The Neuroscience of Work in a Remote Environment

1. The Neuroscience of Work in a Remote Environment

2. Introduction We cannot deny that COVID has transformed work permanently. A lifetime of change has been forced upon every individual, and every organization, within the span of two years. Digital transformation is no longer just a buzz word; it is a requirement for survival! The objective of this article is to help you understand the impact of remote work on stress and how it contributes to attention deficit disorders. It will also outline some simple strategies, that can help both leaders and employees of organizations, to mitigate these factors. In addition, I want to educate you on the ways emerging technologies can be harnessed to dramatically improved engagement in a remote meeting environment.

3. The New Normal • Here is some hard data to consider. Within the span of two years, remote work has transformed every type of business in the world. Before COVID, only 5% of employees worked from home for an average of three days a week. A very small segment of the population was truly remote full-time. As of April 2020, 37% of the workforce is fully remote. More and more organizations are allowing employees to move to a permanent remote full-time job. A recent survey of US workers revealed that 54% would leave their current job for a remote work option. • However, there are a lot of drawbacks to this approach. Anxiety and stress, as well as feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness are also on the rise. Another recent survey revealed that 46% of workers in the UK experienced loneliness while working from home.

5. Pandemic Versus Syndemic There is a term that epidemiologists use to describe the current situation. It is not just a pandemic, but it is a Syndemic. A syndemic is a confluence of pandemics that disrupt the fabric of everyday life. As an example, the COVID syndemic is not just the viral pandemic but it is also a pandemic of job losses, mental health issues and other socio-economic factors. Within the span of two years, not only have we witnessed millions of people losing their lives, four out of ten people in the United States have reported significant loss of income and job losses. In addition, there is a mental health pandemic where tens of millions of people are struggling with anxiety, stress, insomnia and even depression. One of the most profound impacts of this syndemic is related to loneliness. Either due to our lockdown separation from family and friends or due to detachment from remote workers, this loneliness impacts every business and employee.

6. Challenges with WFH Yes, there are many benefits that can be attributed to remote work. But a lot of us are forgetting the challenges. Lack of boundaries, inability to focus, the procrastination and the anxiety of missing something or standing out for the next promotion. Physics says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Meaning there are a lot of reactions that we are not considering. Remote work is based on our ability to video conference. Due to the pandemic, most video conferencing platforms saw a dramatic rise in utilization with an increase of over 250% from the previous year alone.

7. Digital Environments • “The possibility that digital environments are inherently more distracting with scrolling and other aspects of the digital experiences taking away cues and critical cognitive processing capacity from the task of comprehending the material.” • This means that how we interact and learn using digital data is different and less effective than the old way of doing things. We have a harder time focusing and we must spend more effort to concentrate and not get distracted.

8. To really understand learning, we really must dive into executive function and how our brain processes information. Our brain breaks down information and processes it on many different levels. Here is a high-level flow chart that describes this process First, we must help our audiences focus and pay attention. They need to shift their attention to the information being presented. Next, we need to convince their brains to expend effort so processing of information can occur. Emotion is critical to help reinforce the importance of the information being presented. Getting our audiences to not only focus but expend effort and emotionally connect with our presentations during an online sales meeting can be a tough challenge! Understanding Executive Function

9. Make People Feel Like They Are in the Same Room At the end of the day, people want to connect with other people, and they want to be part of a conversation. Every remote meeting platform does the exact opposite. If you can increase the interaction and engagement in your next remote meeting, you will see dramatic improvements. Try out Reactiv SUITE for free and see how it can transform your remote interactions.

10. Reactiv SUITE to power your online meetings Reactiv SUITE is designed to solve the problem of low engagement in meetings. Pin your camera and elevate your presence. Put your audience on a secondary monitor and elevate their presence. Show content and as easily as if they were paper. Write, ink, highlight, underline and markup documents to focus your audience’s attention. Deliver impactful presentations that create long lasting memories and build trust. Discover howReactiv SUITE can help make your meetings memorable with a Free Trail.

11. Thanks! You can contact us @ Website: https://vizetto.com/ Phone: 905-766-0068 Address: 6470 Viscount Rd., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4V 1H3