Photo Prasit | Getty Images
If you’re among the workers who live in fear of stacked blocks in your Microsoft Outlook calendar detailing back-to-back meetings, this new discovery won’t surprise you, but we still need science to confirm what we all know. abundance, anecdotal.
Microsoft researchers on brainwave activity took a look at our minds at virtual back-to-back meetings and didn’t like what they saw happening there among the gray matter.
The research, published on Tuesday, confirmed that virtual back-to-back meetings are stressful. And the search results in a thread of pity that arrives on Tuesday for Outlook users. But really, just a piece.
Microsoft is adding a customizable Outlook feature to set shorter appointments as default and to request pauses before starting another meeting.
“Our research shows that breaks are important, not only to make us less exhausted by the end of the day, but to effectively improve our ability to focus and engage during these meetings,” said Michael Bohan. senior director of the human engineering group Microsoft. in a new report.
For the research, 14 people participated in video meetings while wearing electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment to measure brain activity, one day participating in four half-hour meeting delays, while another day four half-hour meetings. half an hour interspersed with 10-minute breaks. The lack of breaks led to an increase in the beta waves associated with stress near the transition periods between meetings, while the breaks allowed the brain to reset and engage better.
The images of what the human brain actually looks like “at the meeting” are in full relation.
Microsoft’s effort to better understand how the new work patterns change our well-being and productivity, as well as the links between the two, come as it is one of the main beneficiaries of the transition to remote work and even more dependence on technology and cloud for connect people through virtual platforms like his teams. It is also among the freest corporate leaders in terms of the future of work, announcing in October last year that its workers will be allowed up to 50% to work from home without the manager’s approval.
“Hybrid work is the future of work … but that doesn’t mean the transition to this future will come without its challenges,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, in a blog post announcing the new Outlook features.
“Digital overload is real”
Several recent research projects at Microsoft have found ways in which remote work affects well-being or, as Spataro wrote, “Digital overload is real and something needs to change.”
Microsoft has been worried about the commitment, as remote work has been expanding for more than a year since last March, when the Covid pandemic defeated the traditional office culture. A recent survey of its workers found that the team’s commitment has declined in recent months and has led the technology giant to remind managers that they need to pay more attention to fatigue in the way they lead in the future.
Not all companies are in a hurry to adopt remote work for most of their employees, and given that half of the US adult population has now received a vaccine, more workers will return to offices and more employers will set their own limits. on the desk versus the remote control. A Harvard remote expert recently told CNBC that the “vast majority” of companies will exist in a “hybrid state.” But he advises companies to get a balance that works for suite C, teams and individual employees.
The new Microsoft Outlook update targets both the individual and the organization.
There are two options for companies using Outlook that are looking for a respite from meetings: individuals can set their own default meeting values for a shorter duration. Businesses can also set shorter defaults and create space for breaks for all employees – say a five-minute break before all 30-minute meetings or a 15-minute break after one-hour meetings. Individuals can override the new company settings when their own meeting is set up, but they will receive notification of the organizational change.
Of course, change does not necessarily mean that a worker in a culture where meetings are endless will see a new world of work created moving away from endless meetings.
“Even a period of time between these meetings can help,” the company said in a statement announcing the new position.
Those 14 individuals who had wires connected to the brain are not the only pioneers in this research effort. It is a mass experiment that takes place on screens every day.
“Back-to-back meetings that have become the norm in the last 12 months are not sustainable,” Spataro wrote. “Outlook and Microsoft teams are used by millions of people around the world, and this small change can help customers develop new cultural norms and improve everyone’s well-being.”
“Surcea.”
“Little.”
Meet the mercy of culture, not revision.
“10-minute breaks between meetings create a reset, which means you stay calm and relaxed – even after four meetings,” Microsoft noted in a change announcement. “Switching from one meeting to another is a great source of stress.”
Of course, it’s not Microsoft’s job to tell other companies how to run their office crops, so it reduces back-to-back stress from the sidelines, but you’ll eventually be sent back to more meetings, just enough time for hydrate or burn enough calories to stay upright or meditate for five minutes to eliminate the damage from the last meeting in your head.
“Essential breaks,” the company said, for what can be considered within organizations as more essential meetings.