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Joe Weppler / June 5, 2020

Experiencing “Zoom Fatigue?” You’re not alone.

You won’t find the term in any psychology textbooks, but experts are saying that “Zoom Fatigue” is rapidly becoming a common occurrence for people working from home during the pandemic.

The term started as slang for the exhaustion people are experiencing conducting their day-to-day activities through video-calling interfaces like Google Hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Teams and the eponymous Zoom. Google searches for the term have steadily increased since early March, and psychologists say that several factors are leading to Zoom fatigue.

So why are we finding these video calls so draining? How are the current circumstances contributing to the problem? And what can we do to combat it while still maintaining the rules and habits that keep us safe?

Filling in the Gaps

In an interview with The Inquirer, Eric Zillmer, the Carl R. Pacifico professor of neuropsychology at Drexel University explained that partial blame falls on the lack of nonverbal cues in video calls.

“An amazing amount of neuronal mass is dedicated to reading people’s faces, sensing emotions, social cues, the ambience, intuition,” said Zillmer.

But on video calls, much of that information is lost — whether to fuzzy, stuttering video or simply the two-dimensional nature of a face on a screen. Without these visual social cues, our brains are working overtime in an attempt to hyper-focus on words alone.

“You have to fill in the gaps,” Zillmer said. “And that takes cognitive energy. You get tired more quickly.”

The issue is compounded when there are multiple people on a single call. Your brain struggles to understand each, which can lead to not understanding any.

Always On

It’s not just work. During the pandemic, when quarantine is the norm, video calls aren’t just about doing business. They’re how we connect — with friends and family, professors and classmates, and even church. We’re following along with our yoga instructors, participating in educational webinars, and checking in on our loved ones.

There’s a common denominator with all these calls we experience throughout the day — a little picture of ourselves in the corner. In normal day-to-day interactions, we don’t see ourselves. In video calls, our faces are omnipresent. This leads us to be hyper-aware of ourselves — from our physical appearance to our environment. Our brains magnify every perceived flaw, and we can’t escape the feeling that everyone in the call is looking directly at us.

If that isn’t mentally exhausting enough on its own, being on camera also puts us in “performance” mode. We sit up straight, we put on a big smile, we over-articulate verbally and we over-emphasize physically. Think about the last in-person conversation you had. Did you stand three feet away from them and stare at their face the entire time? No — you looked around, your peripherals taking in other people or objects. On camera, we worry that looking away makes it look like we’re not paying attention. Without those breaks in the “constant gaze,” our brains get tired.

Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to combat Zoom Fatigue. The most obvious being cut down on the number of video calls you participate in. There are a few ways to go about this:

Designated Meeting Times

You can establish times designated for “No Meetings” to give you time to refresh your brain and focus in on non-video related tasks. You could even designate a day to be specifically meeting free. If it’s conducive to how your team operates, you could do the opposite and schedule all your meetings in one day so you can keep the rest of your week Zoom-free.

Meet Only When Necessary

There’s a classic office saying that follows many meetings that don’t see much participation — “That could’ve been an email.”

Take advantage of emails and chat platforms. Text-first has the added benefit of forcing you to write down your thoughts — which will often lead you to think more critically about your ideas and even solve your problems before you hit send.

If someone is asking you for a video meeting, learn to say no if you don’t think the meeting will be valuable. Provide alternatives, ask for documents or video — a lot of the time people ask for a meeting as a default when the problem at hand could just as easily be solved with an email. If Zoom Fatigue is getting to you, don’t be afraid to say no. Your time and energy are valuable.

Play by the Rules

Sometimes, calls are unavoidable. When they are, set rules for yourself and your team and conduct your calls within them.

Create an agenda and stick to it. If your meeting is going to be long, schedule breaks. If your meeting software has the option, consider hiding the view of your camera to reduce that “performance” mode tendency. If video isn’t necessary – consider some good, old-fashioned voice communication.

Finally, if you need to have a meeting and it needs to be on video — do your best to keep it short. Go in prepared, say what needs to be said, and get out. Your brain will thank you for it.

Joe Weppler / May 22, 2020

How Are Telecom Operators Coping With Increased Traffic?

Rogers Communications Inc. recently told a House of Commons committee that home internet usage is up more than 50 percent compared to before the coronavirus pandemic. Voice call usage on the Rogers wireless network is up 40 percent, and 1-800 toll-free calls are up more than 300 percent. Rogers customers alone are making more than 50 million wireless voice calls per day.

According to Akamai, a tech company that monitors web defenses, global internet traffic has increased by as much as 30 percent since mid-March. That’s almost an entire year’s worth of internet traffic growth in just a few short weeks. It’s important to note that this growth was experienced even with the loss of live sports streaming, which normally accounts for significant global traffic.

When it comes to mobile data consumption, the trends are unsurprisingly similar — especially in areas with heavy lockdowns such as Spain and Italy. Italy — the first European country to go on lockdown — saw peak usage increase by nearly 90 percent.

So how are telecom operators and content owners across the world stepping up to address the impacts of such significant traffic surges?

Telcos everywhere have worked closely with their respective governments to provide increased internet services to the public to help manage the crisis. Engineers are working around the clock adding additional fibre-optic connections and servers to those invaluable central offices that house and reroute customer data.

Video game companies like Sony and Microsoft are bottle-necking peak-hour downloads to help combat the congestion. Massive video streaming platforms like Youtube, Amazon and Netflix have adjusted their encoding rates, sacrificing video quality to help reduce the strain on telecom operators. This is especially pertinent, as major video streaming platforms are reporting massive increases in usage as people spend more time on the couch. The television industry as a whole saw a 20 percent increase in viewership in mid-March, and Amazon’s live streaming platform Twitch saw its total amount of hours watched jump from 33 million on March 8th to 43 million on March 22nd.

In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission has granted temporary access to normally reserved mobile spectrum bands to provide additional broadband capacity. Similar steps are being taken across the planet, from Ireland to Brazil.

AT&T has waived data overage fees in the United States. Vodacom in South Africa has invested $24 million to add network capacity to support remote workers. In Canada, Bell accelerated the rollout of its new wireless home internet service in rural areas. In Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus virus, China’s three major telecom carriers have set up 5G stations for health care workers in city hospitals.

Businesses everywhere are experiencing unprecedented circumstances, and they have all had to adapt — whether to growth or loss — due to the pandemic. In these strange times, it’s comforting to see the international effort put towards keeping humanity connected.

Joe Weppler / April 9, 2020

Best Practices for Working From Home on a Team

We all have our strengths and weaknesses — and as more and more of us work from home, those strengths and weaknesses can be compounded — or even reversed. Maybe a change in environment is exactly what the procrastinator needed to become more productive. Or maybe it’s an excuse for them to focus on their household chores instead of the work they should be doing.

Either way, our strengths and weaknesses define us. They especially define how we work together. By playing to our strengths in a team, we become much more productive overall. But by giving in to our weaknesses, we can easily derail a meeting and negatively influence our overall agenda.

Here are some best practices (and things to avoid) while working from home as a member of a team.

Ideas — Yours and Mine

The only thing better than a team member having an excellent idea is when you have an excellent idea — but either way, both are to be encouraged and celebrated.

If your team member has a great pitch or idea for solving a problem — it’s important to build them up and expand. Ask questions and help flesh out how it will work practically. Be cognizant of the potential negatives, but instead of saying it won’t work, do your best to brainstorm with them to find the path through.

In the same vein, when you have an interesting thought, share it! Don’t keep quiet — bright ideas are always desired in a team setting. Invite your team to help you work through the issues, and you’ll inspire them to contribute too.

Keep in mind — your goal should not be to dominate the conversation. Don’t speak over others, and don’t interrupt. But if you think your idea is great, let it be heard. And let your team members work with you to make it even better.

Keep the Ball Rolling

One of the worst feelings while participating in an online meeting is looking at the clock, realizing you’ve hit your allotted time for the meeting, and noting that your team hasn’t accomplished anything. Whether there were distractions, arguments, or confusion — it doesn’t matter. The time was unproductive, and you’re nobetter off after the meeting than you were before it.

One of the most valuable skills you can have in a team setting is being aware of everyone’s time. Encourage your team members to focus on the agenda. If a distraction comes up, try to shift the focus back to the issue at hand — respectfully. Online meetings become much less fun when you think your time is being wasted. Endeavour to be the person that keeps the team on track, and everyone will thank you for it.

If you do have someone that often derails the conversation, whether on purpose or by accident, remember to kindly thank them for their input on the topic, but encourage them to share their thoughts on the actual issue at hand.

Step Up and Take Action

Awkward silence can be the death of a productive meeting. When no one else is willing to speak up, strive to be the one that does. By taking action and moving the conversation forward, you encourage others to participate and you make sure that your meeting doesn’t run short with nothing of value said.

Use the tools you’re given to keep people engaged. Send photo examples or use the virtual whiteboards and other tools that modern video conferencing apps have en masse. If the conversation grinds to a halt, shift to a different angle and re-approach the issue. No matter what you do, by simply taking action, you’re providing a great value to all your team members. It’s much easier to work off of a catalyst then silence.

Again, the flipside here would be the quiet team members who seem to just be along for the ride. Some great methods for getting your quieter members to speak up can be assigning them something to research beforehand so they can prepare, or simply asking them directly to share their thoughts during the discussion. There generally aren’t any right or wrong answers during a meeting — it’s all about getting everyone’s input and crafting your solution to the problem in turn.

Remember to Keep It Light

Let’s face it — most meetings are boring. But they don’t need to be. While it’s important to focus on the task at hand, don’t be afraid to make jokes or show off your pets on camera. A little lightheartedness can go a long way — especially in these difficult times. Aspire to be the one that brightens the mood. You might be shocked at how much more productive and valuable a meeting can be when everyone isn’t dour and serious the entire time.

Above all, make sure to remind yourself and your teammates that while things may be tough right now, you are all resilient and you will make it through to sunnier days.