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Chronic ZOOM Fatigue
Bruce Griffiths M.S.
COVID forced us to ZOOM (and made the word a verb). Organizations abruptly and completely stopped in-person training and events. But, once the plague had passed, it left us with ZOOM (or MS TEAMS or GOOGLE Meets) as a habit; a too easy default option for learning and meeting solutions. We're all just now just a few clicks away from a ZOOM. But efficiency is not effectiveness.
A summary of solid research suggests that, with good training design (a serious caveat), on-line learning is as effective as in-person for knowledge gain, and in some instances skill acquisition. But questions remain when it comes to training some competencies, especially those related to emotional intelligence. Interpersonal competence (working well with others on a team) does, it seems, require actually being with others. This is reinforced in the training axiom that many skills need to be learned in context.
Here are some additional concerns regarding our current organizational bias for remote learning and events:
- Research and experiments into on-line learning have demonstrated its effectiveness in terms of knowledge gain. However, we remain somewhat skeptical, as learning experiments tend to be disciplined and managed with accountability (e.g., pre and post testing). However, most actual on-line learning, in my experience, is much less controlled, especially in corporate settings. It's sometimes self-paced, conducted while at work (with all those distractions), and lacks learning accountability (i.e., measured knowledge / skill gain, transfer of training to the workplace organizational impact).
- On-line learning (and meetings) additionally reinforces our truly negative general migration away from human interaction. We need to get together in person much more often. We should consider that in planning training and events.
Finally, we'll recommend a good read that preceded (and was prescient about) our brave new virtual world. The book is REMOTE: Office Not Required by Jason Fried & David Hansson (2010). The authors chronicled the many advantages of a remote organization (e.g., a recruiting pool unlimited by geography), but they also reinforced the absolute requirement for regular live meetings and events to build and bond their teams. Nothing replaces a handshake, a casual conversation over coffee, or other shared live experiences.
To learn more about OSI's Polaris® Competencies, please click here ( https://orgsysint.com/) or contact Crystal Matsuura at OSI at cmatsuura@orgsysint.com.
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