The pandemic may be over, but the ways in which we work have changed forever. Hybrid events and teleconferencing are here to stay.
As much as we are over meeting-by-screen, there are some benefits.
Just last week, I was face to face – er, screen to screen – with coaching clients in Dubai and London before delivering a workshop with a Canadian colleague to a distributed United States team.
I appreciated the ability to connect and react to their facial expressions in real-time.
And yet still, Zooms are exhausting.
How can you create and maintain global connections without creating unnecessary fatigue?
Read on for three quick tips:
- Hide your self-view. This bears repeating: Hide. Your. Own. Face. Being confronted by our own reflection staring back at us is distracting, and we are far more critical of ourselves this way. Sure, you may want to sneak a peek to make sure you don’t have spinach in your teeth, but after that initial pre-meeting check, hide your image.
- Stand Up. This seems counter-intuitive…. stand up to avoid fatigue? But if you’re like me and have spent too many hours on a couch during inclement weather, you know that fatigue begets fatigue. When you alternate your body position, you automatically increase blood flow and will naturally feel more energized and less dragged down by that budget discussion.
- Get picky. To preserve your energy, be selective about which meetings you attend and which you don’t. If it’s important to connect with a colleague, consider talking and walking. You may find a spring in your step and feel you’re able to better focus on the subject – and person! – at hand.
What are your tips for both creating and conserving energy at work?
I’d love to hear!
