Have You Reached Your Ceiling?

While it may have been foist upon us, virtual or online or video meetings have become the business norm as a result of the Covid cluster (fill in the blank) that was 2020.

Make no mistake, there are numerous advantages to doing things this way. From standard business meetings, to one-on-one sessions, to networking events and webinars, there is a lot to like. No travel time, shorter meetings, casual dress, etc., it can be good.

However… like everything else there is a downside. Have we reached our Zoom ceiling?

We’re now experiencing some new terms in the lexicon: Zoom gloom, Zoom or online fatigue, etc. Many of us have begun saying, “Enough is enough!” And we’re not alone.

Some people who have begun studying this phenomenon have likened staring at numerous faces simultaneously on a screen to having a multi-tasking effect on the participants – and this effect can create extreme mental as well as physical fatigue and other detriments.

As Jule Styne composed with lyrics by Bob Merrill for “Funny Girl,” “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” And there is science to back this up.

According to a new study conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the human body hungers for companionship in much the same way we hunger for food. As reported in Fortune magazine, “Humans may have this innate biological need to see each other. And restrictions, no matter how well intentioned, are messing with it.”

Does this fall into the category of unintended consequences?

“Contact is the lifeblood of growth, means for changing oneself, and one's experience of the world.”

― Erving Polster