09/13/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Good Life
Updated 9/13/2021 6:01 AM
More than a year and a half passed since the Covid-19 pandemic caused many people to readjust their working lives to remote mode.
The
home office
was imposed by force and today it is still in force both in 100% virtual models and in
hybrid schemes
, which combine presence and virtuality.
And along with this new normal came the so-called "Zoom fatigue."
What is Zoom fatigue?
The feeling of exhaustion and lack of energy that some people experience after holding virtual meetings.
While there are several factors that may contribute to it, new research published in the
Journal of Applied Psychology
suggests that
the camera may be partially to blame
.
The study led by Allison Gabriel, professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona, analyzed the role of cameras in employee fatigue and explored whether that feeling is more intense in some than in others.
"There is always the assumption that if you have the camera on during meetings
you are more engaged,
" said the researcher.
"But there is also a lot of pressure for self-presentation associated with being in front of the camera," he said and included among those pressure factors from the environment looking professional to looking good and that the children - if there were any - are out of the room.
Newer women and employees in organizations, the most vulnerable.
Photo Shutterstock.
The camera that runs out
After a four-week experiment involving 103 participants, Allison Gabriel and her colleagues confirmed their intuition: that it is
more exhausting to have the camera on
during a virtual meeting.
"When people had cameras on or were instructed to keep them on, they reported more fatigue than their counterparts who didn't use cameras," he said.
"And that fatigue was correlated with
less voice and less participation
during meetings. So in reality, those who had cameras on potentially participated less than those who had them off. This contradicts the conventional belief that cameras should be on in meetings. virtual ".
Most vulnerable groups
The team also found that these unwanted effects were stronger for women and for younger employees in the organization, likely due to additional pressures linked to self-presentation.
"Employees who tend to be more vulnerable in terms of their social position in the workplace, such as
women and newer employees
, have a greater sense of fatigue when they must keep cameras on during meetings," Gabriel said.
"Women often feel pressure to look good or are more likely to have
interruptions in child care
, and newer employees feel they need to be in front of the camera and participate to
show productivity,
" she said.
They advise that people can decide whether to turn on the cameras.
Photo Shutterstock.
Promote autonomy
The researcher suggests that expecting employees to turn on the cameras during Zoom meetings is not the best route.
Considers that they should have the
autonomy to choose to turn them on or not
;
and advises against making assumptions about distraction or productivity if someone chooses to keep the camera turned off.
"At the end of the day, we want employees to feel autonomous and supported at work. Having autonomy over the use of the camera is another step in that direction," he stressed.
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