1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: use by the world's most successful people to get so 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: much out of their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Ima. 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: I'm an organizational psychologist, the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium, 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: and I'm obsessed with finding ways to optimize my work date. 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: Before we get on to today's show, I just wanted 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: to say a big thank you to all the lovely 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: listeners that have been leaving reviews. I think in the 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: Australian Apple Podcasts app there an hour over for one 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: hundred reviews for How I Work, mostly five stars. Thank you, 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: You're awesome. And I thought i'd just read out a 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: couple of lovely reviews that I've received in the last 13 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: few weeks that I really do just bring such a 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: big smile to my face. So this one's from Fiery five. 15 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: Have've just discovered this podcast and I'm really enjoying pulling 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: gems out of every episode, many of which are very 17 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: quick and easy to apply. Thanks Amantha, thank you so much. 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: Then from Presh fifteen, this is an incredible podcast hosted 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: by Mattha Imber, who is a great interviewer. I listened 20 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: to this before my workday and it puts me in 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: such a positive and productive mindset. Thank you so much. 22 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: And one other one that I got recently from Ti 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: huruas love that your podcast very in length. I find 24 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: the episodes useful and I've been able to apply some 25 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: of the strategies to improve my performance at work. Thanks 26 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: so much. Well, thank you guys, Thank you. And look, 27 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: if you're enjoying the work that I do on How 28 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: I Work, you might be keen to check out another 29 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: podcast that I launched a couple of months ago now 30 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: called how to Date. How to Date, which I linked 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: to in the show notes. And this is a podcast 32 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: all about the crazy world of dating when you did 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,559 Speaker 1: not think that you would be dating again in this lifetime. 34 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: So it is our podcast, hosted by myself and my 35 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: closest girlfriend Monique, and we interview all sorts of experts 36 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: from around the world on how to get better at dating. So, 37 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: if you're interested in that, if you're single, or maybe 38 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: if you're not single but you just want to live 39 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: vicariously through Monique and I, search for How to Date 40 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your podcasts. Okay, let's get onto 41 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: today's mini episode. Which is all about how to avoid 42 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: virtual meeting fatigue. So, despite lockdown restrictions easing across Australia, 43 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: if you happen to be based here, many of us 44 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,839 Speaker 1: are still working from home and for a lot of us, 45 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,239 Speaker 1: we've discovered that we actually like working from home for 46 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: the majority of the time and have no desire to 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: go back to the office five days a week. And 48 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: if workers and teams remain distributed, with some people working 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,679 Speaker 1: from home and some working from the office, virtual meetings 50 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: will rain. Unfortunately, virtual meetings have a pretty bad reputation, 51 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: which is often rightly deserved. They can be tire, in 52 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: effectively run, and often a chance for us to take 53 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: a sneaky check of our email or social media feeds 54 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: when things get a bit dull. I know I have 55 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: been there now. Our negative relationship with virtual meetings is 56 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: a serious problem. Research has consistently found the satisfaction with 57 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: meetings predicts how satisfied we are with our jobs. So 58 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: one study found that more than fifteen percent of our 59 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: job satisfaction is based on our satisfaction with the meetings 60 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: we attend, and other studies have found that meeting satisfaction 61 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: is the single biggest predictor of job satisfaction, so it's 62 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: important that we use our time well in meetings. And 63 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: this is even more true of virtual meetings because of 64 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: the additional problems they pose. So if the virtual meetings 65 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: that you're attending or running are sacking the life out 66 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: of you and others, here are a few strategies to 67 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: make virtual meetings more productive and less sleep inducing. Okay, 68 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: my first hip is to cap virtual meetings at thirty 69 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: minutes or at very least take frequent breaks. So research 70 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: from Microsoft found that virtual meeting fatigue is indeed a 71 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: real thing. Researchers from Microsoft's Human Factors Lab had participants 72 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: where an EEG device that monitored brain weighs sharing virtual meetings. 73 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: Perhaps not surprisingly, the research has found that people's concentration 74 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: started to fade at the thirty to forty minute mark 75 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: when a person's days were filled with virtual meetings. Stress 76 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: levels began to rise after about two hours into their 77 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: meeting filled day. So the researchers suggested that focusing on 78 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: a screen to extract relevant information can be exhausting and 79 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: it can be hard to remain engaged. In addition, due 80 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: to the limited nonverbal cues it can be harder to 81 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: get a read on people and know whose turn it 82 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: is to talk, for example. And finally, when sharing screens 83 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,239 Speaker 1: a like you do when you're sharing a presentation or something, 84 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: the view of people becomes tiny and almost eliminates any 85 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: visual cues that you were previously able to get. So 86 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: cap virtual meetings at thirty minutes, and if they have 87 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: to go longer, take short regular breaks to help people 88 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: maintain focus and energy. Okay, my next tip is to 89 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: ask better questions. So what's the first question that gets 90 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: asked in most meetings? Aside from can you hear me? 91 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: Put yourself off mute? Well, most meetings start with the 92 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: question how are you going? And how do people answer? Good? Fine? Okay? 93 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: So boring questions elicit boring answers and fail to build 94 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: stronger connections. Challenging yourself to ask a more provocative or 95 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: interesting question that will elicit a surprising answer or gain 96 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,679 Speaker 1: further insight into the person or people you are meeting 97 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: with is a very effective way to go. So, for example, 98 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: you might start a meeting by asking what are people 99 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: most proud of this week? What's the their favorite room 100 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: in their home, or what's an unexpected upside from COVID. 101 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: So asking better questions is one method to create a 102 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: high quality connection, which is a term coined by Professor 103 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: Jane Dutton from the University of Michigan. High Quality connections 104 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: are interactions you have with someone virtually or face to 105 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: face in which both people feel lit up and energized 106 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: by the connection. And the beauty of high quality connections 107 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: is that they don't require significant time. They can be 108 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: as short as just a five minute conversation. So research 109 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: shows that high quality connections have a myriad of benefits, 110 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: including helping us be more creative, resilient, and even live longer. 111 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: But beyond helping us thrive individually, they also contribute to 112 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: team and organizational effectiveness. So when teams have high quality connections, 113 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: which you can build through meetings and asking better questions, 114 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: team members are more creative, more coordinated, and more likely 115 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: to have mutual respect for one another. Now, the final 116 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: tip I have is to default to the telephone. So, 117 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: in the world of remote work, people's default meeting time 118 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: is a meeting type has actually become video. So to 119 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:15,239 Speaker 1: help overcome virtual meeting fatigue, experiment with having phone meetings 120 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: as your default. So on his podcast Work Life, Wharton 121 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: professor Adam Grant, who has also been a guest on 122 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: How I Work, shared research that we are actually better 123 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: at reading emotions and empathizing with people over the phone 124 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: compared to via video, which seems completely counterintuitive, doesn't it. 125 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: So the phone eliminates all the visual cues that can 126 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: distract from us honing in on the actual human we 127 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: are communicating with, and also phone calls allow us to 128 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: be moving around and thus reduce the fatigue that can 129 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: set in when we are desk bound all day. So 130 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: if you are suffering from virtual meeting fatigue, try one 131 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: of these three strategies, maybe this week to help make 132 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: your meetings a whole lot better. That is it for 133 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: today's show. If you are enjoying How I Work, make 134 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: sure that you've hit the subscribe button wherever you listen 135 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: to this podcast from and you will be alerted as 136 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: to whenever a new episode drops, which regular listeners will 137 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: know is every Tuesday and Thursday. And if you're enjoying 138 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: How I Work, why not be like one of the 139 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: several hundred people that have left reviews for the show 140 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: and leave one today in Apple Podcasts. It really does 141 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: make my day and a huge thank you to everyone 142 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: that has taken the time to do that. That is 143 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: it for today's show and I will see you next time.