Why Do People Multitask During Videoconference Meetings?

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Many managers—perhaps you—feel really frustrated that their employees may be multitasking during videoconference meetings. In fact, when helping clients figure out their hybrid work policies, many managers want employees to return to the office so that they can be confident their staff are actually paying attention and are fully present during meetings.

Let's not beat around the bush: If your employees are fiddling with Slack while nodding through yet another Zoom presentation, chances are it’s not them, it’s you. Oh yes, I'm looking at you, the manager who can’t seem to organize meetings with focused agendas and optimal attendance. But before you get defensive, let's consider some facts. You see, our meeting culture needs an overhaul, and the solution lies not in blaming the employees but in recognizing our shortcomings as decision-makers.

The Unseen World of Multitasking During Virtual Meetings

Most managers would assume that the bulk of multitasking during meetings consists of personal distractions—texting friends or even doing some online shopping. But let's dismantle that myth. The reality is more nuanced and, ironically, more work-related than you'd think. Surprisingly, evidence from a prominent scholar on remote work, Nick Bloom, shows only a paltry 5% of your employees are texting or talking to family and friends during Zoom or Teams meetings

The primary distraction? You guessed it: additional work tasks. Work-related multitasking occurs in roughly 30% of all virtual meetings, according to academic research using Microsoft Teams data. This includes actions like responding to emails, juggling Slack messages, and even editing a document. I know what you're thinking: "Well, if it's work-related, then what's the harm?" The harm lies in the fact that this phenomenon is most prominent in meetings that share specific characteristics—being long, having large numbers of attendees, recurring on the schedule, happening in the morning, and featuring a majority of cameras turned off.

But let's take a step back. Multitasking isn’t the devil it's often made out to be. In fact, some people say it helps them stay productive during parts of meetings that are irrelevant to them. It's a survival tactic, a way to squeeze productivity out of time that would otherwise go to waste. The real issue is, why are they in irrelevant meetings in the first place? It's worth contemplating that the next time you catch someone multitasking.

Why Blame the Manager?

As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to create an environment that empowers your team to succeed. When a significant percentage of your team is multitasking during meetings, it implies that you haven't succeeded in making that environment conducive to full engagement. Now, you may argue that employees have a responsibility to stay focused. However, as the person setting the tone, structure, and agenda of these meetings, you have a more considerable share of the responsibility to keep them dialed in.

Here's where the rubber meets the road: the problem isn't that your team members are choosing to be distracted; the problem is they feel compelled to do so because of inefficiencies in the meeting structure. Maybe the agenda is too broad, or the meeting is too long, or perhaps there are too many voices in the room. Either way, something about the format of your meetings is driving your team to seek productivity elsewhere. This kind of behavior isn’t just occurring in a vacuum; it’s a response to the environment you've created or allowed to persist.

Moreover, this disengagement extends beyond the meetings themselves. When your team is multitasking in meetings, the implication is that there's not enough time outside of meetings to accomplish their tasks. And that is a massive issue. It shows that the organization or team may be operating in a perpetual state of "meeting overload," leaving little room for focused, uninterrupted work.

Your Next Steps: Fewer, More Focused Meetings

Forget what you've been told about meetings being the cornerstone of effective team communication. If we're honest, many meetings serve as little more than time sinks that dilute productivity. The good news is that you have the power to change this pattern.

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When you do decide that a meeting is essential, the attendee list should be your first consideration. Every person in that virtual room should be someone whose input is genuinely needed. Ask yourself, "Who really needs to be here?" If you can't come up with a good reason for an individual to attend, strike their name from the list. The leaner the attendee list, the more likely it is that everyone present will have a role to play, which naturally encourages active participation and minimizes the room for multitasking.

However, a smaller list alone won't solve the issue. It has to be paired with a well-thought-out agenda that necessitates active involvement from all attendees. No one should be in that meeting room—virtually or physically—just to nod their heads or fill a seat. The agenda should require input, questioning, or at least some form of active engagement from everyone. When people know they have a role to play, they are less likely to disengage and turn to multitasking as a way to cope with a dull meeting.

If you've taken these steps—fewer, more purposeful meetings with carefully considered attendee lists and interactive agendas—and find that people are still multitasking, it's a sign you need to dig deeper. The problem may not be the meetings per se but rather some undercurrent of team dynamics or individual motivations that you haven't yet identified. This could range from poorly defined roles within the team, which lead to a lack of ownership and accountability, to more intricate issues like cultural mismatches, misaligned incentives, or even personal crises affecting focus and productivity.

In the End, It's All About Engagement

If you want to hold meetings that not only command attention but also foster productivity, you need to take a hard look at how you're facilitating them. Understand that while multitasking may offer a Band-Aid solution for the employee, it reveals a gaping wound in your management style and communication strategy. So don't blame the employees for trying to juggle tasks; restructure your approach, and you’ll find the focus you so earnestly desire from your team.

A version of this post was also published on disasteravoidanceexperts.com.