Are You Zoomed Out?

Are you ZOOMED-OUT? Are you MS TEAMS-OUT? I sure am.  I read an article in the National Observer, August 20, 2020, reaffirming what I have been experiencing being ZOOMED-OUT and MS TEAMS-OUT. It is nice to hear that I am not the only one.  Good work Microsoft listening to the experts and making it easier to adjust to more remote work.

All those online meetings you’re having: Your brain doesn’t like those. That’s according to a recent report on remote work from Microsoft Corp., which had scientists at its Human Factor Labs — where people’s interactions with technology are studied — monitor brain activity of participants using EEG devices. The result? Collaborating over a screen “is more mentally challenging than in-person collaboration,” the report found, which matches what many of us have felt during these past five work-from-home months. But the study also discovered something surprising.

It turns out, Microsoft said, that it makes a difference whether a team first worked together remotely or in-person. Teams that collaborated over a screen first found it harder to work together in-person afterward. “It seems that the social connection and work strategies created when working in-person transfers to a remote setting, but the opposite is untrue,” the report said. Microsoft said it’s building new features into its Microsoft Teams meeting app to address some of the findings.