Experts urge companies to work with employees to reduce Zoom fatigue

When the pandemic hit, one of the biggest upheavals was swapping office life for working from home.

But rather than the dream scenario some expected, it has brought new stresses and strains.

Back-to-back online meetings create feelings of exhaustion called “Zoom fatigue”. And although one could write such afflictions off as “First World problems”, understanding how hundreds of millions of us can work productively is crucial.

One study found this was a bigger problem for women, 13.8 per cent of whom said Zoom calls made them feel “very to extremely fatigued”, compared to 5.5 per cent of men.

A main reason is that users can often see themselves during Zoom calls, and because women are more “selfaware”, their anxiety levels are more likely to increase, the Stanford University and University of Gothenburg study said last month.

Dr Geraldine Fauville, an assistant professor in the department of education, communication and learning at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, told The National that much can be done to make video conferencing less anxiety-inducing.

Having a large face on the screen that appears to be staring at you – even when you are not speaking – induces fatigue, so Dr Fauville recommends reducing the size of the videoconference window and moving the screen further away.

As well as seeing less of other people, it can also be helpful to see less of yourself – so switching off the self-view function is recommended. Virtual backgrounds may also help.

While video conference calls can be of great value, Dr Fauville recommends mixing them up with other forms of communication, such as phone calls, emails and text messaging.

“They all have different benefits and challenges. It’s not about replacing videoconferences totally … but I think being more mindful of when you are using these tools. ‘Do I really need this conversation to be a video conference?’” she said.

Not everyone is able to choose the number of calls on Zoom (or other videoconference platforms) that they have, so Dr Fauville said responsibility also falls on companies to reduce the burdens placed on employees.

“We hope the companies will adapt and have a discussion around their culture,” she said. “It can be, for example, having [calls] where no one is allowed to use their camera.”

Breaks are regarded as being crucial to reducing Zoom fatigue. Dr Fauville recommends, where possible, finishing one meeting five minutes before the hour and starting the next five minutes after the hour, leaving 10 minutes to get up and shake off the “video-call feeling”.

Research by Microsoft indicates that taking short breaks can improve patterns of brain activity, in particular by cutting levels of beta waves, which become more prominent after long back-to-back online meetings.

Beta waves are patterns of electrical activity with a high frequency and low amplitude, and while they are not in themselves seen as harmful, an excess is considered negative.

“Having the right amount of beta waves allows us to focus. Prominence of this wave causes anxiety, high arousal, an inability to relax and stress,” said Dr Priyanka Abhang, a researcher in India, and co-author of Introduction to EEG- and SpeechBased Emotion Recognition.

The Microsoft research found that having breaks between meetings reduced beta waves, even after several subsequent virtual meetings. The importance of taking short breaks is also recognised by Stephen Wood, a professor of management at the University of Leicester in the UK, who researches home working.

“There’s the break you should have from work – a cup of tea,” he said. “And move around and get your eyes away from the screen.

“Movement is very important – people making sure their shoulders don’t get rounded. It’s about ergonomics and well-being.”

He said focusing on something outside – such as a feature in the garden – was the type of thing people working from home could do to give themselves some respite from the pressures of work.

Concerns over Zoom fatigue play into wider issues, much discussed over the past year, about the pluses and minuses of working from home.

There are many obvious benefits, said Prof Wood, such as enjoying the peace and quiet of home and being able to think on your own.

On the other hand, in focus groups he has conducted, employees talked about missing the social side of work. This is about more than chatting socially over coffee – it also concerns being around colleagues to share ideas and do brainstorming.

“Much comes out of impromptu encounters and corridor meetings, and the value of being able to nip into people’s offices which resolves issues quickly,” he said. He suggests a good way of making employees feel more connected when working remotely is to involve them in working parties that make recommendations about staff-related issues.

“Virtual birthday parties – that’s not the issue,” Prof Wood said. “You have to involve people more.”

Typically, people acknowledge the “double-headed nature” of working from home and want to retain some element of it, aiming for a hybrid model.