How to combat Zoom fatigue

Tired of being on mute? Struggling to get your point across on a Zoom call? Dreading dialling in to yet another meeting?

We’re all feeling it.

When remote working became the norm, we all took to video conferencing platforms with ease, setting up meetings to maintain a sense of togetherness.

By November 2020, 1.7 million people were using Zoom on a daily basis.

The effects were unexpected: before long, we all began to experience burnout from the constant calls and virtual meetings. Zoom fatigue swept the nation, and with a fresh lockdown to start the year, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting reprieve any time soon.

The good news?

There are ways to combat Zoom fatigue and alternatives to “jumping on a quick call”.

Zoom vs. User-Generated Video (UGV): exploring the opportunities outside of video calls

The distinct advantages of adding a video dimension to a regular call aren’t up for debate. The emotional connection between two people when they are able to see each other is heightened; non-verbal cues aren’t lost in translation. In short, we can connect with each other on a human level that you just don’t get over the phone.

However, while we all understand these clear benefits, it’s important we start exploring and leveraging other formats in which video can be used. Burnout is real, and when you’re sitting on over-crowded video calls all day, it’s easy to lose focus.

That’s where User-Generated Video comes in.

While Zoom calls have a place in the working day, it can often be more powerful and impactful to replace a call or email with a personal video message.

Why?

Well, for a start, User-Generated Video allows you the time to get into the right headspace before communicating with your audience. Meanwhile, the same advantage is passed on to your audience.

There’s no telling the state of mind your audience will be in during a Zoom call: from parental duties to personal challenges, keeping your focus solely on work-related matters for 8 hours when working from home isn’t easy.

With the information overload we’re experiencing at the moment, UGV gives your audience the time and space to watch the video when they’re most receptive to absorbing the content. Rather than another meeting in their diary, they’ll receive a piece of authentic content that they can watch in their own time - and it can be created and watched from literally anywhere in the world.

How to leverage UGV for internal communications

Leadership comms

When it comes to leadership comms, transparency cultivates trust. Gone are the days where  top-down comms were effective as a means of getting buy-in from key stakeholders. Today, employees and customers alike seek leaders who are open, inclusive and, above all, human.

At the same time, research from Gallup shows that 74% of employees have the feeling they are missing out on important information at work. Whatever the reason, leaders should understand the best way to deliver important information.

User-generated video doesn’t just help to overcome Zoom fatigue, it also helps to humanise leadership teams, adding a layer of much needed authenticity to comms. As well as getting to the heart of an issue, UGV keeps a leadership team approachable, relatable and trustworthy to wider audiences.

Novartis #unboss UGV campaign:

Employee comms

Employee comms tend to suffer two major problems: the first is a tired format and the lethargy of joining yet another video call. The second is an assumption from leadership on how employees are feeling. New plans and subsequent comms are prepared on that basis; employees are told about their challenges rather than asked about them. 

Instead, team leaders should seize the opportunity to involve their people in their corporate storytelling, to give them a voice and a platform to share their concerns or tips with the wider community. 

At Seenit, we ran weekly episodes on our platform at the start of the pandemic which asked our employees for their tips on keeping productive while working from home, combatting loneliness and whether they had any positive messages to share with the community.

The bottom line?

You don’t have to schedule in several calls a day to strike a feeling of community, camaraderie and togetherness. With the right tools and ideas, UGV can achieve this and keep your employees feeling energised rather than fatigued.

Amazon ‘We are all in this together’ UGV campaign:

Employee Engagement

Let’s be honest. After a challenging week working from home that consisted of too many video calls and discussions over instant messaging apps, Zoom Drinks on a Friday evening aren’t the most appealing.

Oftentimes, it can be much more powerful and effective to replace a social session on zoom with a User-Generated-Video challenge, such as a creative content competition or an ‘ask me anything’ session with the Leadership Team. Even a series of birthday messages created and compiled into a personalised video can make an employee feel like a valued member of the team.

We’ve also enjoyed a series of creative UGV competitions at SeenIt; they have proven so effective in keeping employees motivated and engaged with the brand by simply giving them the tools to be creative and share their passions beyond work.

Freedom Mortgage’s ‘Freedom’s got talent’ UGV challenge:

Optimise and scale UGV with Seenit

UGV can be transformational to organisational culture, particularly when we’re all working remotely. However, there are challenges around continuity, editing and direction - especially when you are trying to coordinate lots of different people.

It can get very messy, very quickly! That’s where Seenit comes in. 

Seenit is an enterprise video crowdsourcing platform that allows you to streamline the process start to finish. Direct your people from all over the world to be your own mobile film crew. 

The content filmed on people’s smartphones can then easily be uploaded to the Seenit studio to be curated, edited, and published, all within the Seenit platform. 

So, next time you need to gather the team for an update, ask yourself: 

Is there a more inclusive and engaging way to deliver the information? 

UGV is fast-growing in popularity as leaders seek to refresh their comms and give their audience a voice. What can it do for your team? 

Click below to find out!