How to protect productivity in the age of Videoconferencing

You wake up energized and motivated to check all the things you have to tick off your to-do list at the end of a few meetings. Then, one by one, quick questions and coordination meetings fill your calendar, every day. In the blink of an eye, it is dark outside - and the to-do list you had in the morning is left untouched, accumulating more urgent priorities.

For many of us, as WFH (Work From Home) has become just 'work', this frustrating cycle can seem impossible to break.

It is easy to blame our video-conferencing app, which we click on often. But as our days get longer, our calendars get fuller and we can't see the bottom of it, it's time to question the true source of our productivity battle.

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Is there really clarity on the other end of the phone?

Our diaries are always full of meetings, some with clear agendas, others a little less focused. But as many companies are adapting to working with a distributed team, it is easier than ever to always feel a few steps behind. Unfortunately, this fear of being professionally cut off often materialises in the form of lots and lots of coordination meetings. In video conferences. Chained.

But before you schedule yet another call, you have to ask yourself: 'What do I really hope to gain from this call? For many, the answer is one of the following:

Keeping up with information

Having lost the pace to which we are accustomed in the office, it is easy to feel anxiety about the progress of a project you are managing or about a client for whom your fear passes creeps in discreetly.

In an attempt to simulate the 'drop by your desk for a quick question', harmless 15-minute coordination calls to keep up to date are becoming common.

'Fill the gap'

We no longer have the comfort of a shared office to consolidate all the decisions made, knowledge accumulated and progress made.

If you do not have a common, shared Digital Workplace with a centralised information source, you and your team will often be searching for data. This is because our tools - whether CRM, ERP or other - remain woefully disconnected from each other - and often from our team members as well.

That is why we are organising more video conferences to fill the information gaps.

By spending the first 10 minutes of a call just getting on the same page, sharing data and reconciling information gaps, meetings become less about moving forward and more about repetitive updates.

And when they are chained, it's even worse.

Reassuring stability

It would be an injustice to approach this topic ignoring the fact that most of us miss our colleagues. We like to chat, to share what we're working on, and especially at a time when you've lost the chance to have a mid-corridor chat with anyone other than your roommate, many schedule calls just to reconnect.

Calls are for people, tools are for data

For large-scale planning and brainstorming, nothing can replace a good strategy meeting.

But if you meet to share data, collaborate on specific business topics, or just 'ask a quick question' - you have a tools or platform problem, not a video conferencing problem.

When you spend tons of time going back and forth to Zoom for the above reasons (keeping up, stability or filling gaps), you are abusing one tool and ignoring everything else.

Broadcasting basic information on calls all day long drains you and your team, leaving nothing for creative brainstorming, project planning and other initiatives where calls can add substantial value.

To be defined when making a video call: transparency goes both ways

As we get used to the norms of smartworking, realise that things are still getting done, projects are still moving forward, and the sky has not yet fallen - a normal daily rhythm will form.

Transparent calendars. Protecting your most valuable asset (your team) from video call fatigue is a high priority, and can be really difficult in these 'always on time' times. By setting a precedent of realistic expectations and acceptance towards the necessary 'off-hours', you give your team a chance to show up fully charged.

Here, at monday.com, we have encouraged people to put 'family time' on their calendars - and we respect those boundaries. Setting these expectations in advance has helped us avoid productivity problems due to video conferencing.

Define why we need to video conference: the same principles still apply

Some video conferencing has to be there - in some cases, there is no alternative for the kind of creativity and energy a meeting with others can bring. But given our new WFH reality, we have outgrown it.

So before you instinctively plan another Zoom meeting, consider these two points:

YES to the call: Synchronising big pictures, weekly progress meetings, meetings where you need to make progress as a group, team projects that require collaboration not covered by tools

NO to the call: Data sharing, synchronisation and status updates, collaboration on document editing or design changes, "a quick question", meetings during blocked calendar hours.

Allow your tools to lend a hand

Relying on video conferencing to answer every question spends mental energy clarifying and synchronising, instead of adding real collaborative and creative value. By identifying functions that can be solved with tools, not people, organisation-wide processes can become smoother and you can stop jumping from one call to the next.

Allow your tools to lend a hand

By relying on video conferencing to answer every question, mental energy is spent clarifying and synchronising, instead of adding real collaborative and creative value. By identifying functions that can be solved with tools, not people, organisation-wide processes can become smoother and you can stop jumping from one call to the next.

If you are thinking that your organisation does not currently have tools that can perform these functions, you may have a tool problem, not a call problem. When taking a critical look at the tools your organisation is using, there are a few critical things that should be at the forefront:

• Flexibility. Can the tool be used for a variety of workflows or processes and for multiple teams?
• Integration. If this is where everyone needs to feel confident in controlling information, they need to be able to work well with all the other tools your team is using.
• Transparency. Allowing everyone in the organisation to access the information they need gives them the autonomy to do what they need to do, without requiring a 30-minute call.

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Looking ahead

The habits and structures being built at this time have the potential to define corporate culture and processes for years to come. By drawing clear boundaries and relying on the right tools, you can use this time to create a more ideal workflow within your organisation.

So, use Zoom responsibly.