Listen with your eyes, not your ears
As crazy as it sounds, around 90% of our daily communication is non-verbal. It means that we are constantly sending signals even when we are not physically there. Sure, Zoom makes it difficult to show our whole body language, but the slight nods and grunts add to the whole human atmosphere. I decided to flow with the method of observation to examine the overall online experience on a higher level.
What better way to analyze Zoom university by being immersed in it?
My personal experience
I have been talking all online courses since March 2020 and yet, more often than I care to admit, I make minor errors here and there. There was one Friday where I was in charge of a general meeting with my fraternity. We were on Zoom and I forgot to assign the key speaker as co-host. Hence, mid-way through the professor’s talk, there was that awkward moment where I had to scramble to enable that feature so he could share his screen.
As minor as the mistake was, it did eat up a good one to two minutes of the professor’s time. This made me question,
“Should the future workforce be even more tech savvy now that they are using online platforms on a collegiate level?”
Today’s college students are tomorrow’s labor force. If we as young adults are able to learn online etiquette and Zoom literacy, we could bring that knowledge into the workplace. This would allow companies to be more technology friendly and implement even more virtual workplaces.
Enough talk about the future. Let’s pause for the present.
Obviously, the younger generation is quickly learning the in’s and out’s of online classrooms. But what about the current adult population?
The only way for me to observe the older demographic was by attending middle-aged events.
The University at Buffalo has the annual Distinguished Speakers Series, usually held in person. But due to safety reasons, the Student Association has switched it to all online. And with the SUNY’s partnership with Zoom, all 3 webinars are hosted via Zoom.
These events are free for all UB students but are paid events open to the Buffalo community. Therefore, I signed up for the first webinar of the season.
The event itself was so unique such that I could not see the other participants in the room. I heard that nearly 2,000 people were on the webinar. There was a technical team who allowed participants to be moved from the waiting room to the main room as well as submit our questions. Overall, the 2-hour talk went smoothly with minimal glitches. However, I realized that not seeing other people’s faces made the whole live experience almost fake. Where was the humane part of this event? I wondered.
As ugly as my face is, I find it disrespectful to the speaker whenever I don’t show my face.
If we were in person, there would not be a way for me to cover my whole head.
This increased my concern of in-person etiquette. Would the future work force be so accustomed to muting their mics and turning off their cameras that they lose their actions of respect?
Personally, I think it is up to the corporations to integrate both an in-person and virtual work setting not just for the niceties, but also to increase employee engagement. There is a limit to the benefits of live and online offices. As long as we utilize the best of both world, the new workforce will be in a better place.
