While meeting virtually has a ton of upsides, team leaders and sales reps may need to manage the virtual meeting fatigue that could set in. Where feedback can play an important role in limiting fatigue and holding more effective meetings.
At least, this was indicated by a recent study, published in MIT Sloan Management Review. Where doctoral students and faculty from the University of North Carolina gathered data from 150 people in different industries and spread across the US. and Europe. With the goal of understanding their experiences of virtual meetings and virtual meeting fatigue.
The result? While people were experiencing fatigue, the reason behind said fatigue varied. Showing that there may not be one, right solution.
According to the researchers behind the study, this shows “the need for a tailored response”, where one of the most crucial practices is to actually gather feedback from participants and customize meetings accordingly. A practice that can both do wonders for limiting virtual meeting fatigue, and holding more effective meetings. This, since getting feedback to work from doesn’t just give you the information you need to make the experience better for participants, but also shows that you care about them having the best experience possible.
This feedback could come in the form of “occasional pulse surveys” or discussions, and we also see the benefits that can come from regularly asking a set of pre-defined questions at the end of a meeting. Which could be benchmarked against future meetings to view progress over time.
Quick tips for limiting fatigue
In addition, the researchers offered a few quick tips that could be good to consider. Including to:
- Give participants roles ahead of time
- Utilize breakout rooms to let participants interact and discuss
- Moderate meetings more actively
- Use breaks to give participants a pause, especially during long meetings
Considering virtual meeting fatigue, and finding ways to not only limit fatigue but energize the meetings overall, will be incredibly important as we move into a primarily virtual future. Something that applies to both team leaders and sales reps – who can get a competitive advantage by tackling any potential fatigue, and holding virtual sales calls and meetings that give energy.
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