Video calls have been replacing team meetings and all other kinds of chats with colleagues. A recent survey in Germany showed that employees are making as many as eight video calls per day on average, according to Bitkom study conducted in January.

It’s not surprising, then, that many people are more and more annoyed by the endless number of Zoom meetings, especially when it could have all been said in a simple email.

Remote working experts are calling on workers and management to question if every video call is really essential and if others could be cut short.

One thing is certain: neither video conferences nor emails can be avoided entirely, especially as long as many people are forced to work remotely due to the pandemic.

“That’s basically it: we need to compensate for in-person communication. Since we can’t see each other, the number of online meetings and emails is going up," says business consultant Teresa Hertwig.

“I don’t need to be in this meeting”

A common problem, however, is that video conferences are often not restricted, both regarding the number of participants and the length of the call, the expert points out.

It’s therefore important to consider if everyone really has to participate, according to Hertwig. "Team leaders should also proactively call on employees to communicate openly and, if necessary, say, 'I don’t need to be in this meeting.'"

It's also the responsibility of both management and team to set a time limit for the video call. "Before each meeting, you should define what the desired result is," says the business consultant.

A clear agenda is helpful here: "Add a time slot to each item on the agenda," Hertwig recommends. "This means that we discuss each item for 15 minutes, for example, after which we stop, regardless of whether we are finished or not."

This way, the team educates itself, so to speak. "But you need someone to keep track of time. And a moderator who makes sure everyone gets to talk or doesn't talk too much."

The person looking after the time should therefore announce right at the beginning that people will be interrupted if they talk to much. "This helps the group to get to the point more quickly."

Emails are not enough when working remotely

According to Hertwig, writing an email isn’t better than holding a well-structured video conference. “Everyone’s fed up with emails. My clear recommendation: emails are not a sufficient means of communication when working remotely.”

Emails are especially unsuitable for internal communication and should only be used to correspond with people outside of the company or department, the expert says. Everything else should be put as a task into a project management tool or be communicated via an internal channel.

Only then is transparency about the capacities and status of all tasks as well as real-time communication possible. "We should not write more emails in favour of fewer meetings."

When there’s really something that needs to be discussed, so-called stand-up meetings are best - video calls that are kept as short as possible, Hertwig says. Longer video conferences with the entire team, for example, shouldn’t take place more than once a week, if possible.

 - dpa