Can we make this a phone call?

At the beginning of 2024, Harvard researchers released a report on hybrid work and virtual meetings. They found that non-participation in meetings has increased. In 2023, 7.2% of workers stayed muted for entire meetings, up from 4.8% in 2022. Participants are enabling their cameras less often, with a slight drop in camera enablement rates from 2022 to 2023.

They noted that lack of participation during virtual meetings could signal an impending resignation. Workers who left their company within a year had their cameras on just 18.4% of the time in small group meetings, compared to 32.5% for those who remained longer.

But more than anything, I just miss talking to people on the phone. I can move around, multitask, be in transit, and even cognitively engage my actual brain in a different way when we can switch to a phone call.

I feel like I was more productive back in the days of conference calls when I could listen in and take notes and not have to worry about "looking like" I was paying attention by staring at the camera or screen. I could focus on what I was hearing and engage my brain in listening and understanding (rather than staring at that rogue hair that I see in my onscreen view.

90% of the time that I'm on screen, I turn off the "self view" so I don't get distracted by how I look, and I can't even quantify how much of a huge game-changer that is for my brain.

But last week I ended up taking about 5 calls as actual phone calls. WOW that was even MORE game-changing!

So I wanted to write this post to make a plea for bringing back phone calls.

Try this next week: Swap out 5 of your virtual meetings for phone calls. Just 5. And report back. I think we can bring back just a touch of our sanity by making this little shift.