While there are huge perks to this corporate behavior, like lowering employees’ and clients’ risk of getting COVID-19, the virus’ disease, learning curves go with all of it.
Twitter users have already begun to share the comedic nature of the conference call life, from wildly awkward moments to uncomfortable confusion on how to behave.
Here are some of the reasons you can’t help but cringe when you pick up the phone, or turn on your webcam, in this unprecedented period of digital work.
You See People’s True Colors
You’re probably used to seeing your coworkers and bosses only in a professional light. Business behavior, you may find, is an easy way to hide someone’s true self. You’ve likely had peeks into your coworkers’ personalities based on their cubicle décor, but now you’re being invited into their homes.
Digital meetings may be more than awkward when your peers don’t consider their home meeting’s backdrop. You’re likely to find yourself staring at an unmade bed, dirty dishes or an insane amount of horse posters, which adds a whole new feature to the standard meeting.
There’s a Problem With the Patriarchy
In digital meetings, there’s bound to be an awkward silence or two. Even more common, though, is the problem of people talking at the same time. Professor André Spicer of London’s Cass Business School told The Guardian that this more than likely occurs with your male coworkers. “It tends to enhance existing patterns of behavior,” he explained. “We know that males tend to dominate conversations, and with video calls this is often the case.”
The learning curve lies in the digital dance of saying “No, go ahead” over and over until someone finally takes the reins in the conversation.
Technical Issues
Chances are, if your business is meeting digitally, you’ll get bumped from a call, miss a few sentences or have trouble figuring out if all of your employees can hear you. Technical problems will occur in your digital workplace in waves, some of which are undeniably comical.
Your meetings may even be longer because of the small talk, confusion and frustration that accompany them.
Social Distancing
While practicing social isolation is necessary these days, it can cause an even more stressful workplace. There’s a chance your office peers are feeling less like themselves because of the strict confines of a self-induced quarantine.
You may find general insecurity and a lack of confidence when it comes to digitally communicating, as many coworkers are bound to overthink distorted social cues from phone calls and video chats.
“The interesting thing about remote working is that people always think it will be better,” Bruce Daisley, author of The Joy of Work, told The Guardian. “But people’s stress levels are actually higher when they work remotely. It’s stressful and lonely. We think our boss doesn’t trust us and our team doesn’t like us.”
This Could Have Been an Email
In a time of social confusion, you may find yourself having even more meetings than usual. Digital-only communication could leave you wondering if everything explained via video or phone would make even more sense as a companywide email.
