A new survey conducted by Savanta for the AI meeting assistant company Bluedot reveals a significant trend of multitasking during professional video calls. The data suggests that employees are often engaged in activities far removed from their work tasks when their cameras are turned off.
A 30% nap rate among Gen Z workers
The survey highlights a wide range of distractions that occur behind the scenes of virtual calls. According to the Savanta poll,workers are frequently balancing their professional duties with domestic or personal activities, often under the cover of a disabled camera.
- 23% of workers have used the restroom during a meeting.
- 14% have engaged in online shopping.
- 13% have used meeting time to exercise.
- 12% have fallen asleep, a figure that jumps to 30% among Gen Z employees.
John Coleman on the risks of cooking and restroom mishaps
John Coleman, the co-CEO of Sovereign's Capital, expressed concerns regarding the safety and professionalism of these multitasking habits. While he admitted to taking calls while exercising, Coleman noted that he draws a firm line at cooking during a meeting due to the risk of accidents. He also recalled a specific instance where a colleague forgot his video was enabled and inadvertently broadcast a view of a restroom to the entire call.
To combat these issues, Coleman suggests that organizations must take more responsibility for their meeting culture. He recommends that companies keep virtual calls brief, limit attendance to only essential participants, and constantly evaluate whether a video call is actually necessary to achieve the goal.
The pandemic-era shift in professional boundaries
The rise in multitasking may be linked to the way many employees began their careers during the pandemic, a period that fundamentally rewrote the boundaries between home and professional life . This shift has made it easier for workers to blend domestic tasks with office responsibilities, creating a culture where the home environment is constantly bleeding into the workspace.
Coleman warned that when employees feel they are not needed in a discussion or that a meeting could have been handdled via email, they may begin to multitask.. This behavior, he argues, can eventually erode a worker's cognitive ability to remain focused and engaged with their team.
The debate over Catherine Fisher's contribution standard
The actual professional cost of these distractions remains a subject of debate. While the survey identifies what people are doing, it leaves the impact on actual output somewhat ambiguous. the central question is whether these behaviors prevent a worker from contributing meaningfully, or if they are simply harmless side activities.
Catherine Fisher, a LinkedIn vice president of communications, argues that the focus should not necessarily be on the activity itself, but on the ability to contribute. as reported in the survey, Fisher suggests that multitasking becomes a genuine problem only when an employee can no longer follow the discussion or answer questions when called upon. She emphasizes that any absence from the screen should be communicated so that the team remains on the same page.
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