Latest news with #ZoomFatigue
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Cutting Meetings Is The New Leadership Flex: Here's How To Do It
Bored woman sitting in meeting room with her colleagues Let's be honest—most meetings aren't productive, and everyone knows it. Half of them could've been an email, and the other half probably shouldn't have happened at all. It's the stuff of workplace satire: we sit there thinking about lunch or silently pleading for someone to wrap it up, while the clock eats away at actual work time that could have resulted in productivity. If your days are filled with back-to-back meetings, you're not leading—you're drowning in noise and calling it strategy. According to the Harvard Business Review review, the average executive now spends 23 hours a week in meetings, a number that's more than doubled since the 1960s. That's almost 60% of the workweek - and it's mostly a waste of time. In the current 'do more with less' corporate era, Microsoft's global data shows meeting time has increased by 252% since 2020, and it's not making teams better—just busier. Your People Are Burned Out—and Bored The fallout is palpable. The majority of meetings drain energy, focus, and morale. Endless meetings increase frustration and decrease productivity. Countless online calls lead to cognitive overload—known as Zoom fatigue—and even in-person meetings disrupt workflow and increase stress. Worse, meetings often become performative: people show up, say little, and leave unchanged. The result? Employees aren't just disengaging—they're silently quitting your culture. The 15-Minute Rule: Shorter, Smarter, Sharper Here's the fix: no meeting should last longer than 15 minutes unless necessary. Stop the obligatory 'we need an hour' mantra - you really don't. According to the Wall Street Journal, 60% of productive meetings are now under 15 minutes, and this strategy is growing faster. Why? Because brevity forces precision. Want real productivity? Start enforcing time limits. Use stand-up huddles, keep attendance lean, and anchor every meeting to a single, clear objective. If it can be said in an email, Slack, or shared doc—do that instead. Ask These Three Questions Before You Book If the answer to any is 'no,' cancel the invite. Fewer Meetings. Better Outcomes. Success doesn't come from talking about work—it comes from doing it. Real leaders know the difference. Stop using meetings as a shield. Start protecting what truly drives results: time, focus, and meaningful execution. Lead with purpose—not out of habit. Reclaim your calendar. Reclaim your team. Reclaim your impact.
Fast Company
06-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Should you try a no-meeting week?
Knowledge‑workers spend roughly one working day every week, or 23% of their time, in a meeting. The weight of the workday often prevents employees from having uninterrupted time to concentrate, causing them to extend their hours well beyond the traditional 9-to-5. It's tempting for companies to embrace the appeal of 'no meetings,' hoping the extra time will lead to more focused work. But does eliminating meetings actually work? Grace Williams, VP of Client Relations of the PR agency PANBlast, convinced her leadership team to cancel all meetings for a week. With over 20 meetings filling more than half her schedule, Grace saw a 'no meetings week' as a chance to get meaningful work done while relieving some Zoom fatigue. The result? While some employees missed social interactions and struggled with understanding workload, 92% of employees said they'd like to repeat the experiment again later that year. So, what's the right move for companies?' Should they dedicate a day each week to deep work, or test a full week without meetings? And in an era of improved collaboration tools and smarter calendar management, is the real opportunity in small refinements rather than sweeping changes? Here, representatives from companies of all sizes share how they're rethinking meeting culture. Consider one day of deep work I brought a 'No-Meeting Fridays' policy with me when I joined Tormach two years ago—the rest of the company adopted it soon after. The result? Higher productivity, no communication gaps, and a noticeable shift in morale. People use Fridays to catch up on emails, finish admin tasks, and tie up loose ends, which clears the mental clutter before the weekend. It also creates a natural incentive to finish collaborative work by Thursday, so deadlines tend to be hit earlier. The idea came from my experience at larger companies, where Friday meetings were often canceled last-minute by leadership, throwing off your day and your mindset. It felt inefficient and frustrating, so I decided to flip that script and just eliminate the expectation of meetings altogether. We stay connected through Microsoft Teams, and Friday has organically become a day when people share weekly wins in our channels—keeping communication flowing while still honoring deep work time. Give employees tools to step out of meetings No meeting policies and no meeting weeks should be a thing of the past thanks to AI. Instead of an all-or-nothing approach that limits how people want to work, instead give them the tools to step out of meetings that they can miss, while still ensuring they get the information they need. It's all infinitely more possible today. When teams implement an AI meeting copilot, individuals naturally attend 20% fewer meetings nearly immediately, while still getting access to the content via shared meeting reports and connected enterprise search. No one even has to review meeting minutes any longer; you simply prompt your knowledge base for the information you need, and move through your day faster. David Shim, Cofounder and CEO, Read AI Anchor the week with written, public commitments Growth requires speed, and meetings were slowing us down. So, we implemented a complete no-meeting policy for five consecutive business days. No regular standups, check-ins, or even 'quick' calls. We structured it like a sprint, with each participant committing to one key project for the week and sharing it in a Slack thread Monday morning. Output during that week doubled compared to a typical week, as measured by the number of campaigns launched and features delivered. It felt electric. However, by Friday, we realized that relationships had suffered slightly; informal collaboration and creative riffing were almost nonexistent without real-time chats. To ensure long-term success, anchor the week with written, public commitments. At beehiiv, we require a Monday kickoff post and a Friday recap. Without that, a lack of meetings simply makes people invisible, and invisibility kills momentum faster than meetings ever could. Get buy-in from the top down Shift has implemented Deep Work Wednesdays for over a year for the entire company. The key to a successful no-meeting policy is to first achieve true buy-in from the top down. It's often at the leadership level where schedules get busy and meeting invites get scheduled just to find the time when no one has meetings booked. Individual team members also look to the company's leadership to assess how committed they should be to new company policies or changes in their workflow. The long-term success of a company's no-meeting policy is reliant on those at the top setting the right tone and leading by example. Be intentional about meetings Thoughtful meeting habits aren't about cutting things out entirely, but it is about being intentional. I'm ruthless about only attending meetings with a clear agenda and purpose. If something can be shared as ongoing communication, instead of a separate meeting, it should be. If I can empower someone to move forward without me, even better.
Forbes
17-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Turn Zoom Gloom Into Zoom Bloom With These 7 Productivity Tips
Jason Richmond, Founder and Chief Culture Officer of Ideal Outcomes, Inc. Author of Culture Ignited: 5 Disciplines for Adaptive Leadership. At the end of a frenetic business day recently, mentally and physically drained, I imagined what it must feel like to run the Boston Marathon. And then it hit me: I had run a marathon of sorts by enduring eight back-to-back video conferencing calls ranging from 30 minutes to 90 minutes each. No wonder I was overcome with the so-called 'Zoom gloom.' I'm not alone in this struggle. For countless professionals, video calls have become the backbone of daily work, with many, like me, averaging five or more a day. While platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have revolutionized how we collaborate, they come with a potential cost. I've found that video calls create a hyper-vigilant state, akin to performing on a stage, where participants feel constantly 'on.' They can drain cognitive resources, leading to burnout (or "Zoom fatigue"). A neurological study by Microsoft's Human Factors Lab, which measured brain activity, found that stress levels climb steadily during back-to-back video meetings, with no chance for the brain to recover. Why are video calls so taxing? Unlike face-to-face interactions, they demand intense focus on a grid of faces, stripping away the subtle body language cues we rely on to gauge reactions or emotions. Staring at a screen for hours can strain our eyes and minds. Sitting in one position for too long causes physical discomfort. People may also wrestle with self-consciousness from seeing their faces on screen, amplifying stress. The good news? With intentional strategies, we can transform video calls from energy-draining marathons into focused, productive sessions. Here are seven practical approaches. Not every discussion requires a video meeting. Before hitting 'schedule,' pause and ask: Can this be resolved via email, a quick phone call or a shared document? Video calls have become a default for many teams, but overusing them leads to unnecessary strain. Audit your calendar for the week. Identify at least one or two meetings that could be replaced with a concise email or a 10-minute voice call. By reducing the frequency and number of video calls, you free up mental space and time for deeper work. Nothing saps motivation like a meandering meeting with no clear goal. Every video call should have a defined purpose, a structured agenda and a focus on actionable outcomes. Without these, participants can leave feeling frustrated and that their time was wasted. Before scheduling a call, draft a brief agenda and share it with attendees in advance. Include the meeting's objective (e.g., 'Decide on Q3 budget priorities') and estimated time for each topic. During the call, assign a facilitator to keep things on track. A focused meeting respects everyone's time and energy. Avoid tangents, overly complex presentations or cluttered visuals that overwhelm participants. If you're sharing your screen, ensure documents are clear, concise and aesthetically appealing to maintain attention. Stick to one topic at a time and use polls or quick Q&A segments to keep attendees engaged. If a discussion veers off-topic, gently redirect it or 'park' side issues for later. It's tempting to check emails, respond to texts or skim a report during a video call, especially if the conversation feels slow or less relevant. But multitasking doesn't make you more productive—it increases cognitive strain, making burnout worse. Commit to a single-minded focus during meetings. Close unrelated tabs, silence notifications and keep a notepad for jotting down thoughts instead of jumping to another task. Hopping from one video call to another without a pause is a surefire way to fry your brain. I've found that short breaks between meetings allow my mind to reset, improving my attention and engagement. Michael Bohan, senior director of Microsoft's Human Factors Lab, says, 'Breaks do, in fact, give your brain a chance to reset. And it's not just that you're not as fatigued, you're actually bringing more of your 'A game' to each of these meetings. You're able to be more engaged and more focused.' Build five- to 10-minute buffers between meetings. Use this time to step away from your screen, stretch, grab water or take a few deep breaths. If your calendar is packed, try the '50/10 rule'—50 minutes of meeting time followed by a 10-minute break. Not every meeting needs to be a video extravaganza. Audio-only calls reduce the pressure of being 'on camera,' potentially easing self-consciousness and visual overload. Even during video calls, giving participants permission to turn off their cameras periodically can provide relief. Set a norm like 'cameras optional after 20 minutes' to balance engagement with comfort. Breaking free from the relentless cycle of video calls is a game-changer. Scheduling at least one video-free day per week gives you a chance to recharge, concentrate on deep work or connect with colleagues in other ways, like email or informal chats. Block off a full day (or half-day if that's more feasible) as 'video-free.' Communicate this boundary to your team and use the time for strategic planning, creative tasks or even a walk to clear your mind. In a world where video calls have become the default mode of collaboration, it's easy to lose sight of our human need for balance, movement and authentic connection. 'Zoom gloom' isn't just a catchy phrase—it's a measurable strain on our well-being. With deliberate effort, we can reshape how we approach virtual meetings to make them sustainable, productive and even enjoyable. Staying connected shouldn't feel like running a daily marathon. Instead, let's turn Zoom gloom into Zoom bloom, creating a work environment where collaboration fuels us rather than drains us. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
