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Zoom fatigue unpacked

leadership.garden

151–160 of 166 posts

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#151
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's much more important to just ban Bluetooth. And also wired Jabra headsets that inexplicably still sound like Bluetooth. No more tin can sound, no more dropped words when someone starts talking. Yes, even an internal mic is better in this regard, though it will have problems with echo cancellation.

> It's much more important to just ban Bluetooth In addition to audio quality, people have _constant_ problems with their audio setup across all platforms when using Bluetooth. I've gotten to the point where I will just outright buy someone a plain USB mic just so I can consistently get them on a call without 10 minutes of fumbling audio interfaces. Unfortunately, even after buying them a USB mic + explicitly banning…

Some conference apps just suck at audio. Teams will always pick the wrong mic / headphones, even though I don't have any bluetooth headset connected. And even after I've managed to convince it to use the right one during a call, for the very next call it forgets everything.

But yeah, to your mic point, some people just don't seem to care. I have a weekly conference with someone who takes it from his open office. I can hear his colleague way better than I can hear him.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#153
post #119
post #9

I turn my camera off on big calls and it helps a bunch, there's a process running in the back of my mind when it's on that is constantly screening what I am doing just incase it looks stupid on camera. It feels like being in a panopticon. You never know if someone is looking. It's very tiring. I don't have the same issue in person because you know when people are looking at you in person and there's heaps of context…

I've gotten myself fired for doing this. I kid you not, but they took it as a sign of disinterest and somejow never thought to bring up "yo Martin, what's up with that?" 100% ridiculous childish twattery, but just sayin' ... you can end up in trouble. This was literally the only thing they brought up as "evidence" for my alleged "attitude problem". (I can foresee "dodged a bullet" responses, so just to pre-empt that:…

Wow, I don't know where you live but I would say that's enough for wrongful dismissal here.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#154
I JUST WISH SHIT EXECS WOULD STOP ASKING ME TO TURN MY CAMERA ON AT 7 FUCKING AM JUST TO GIVE MY STANDUP UPDATE.

Because it "increases my collaboration" somehow. At 0700. When I'm cranky and haven't had any coffee.

there. that's all my zoom/teams/meet meeting fatigue.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#155
post #8

The whole mirror fatique thing is really interesting. I get enormous social anxiety on virtual calls and am constantly checking my mirror. I hate teams for that reason, i can't properly see what I am transmitting while Google meet is showing me Exactly what I'm sending in HD. I think I'll have to experiment with removing that and see if it reduces my anxiety

It’s a catch 22 for me. When it’s there, I can’t stop looking at it to ensure I look ok. When it’s not there, I’m stressing because I don’t know how I look.

So i just tried it out during a longer 1:1 Session and i noticed I was still worried about how I looked but overall less stressed.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of us is as dumb as all of us

Not all of us is as dumb as all of us, if catch my drift. If someone wants to pay me $$$ to basically sleep with my eyes open, then that's on them. I'm smart enough to allow them.

If you weren't online twenty years ago it's from Despair.com

https://despair.com/products/meetings?variant=2457301507

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#157
post #153
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gotten myself fired for doing this. I kid you not, but they took it as a sign of disinterest and somejow never thought to bring up "yo Martin, what's up with that?" 100% ridiculous childish twattery, but just sayin' ... you can end up in trouble. This was literally the only thing they brought up as "evidence" for my alleged "attitude problem". (I can foresee "dodged a bullet" responses, so just to pre-empt that:…

Wow, I don't know where you live but I would say that's enough for wrongful dismissal here.

My contract wasn't renewed; technically it's not really "getting fired", although it doesn't really make that much of a difference in reality. Even if there was a wrongful dismissal case here, I wouldn't want to pursue it – the headache and stress just isn't worth it.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Email is for stuff on the record, slack and teams not so much. Especially in client service.

Except it doesn't work like that. There is the expectation that you wake up and go and read all the messages in a Slack channel from when you stopped working yesterday until this morning. And because it's Slack it's not organized in any way shape or form. You don't know what's important and what not.

If it's important, it shouldn't only be in Slack.

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#159
post #63

The perspective mismatch between desktop and laptop users can be a bit funny, laptop users tend to be close to the screen, so they take up their cameras’ full field of view. Blown up on a big desktop screen it is like they are right in your face. It really can feel uncomfortably intimate, as silly as that sounds! Luckily my monitor was on an arm, so I could do one setup for Zoom, one for meetings.

I want to figure out a better way to do this. (The worst was when my extreme closeup was combined with some remote conference room that put videoconf people up on large wall displays. So, besides the larger-than-life HD pore inspection, it might've seemed I was glowering down upon them from above.) I use a laptop on a "lectern" standing desk that gets wheeled around for natural light, etc. I already use a corded USB…

IMO if you are working from home it is worthwhile to invest in a nice setup. You’ll want that big screen for coding anyway, right?

I got one of those silly ring lights (so I wouldn’t have to worry about natural lighting) and managed to mount my webcam inside it, it worked pretty well. I don’t think people expect a pro twitch setup, but you can get pretty close with basic consumer gear!

Re: Zoom fatigue unpacked

#160
post #9

I turn my camera off on big calls and it helps a bunch, there's a process running in the back of my mind when it's on that is constantly screening what I am doing just incase it looks stupid on camera. It feels like being in a panopticon. You never know if someone is looking. It's very tiring. I don't have the same issue in person because you know when people are looking at you in person and there's heaps of context…

I always keep my camera off unless it's a handful of situations, like meeting someone for the first time, or making a big presentation and introducing myself. Turning the camera on is more the rare thing.

On technical calls with two or three people where we all know each other we rarely turn the cameras on. For big meetings, the bosses prefer to have cameras on the whole time, but at least require that we start meetings that way, then we can turn them off after the meeting really gets going.
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