I thought commuting to work was tiring way back in the day (you know, 5 months ago). Today, even though my “commute” is a whopping 2 feet, I’m more exhausted than ever. That’s because, as a team leader, I feel responsible for keeping the energy level high in our video meetings.
One day this quarantined time will be over, but we will never go back to as much IRL team time. So, I’m trying to figure out how the hell we can get some energy into the “room” instead of just that huge sucking sound of energy zapped out.
Being physically together creates energy by just bullshitting before and after the meeting, by meaningful eye contact, and by informal side conversations. Without that, I have to work crazy hard to generate momentum, enthusiasm, connection on the team.
And it is so exhausting. It’s a constant battle. If I stop concentrating on what is happening in the moment, stop pumping life into the meeting, everything reduces to a few grunts and nods.
So, team members, step it up. I’m a damn good cheerleader but the crowd needs to start cheering and jumping up and down. Pom-poms are acceptable.
