How These Companies Are Avoiding Zoom Fatigue

Melissa Perri describes how a typical remote staff meeting can waste the chance to connect and align a team, and argues that remote work mainly amplifies existing meeting problems. She interviews product leaders at several companies about how they run meetings and communications during the pandemic. Their common thread is that poor meeting hygiene (no agenda, no data, unclear follow-up) must be fixed first, and that deliberate transparency and personal connection help maintain morale and trust. The piece matters because it offers practical, low-cost ways for product leaders to keep distributed teams productive and engaged.

01Key takeaways

• Fix weak meeting habits such as missing agendas, missing data, and unclear follow-up before moving meetings online.
• Rethink each recurring meeting's purpose instead of simply carrying it over to video.
• Short, frequent townhalls can raise transparency and attendance in a distributed team.
• Allowing personal conversation in work settings can strengthen trust and working relationships.
• Let employees source content and co-host, which gives them a stake in connection rituals.
• Small rewards like branded swag can encourage participation in voluntary team activities.

02Key sections

A missed opportunity in a staff meeting

A friend's all-hands call was loosely structured and cut short, leaving employees eager for connection and clarity unfulfilled. The author sees this as a lost chance to make the gathering more valuable.

Remote tools are good, but bad habits move online

Video tools are now the main way teams meet, but unclear agendas and follow-ups become worse when meetings simply move remote. Leaders should rethink meetings the way they rethink priorities.

Standing rituals and increased transparency

Bynder's product leader kept the existing OKR agenda while adding frequent short townhalls and open Q&A sessions. Higher transparency and strong attendance followed.

Getting personal to build trust

Episerver created a regular informal show on non-work topics such as homeschooling, exercise, cooking, and entertainment. Employees contribute content, which helps teams connect as people.

Making it fun

Episerver's show hosts receive a branded t-shirt, a small incentive that encourages participation and makes contributing feel rewarding.

03From the post

“A friend told me about her company’s staff meeting today. As the ~75 people joined the Zoom call, there was some casual talk among a few staff about working remotely; a few comments through chat about the lead engineer’s impressive pandemic beard. Staff members…”

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.