There’s more to it than just Zoom fatigue.
Have you ever met a new work colleague, business partner, or project team member and thought, “I just love working with…insert name here…?” It doesn’t happen often, but every once in awhile I feel like I strike gold and meet a colleague with whom I feel an instant connection. Have I made any instant connections over Zoom in the past six months? Um, no.
I have thought about this phenomenon several times during the pandemic and wondered seriously, is it me? Am I just doing this whole Zoom-thing wrong? After all, I am an introvert so it really could be me. Why do some of my virtual meetings and happy hours feel so vacant, somewhat meaningless and/or difficult? I even feel this way with my Team sometimes, which seems ridiculous since we all know each other on both a personal and professional level. I should have known that my colleague Erik Lucken, someone with whom I instantly enjoyed working with, would not only reinforce my self-diagnosis of “Zoom Fatigue” (yes, it’s a real thing) but would also be working to answer the larger question - did/does working from home really work? His white paper is a great read for anyone running a business of any size – but it is especially insightful as a small business owner for several reasons. Here are just a few:
I don’t have capacity to undertake a workplace planning effort right now, but his analysis provides some concrete reasons to think about how our office will conduct business today and post-pandemic;
He re-emphasizes the importance of the “Team” and its ability to interact in-person. Experientially I already know this, but it is particularly validating to have an expert say it; and
While it is important to think about long-term shifts in how and where work gets done, it will continue to be essential for a company to provide physical spaces so that socialization, collaboration and innovation can take place.
If you have a few minutes, I highly encourage you to read the full paper which can be accessed here https://interiorarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Did-WFH-Work_ia_interiorarchitects.pdf . Teaser - the paper has some great statistics that you can effortlessly drop in your next Zoom session.
Have a great weekend - Jennifer