Q. Hi Liz, maybe I’m in the minority, but I hate it when someone doodles at a face-to-face meeting in the office. It’s like they aren’t paying attention. Why can’t they sit quietly and attend to the meeting?
A. That’s what they are trying to do – the doodling helps them focus.
For many people, the slow pace of a typical business meeting is excruciating – their mind easily wanders, and doodling allows them to stay focused on the conversation.
More to the point, we need to remember the immortal words of George Carlin:
“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”
We all have our narrow zones of comfort, and we need to remember that everyone else is operating with or just outside their comfort zone as well.
We don’t get to tell other people what to do simply because our comfort zone is different from theirs.
1. We don’t get to tell our teammates what to wear to work.
2. We don’t get to insist that everybody come to the office because we prefer having people in the office to having people working from home.
3. We don’t get to demand that our coworkers keep their cameras on during Zoom calls just because we want to see their faces.
4. We don’t get to stop other people from doodling just because we don’t like doodling ourselves or don’t approve of doodling.
As it turns out, doodling is a healthy, effective tool for concentration in meetings because it keeps the brain lightly engaged, preventing it from zoning out or daydreaming during long, monotonous, or complex discussions.
It functions as a cognitive anchor, reducing stress and improving memory retention of information by up to 29%.
Q. Hi Liz, I require my employees to keep their cameras on during Zoom meetings to show they are engaged. Some of the employees object to this. What is your opinion?
A. Let your teammates know that you thought about it, listened to their feedback and decided to end the “keep your cameras on” rule.
Being on camera is very uncomfortable for lots of people, and you don’t want to be that sort of micromanager in any case.
You manage adults – competent and responsible professionals.
Make as few rules as possible.
Watching people’s faces to see whether they are “engaged” is beneath you.
Your job (and all of our jobs as managers) is to create a trusting environment where engagement is not even a topic of concern, much less something we would evaluate in our brilliant teammates.
Here’s to you!
Q. What are your thoughts on self-improvement? How do I get better?
A. Forget about getting better. Every day, relax a little bit more into how amazing you are and always have been.
The more you feel your power, the stronger you will get.
Focus on personal growth and you will not stress about self improvement anymore!
