Camera causes fatigue during Virtual Meetings, says Research
A research study has shown that camera causes fatigue during virtual meetings.
As the lockdwon was imposed in the country due to global pandemic Covid-19 we have moved to work from home. Our screen time with virtual meetings have increased as the office work went virtaul. Initially, people were getting comfortable with the trend as it saved them from travelling. However, due to long hours of online work and virtual meetings, people started feeling tired. According to the findings of a latest research published by Applied Phycology, "fatigue increases if a person keeps the camera on during the virtual meetings, but if the camera is turned off, it becomes less tiring for the person."
The Study
Professor and Researcher Allison Gabriel, University Of Arizona’s college of Management says, "keeping the camera on was found to be the main reason for zoom fatigue and it has caused severe problems of tiredness among many employees."
She said, "it has been commonly seen that if the camera is kept on during the virtual meetings, you are connected to the activity but it creates an additional pressure of self–presentation. It compels you to look professional and puts pressure of including a good background, keeping children away from the camera, etc."
The Findings of the study
The research was conducted for four weeks on 103 persons. It has recorded 1400 observations. Based on the recorded observations, Allison Gabriel says, "We have found that more tiredness is felt when the camera was on as compared to when people didn’t keep their cameras on."
The study concludes that this fatigue had a major impact on females and new employees especially because of the pressure of self-presentation. As per Gabriel, "Females, to look perfect, are more cautious about any obstruction, whereas the new employees remain under stress in showing themselves active and productive."
What can be done?
Gabriel says, "asking the employees to always keep their cameras on can never be a better option. The employees should be given a chance to either keep the camera on/off as per their choice during the virtual meetings and it should not be assumed that keeping the camera off would affect the productivity and participation of the employee."
