It was interesting to see Macfarlane’s CIO Andrew Powell post on LinkedIn the firm’s 12-month Zoom dashboard stats, with usage in August having fallen off a virtual cliff.
While seasonal holiday explains some of the drop, Powell suggests that it can also be explained by Zoom fatigue. He comments (see diagram below): “The last 12 months according to our Zoom dashboard. Implemented in October, broadly ignored until March, huge usage in May, June and July and a gradual drop off in August as some returned to the office, some took well-earned holiday and some became jaded with nonstop video meetings. Will be interesting to see where it settles in the months ahead.”
‘How much of the drop is due to an uptake of Microsoft Teams?’ asked Gary Berger, director of information security at international law firm Ogletree Deakins. Powell says: “There will be some of that, absolutely – though most of our usage in May-Jul was internal. Certainly Teams became more useful after the recent changes. Some of our people have averaged five hours of Zoom a day and I’m sure that will reduce – National Geographic has a good article on Zoom Fatigue.”
The National Geographic article here references both the ‘gloom’ and ‘boon’ aspects of Zoom, which while exhausting has enabled people to stay easily connected during the lockdown. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-technology/2020/04/zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-heres-why-that-happens
Continuing the Teams point, Robert B, a trainer in O365 says: “Gary, another way that Teams could have been a factor, would be around collaboration. When companies realize that Teams is more than just a way to meet via video but also that you can send notices based on KPI’s on your data or collaborate on that document due tomorrow, they’ll realize that 60-70% of their “meetings” are not needed. Yes they could have come to this conclusion with another tool or no tool at all, but hey… I’m biased.”
Batting for Zoom within the same exchange, Rod Hathaway, an account director at Oracle, says: “We will be using Zoom for some time I think. It’s a great tool if used correctly and I have seen an increase in using it for one on one conversations instead of just phoning. I like it.”
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