That dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting.Īlso, in face-to-face meetings we rely heavily on non-verbal cues to make emotional judgements, such as assessing whether a statement is credible. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we’re not. Paying more attention to these consumes a lot of energy. In a face-to-face meeting we process these cues largely automatically, and can still listen to the speaker at the same time.īut on a video chat, we need to work harder to process non-verbal cues. Our feelings and attitudes are largely conveyed by non-verbal signals such as facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, gestures, posture, and the distance between the communicators. We miss out on a lot of non-verbal communication Video meetings take up a lot of cognitive resources, often leaving us feeling frustrated and drained. I had an idea in the 1980s and to my surprise, it changed education around the world Meeting online increases our cognitive load because several of its features take up a lot of conscious capacity.

In contrast, we can process much more information unconsciously, as we do with body language. Our brains can only do so many things consciously at once, because we have limited working memory. Sensitive topics are often canvassed, requiring us to notice subtleties and display empathy. Rituals provide comfort, put us at ease, and are essential in building and maintaining rapport.įace to face meetings are also important mechanisms for the communication of attitudes and feelings among business partners and colleagues.Įmotions precede and follow all our behaviours, and influence management decision-making. Meetings in person are not only about the exchange of knowledge, they are also important rituals in the office.

Here is why you might be feeling tired while on lockdown

Zoom meeting communication