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The move to all Zoom can miss the normal human interactions we enjoy in face to face meetings. Sometimes it just helps to check in and let people talk about whatever they want to. We should make sure to build this into our virtual world.
Here is some great insight from Cary Greene. Cary is the Managing Partner of the Strategic Offsites Group, a consultancy focused on designing and facilitating strategy conversations for executive teams and boards. He is the coauthor of Simple Sabotage (HarperOne, 2015) and a frequent contributor to HBR, with articles featured across five collections including the HBR Guides to Making Better Decisions, Making Every Meeting Matter, and Remote Work.
It was an unusual confession from a CEO. “During my last staff meeting we must have spent 40% of the time talking about nothing,” Jorge said. “We were just hanging out, shooting the breeze, like the old days. It was one of the most enjoyable, productive calls we’ve had since we shut the office.” But afterwards, he went on to say, “a few people complained.”
On a call shortly after, Rose, the company’s president, added her perspective. “I was not happy, and neither was our CFO, so I talked to Jorge about it,” she explained. “Maybe he’s got time on his hands, but I’m on Zoom 12 hours a day. Frankly, if I’ve got a half hour available during the day, I’d rather walk out of my home office and spend the time with my husband and kids.”
Although tension always exists between time spent on the substance of a meeting and time spent socializing, most recurring meetings reach a natural balancing point — at least until the equilibrium is disrupted by a change in circumstances or in the personalities involved. Having to meet via Zoom (or one of the other platforms that now constitute our virtual conference rooms) has tipped that balance.
The loss of small talk seems to be a challenge not only for Jorge and Rose, but for many executives. We’ve identified two common causes:
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