Last week while taking part in the CPO Series for Dragonboat I was asked about the nature of the more hybrid workplace and what product leaders should do. One of the suggestions I provided was to setup some zoom calls where turning on your camera is OPTIONAL or encouraged to only happen if you are speaking.
Why? Because Zoom is exhausting!!! Especially in our current back to back 30 min increment work that many product folks find themselves in. So here are a few things you can to to minimize Zoom fatigue for the product organization (and everyone else because let's be serious we talk to EVERYONE!)
1) Take a look at the meetings on your calendar which you lead and see which of them would be fine without video. These are probably team meetings or status updates (which maybe you can eliminate all together and do asynchronously via a dashboard, email, or Slack), but in reality a lot of one-on-one meetings could also be done as voice only. When I mentioned my no video idea to Tad Martin, he told me that he has started scheduling calls with some of his team members instead of video chats.
2) Evaluate if everyone really needs to be part of the meeting. Some of the best companies have strict rules about how to minimize extra people in meetings. Periodically review the list of attendees and ensure that everyone is both receiving and providing value. Be honest that some participants could probably be just fine if they received an email update after the meeting and only attended larger strategic discussions on a less frequent basis.
3) Setup cultural norms for how people with their videos off still need to be engaged. It cannot be that their camera is turned off and then they walk away or allow themselves to be engrossed in another task. This may be through using in app gestures like thumbs up, or responding to group questions via chat functionality, or something else you come up with but do something ensures they are paying attention. And per #2 above... if you don't get enough value out of the meeting, question why you are there to begin with.
Zoom can be exhausting, but there are ways to make it less so. By evaluating which meetings don't need video, minimizing the number of attendees, and establishing cultural norms, you can make Zoom more manageable for yourself and your team.
So... what are you doing as a leader to minimize Zoom/Teams/Hangout burnout??
Hi! I’m Tami, the founder of The Product Leader Coach where I work with product leaders and teams to realize their potential by focusing on their strengths.
If you enjoyed this post, I am available for product leadership coaching or team training. Learn more about my services and upcoming children’s book.