For those who work remotely, Zoom fatigue is real.
The phenomenon of Zoom fatigue has been mostly attributed to an overload of nonverbal cues and communication that does not happen in normal conversation.
It is not helped by the fact that during ‘breaks’ in Zoom sessions, we generally feel obligated to answer emails, call people back and do our normal job in smaller rushed chunks of time.
As a facilitator or host the goal for the optimal break is to get your team;
outside of their office,
off their computers,
increasing their mobility, and
moving the blood around their body again.
All of this will help their motivation, contribution and engagement levels after the break.
Proof of Life
Here is a neat little way to make sure when you are hosting long Zoom sessions, that your participants are taking the right sort of break.
Before the break, ask your participants for them to bring ‘Proof of Life’ on their return.
Just choose 1 or 2, but some suggestions might be:
Take a picture of your feet in a place outside of your house.
Bring back a living thing (i.e. a leaf, plant or flower).
Have a photo with a stranger.
Take a photo of the outside of your house, as if you were a real estate agent.
Film your pet playing with their favourite toy.
Bring back a stone or pebble from a walk, and explain what its shape looks like to you.
Show us a photo of your lunch somewhere other than your desk.
On arrival back into the meeting, ask people one by one for their ‘Proof of Life’, to transition people back into the room with fun, frivolity and story telling, before getting back into the meatiness of the session.
Have you got any other proof of life ideas?
Blue Mercury Leadership facilitates those conversations we are all too busy to have. Empathetic, authentic and honest conversations about how we can bring the best of ourselves to the office each day. Feel free to read more, or reach out to us at www.bluemercury.co.nz