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If you are one of the employees who live in fear of the accumulated blocks in your Microsoft Outlook calendar of detailed meetings, this new discovery will not surprise you, but we still need science to confirm what we all knew abundantly, anecdotally. .
Researchers at Microsoft’s brainwave activity watched our thoughts during virtual meetings, and they didn’t like what they saw happening among the gray matter.
The research, published Tuesday, confirmed that back-to-back virtual meetings are stressful. And the investigation results in a piece of grace arriving Tuesday for Outlook users. But really just a piece.
Microsoft is adding a customizable Outlook feature to set shorter meetings by default and require breaks before a new meeting starts.
“Our research shows that breaks are important, not only to make us less exhausted at the end of the day, but also to improve our ability to focus and engage in those meetings,” said Michael Bohan, senior director from Microsoft’s Human Factors Engineering group. in a new report.
For the study, 14 people participated in video meetings wearing electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment to measure brain activity, one day they attended four consecutive half-hour meetings, while on another day four half-hour meetings. hours were interspersed with breaks of 10 minutes. Lack of breaks resulted in spikes in the beta waves associated with stress build-up near the transition periods between meetings, while breaks allowed the brain to reset and engage better.
Pictures of what the human brain really looks like “when encountered” are included in the full report.
Microsoft’s efforts to better understand how new working models are changing our wellbeing and productivity, and the links between the two, is because it is one of the main beneficiaries of the move to remote working and relies even more on technology and the cloud to connect people through virtual platforms such as his teams. It is also one of the more liberal business leaders on the future of work, announcing last October that its employees would be allowed to work up to 50% from home without manager approval.
“Hybrid work is the future of work … but that doesn’t mean the transition to this future will be challenging,” 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 uncovered ways in which remote working is negatively impacting wellbeing, or as Spataro wrote, “Digital overload is real and something needs to change.”
Microsoft is concerned about engagement, as remote work takes more than a year from when the Covid pandemic in March turned traditional office culture on its head. A recent survey of its employees found that team engagement was declining in recent months, prompting the technology giant to remind managers to be more attuned to fatigue factors in how they are heading into the future.
Not all companies are rushing to embrace remote work for the majority of their employees, and now that half of the US adult population has finally gotten one shot of vaccination, more employees will return to offices and more employers will set their own limits. in the office versus at a distance. A Harvard remote working expert recently told CNBC that the “vast majority” of companies will exist in a “hybrid state.” But he advises companies on how to find a balance that works for the C-suite, teams and individual employees.
The new Microsoft Outlook update is aimed at both the individual and the organization.
There are two options for those at companies using Outlook and looking to delay meetings: Individuals can set their own default meeting settings to shorter. Companies can also set shorter meeting defaults and allow for breaks for all employees, such as a five-minute break before all 30-minute meetings, or a 15-minute break after one-hour meetings. Individuals can override new company settings when their own meeting is set up, but they will be notified of the organizational change.
Of course, the change doesn’t necessarily mean that in a culture where meetings are endless, an employee will see a whole new world of work emerge, away from endless meetings.
“Even a little time between these meetings can help,” the company said in a statement announcing the new feature.
The 14 individuals with wires plugged into their brains aren’t the only pioneers in this study. It is a mass experiment that takes place on different screens every day.
“The back-to-back meetings that have become the norm over the past 12 months are simply not sustainable,” wrote Spataro. “Outlook and Microsoft Teams are used by millions of people around the world, and this small change can help customers develop new cultural standards and improve well-being for all.”
“Splinter.”
“Small.”
It is meeting cultural grace, not overhaul.
“10-minute breaks between meetings reset, meaning you stay calm and relaxed even after four meetings,” Microsoft noted in an announcement about the changes. “The transition from one meeting to another is a major source of stress.”
Obviously, it’s not Microsoft’s job to tell other companies how to run their office culture, so it reduces that back-to-back stress on the margins, but you’ll still end up bouncing back to more meetings just with enough time to hydrate or get enough calories to stay upright, or meditate for five minutes to remove the damage from the last encounter from your head.
“Essential breaks,” the company said, for what could still be considered more essential meetings within organizations.