front of a screen for multiple hours over multiple days,” Spraggs

said. “But they have the opportunity to rethink and reengineer the experience in

ways that make sense in a new world, when nobody is in the same room for a

meeting.”

Cynthia Spraggs is the author of “How To Work From Home And Actually Get

SH*T Done: 50 Tips for Leaders and Professionals to Work Remotely and

Outperform the Office.” She is CEO of Virtira, a virtual company that focuses on

remote team performance. Before taking leadership of the company in 2011,

Spraggs worked with large consulting and tech companies while completing her

Master of Business Administration and research into telecommuting. For more

information, visit http://www.virtira.com.