AhaSlides, a technology company based in Singapore, conducts an ongoing survey of 2,000 remote workers to understand how we are adapting to a new way of life under the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study shows that professionals are not very careful with their camera and microphone while in a video conference.
Among their findings:
- 28% of the correspondents say they have seen coworkers accidentally do or say something embarrassing in a video conference.
- 11% say they have seen coworkers accidentally show parts of their body in a video conference.
Dave Bui, CEO and co-founder of AhaSlides, said, “Remote working has become the new norm of our professional life. While video conferencing is getting more widespread, the etiquette for it is still lagging behind. Through this survey, we want to understand this gap of professionalism around Zoom, Skype and other video conferencing platforms.”
Furthermore, the survey shows that:
- 43% say they are less productive working from home.
- Among the obstacles to productivity, family members or housemates contribute to 62%, while technological issues contribute to 43%, followed by distraction at home (e.g. tv, phones, etc.) at 37%
- 74% say they watch YouTube or spend time on other social media in a video conference.
- 32% say they play video games in a video conference.
The truth is that when working from home, employers can’t really know if their employees are working or not. This could be an incentive for employees to procrastinate. While not being productive, 55.1% of the respondents want the lockdown to last longer.
There are also concerns about a shift from the traditional workplace setting to working from home.
One of the casualties of the working-from-home culture is collaboration. Small talks and informal chatting are often necessary to spark new ideas in the workplace. However, when you are on Zoom or Skype, there is no private space for coworkers to banter. Without a safe and open environment for colleagues to engage in conversations, the collaboration will suffer.
Another worry that remote workers often face is control issues. Employers are increasingly using spying and surveillance software to control the workflow of their employees. This exploitation, they say, leads to a working culture of mistrust and fear.
To cast your vote on the survey, please follow the link below:
https://ahaslides.com/SURVEY2020
To see the full result:
https://presenter.ahaslides.com/share/1589531446819-j0u1pqcyzz?presenting=true