Research: Cameras On or Off?

https://hbr.org/2021/10/research-cameras-on-or-off

Managers looking to encourage engagement and inclusion in remote meetings have long encouraged team members to keep their cameras turned on. But researchers examining remote employees’ reactions to the constant video conference calls of the remote work era have found that keeping video on all day actually increases so-called “zoom fatigue.” That’s particularly true for women and new employees, groups that already may feel that they are under the microscope.

Our results — recently published in Journal of Applied Psychology — were quite clear: Using the camera was positively correlated to daily feelings of fatigue; the number of hours that employees spent in virtual meetings were not. This indicates that keeping the camera consistently on during meetings is at the heart of the fatigue problem.

While newer employees are similarly vulnerable to self-presentation pressures, the reasons are different. Specifically, their “fledgling status” amps up the need to demonstrate that they are good performers worthy of the organization. They also are establishing their professional image while working toward an understanding of social norms in the workplace, all of which can be difficult to accomplish within the confines of camera-on video meetings.

The obvious implication of these findings is for us to turn off the camera on our video calls, especially as we begin to feel fatigued. But there are also some other solutions: Turning off self-view on platforms like Zoom has been a popular idea among employees we’ve spoken with, as has setting up “walking meetings” where calls are taken on the phone to encourage employees to get up and move.

Reference:

Shockley, K. M., Gabriel, A. S., Robertson, D., Rosen, C. C., Chawla, N., Ganster, M. L., & Ezerins, M. E. (2021). The fatiguing effects of camera use in virtual meetings: A within-person field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(8), 1137-1155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000948