Yes, I get it, Zoom (or Skype or Microsoft teams or whatever platform you use) has saved us all from complete isolation in our COVID19 bubble and allowed the business world to actually continue to do business. Yes, I get it, it has been wonderful to have that extra time at home and not commute to work. But on behalf of the extraverts that inhabit this world (and probably a fair number of introverts), I have to say how zoned out I am by zoom.
Every day we are confronted with a sea of faces whose whole personalities have been reduced to a 2 cm square image and blended into one amorphous screen.
Extraverts are wired to read social clues and to “read” the room and zoom makes this exhausting. In the sea of faces, I have no idea who is making virtual eye contact and actually looking at me. I have also no idea if you are actually part of this meeting or secretly checking your emails, watching Grey’s anatomy or even doing your taxes. And did everyone just watch me scratch my nose?
When you physically attend a meeting, those one-one conversations either before or after a meeting is when the magic happens and I miss those real conversations that take place that are so important to building real relationships with people. I also miss those side conversations that are so wonderful when you are out at the pub or having dinner with friends. They really don't happen with zoom unless you chat which each other while someone is talking, which beyond the passing comment may really be rude!
Real conversations that are elevated above the banter and the passing commentary are when a real interchange of people’s thoughts and feelings essentially happens. I often think that open plan offices where everyone can hear everyone’s conversations has actually contributed to a reduction in communication. How honest can you be when everyone else is listening and judging and how can you really explore something of importance when it is all about the banter?
There is also an energy that is created when people are physically together. Just think about that family gathering when either everyone is talking to someone or someone is holding court with some funny antidote that only your family can appreciate. Or that concert where the atmosphere is electric even though you are hearing the same song you have heard a million times but hearing them in the atmosphere created by thousands of people just like you. I think this is why on-line learning results in people wanting more. There is something to be said about physically being in a tutorial where you can almost touch the passion in the room.
Because that energy of people’s physical presence is just not there, after a zoom meeting regardless of how delightful the participants are, I feel like putting my finger into a power point just to remind myself that I am actually still alive!
So where does this leave me in this new world. Well, I know how lucky I am to have zoom in my life. So despite being zoned out by zoom and being honest about my frustration, I am actually happy when I see someone’s face pop up on the screen so there is a face as well as a voice. I am also actually beyond thrilled when I go out and sit in a café and sit with friends and family in the flesh.
My appreciation for these times is now just so heightened. I am sure as the Queen said in her address recently: "We will meet again” but what she really meant to say was: "We will meet again not zoom again!"
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