The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work, whether in the office or at home, and faculty and staff face increased interruptions. This can contribute to lower productivity, lower quality of work, decreased focus, and heightened stress levels. 

We’ve been operating in a “business on top, pajamas on the bottom” work environment for quite some time now. Slack channels are in and dress slacks are out. Thanks to technology we’ve been able carry on despite the world-stopping power of the pandemic. All that is to say that technology is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.  

By now, most of us have become comfortable with virtual meetings. So comfortable that we’ve found grace and humor when our most profound thoughts are orated on mute and are unbothered by talking to or staring at a still photo of a colleague instead of their actual face. But with many more faculty and staff on campus, we’ll need to learn to become comfortable with hybrid meetings. A meeting is considered “hybrid” when two or more people are physically located together and one or more people are connected to the meeting virtually. 

With many teams and departments transitioning to hybrid work and the Work. With Flexibility. model after a year in which many faculty and staff have been working remotely means we are approaching another period of change.

Technology seems to somehow both simplify life and make it far more complicated, and working from home has shown a spotlight on this. One of the biggest adjustments to the way we work is how we meet now. Video meetings are a valuable way to connect with colleagues, but high volumes of virtual meetings can contribute to overstimulation, burnout, and lack of work time for important projects.