Why do people multitask during video conference meetings?

Many managers, and perhaps you, are frustrated by their employees multitasking during video meetings. In fact, when helping clients define their hybrid work policies, many managers want their employees to return to the office so they can be sure their staff is truly attentive and fully present during meetings.

Let’s not beat around the bush. If your employees are fiddling around in Slack while nodding through yet another Zoom presentation, chances are it’s not them, it’s you. Oh yeah, I’m thinking of you, the manager who can’t seem to organize meetings with clear agendas and optimal attendees. But wait, before you get defensive, let’s look at some facts. You see, our meeting culture needs an overhaul, and the solution isn’t to blame employees, but to acknowledge our shortcomings as decision-makers.

The Invisible World of Multitasking in Virtual Meetings

Most managers assume that most multitasking during meetings involves personal distractions, like texting friends or even shopping online. But let’s bust that myth. The reality is more nuanced—and ironically, more work-related—than you might think. Surprisingly, data from leading remote work expert Nick Bloom shows that only 5% of your employees are texting or talking to family and friends during Zoom or Teams meetings.

The main distraction? You guessed it: extra tasks. According to an academic study based on Microsoft Teams data, work-related multitasking occurs in about 30% of virtual meetings. This includes actions like responding to emails, juggling Slack messages, and even editing a document. I know what you’re thinking: “Well, if it’s work-related, then what’s the harm?” The harm is that it’s more prevalent in meetings that share specific characteristics: being long, having a large number of participants, repeating themselves on the calendar, taking place in the morning, and with the majority of cameras off.

But let’s back up a bit. Multitasking isn’t the evil it’s often made out to be. In fact, some people claim that it helps them stay productive during the parts of meetings that aren’t their business. It’s a survival tactic, a way to make the most of time that would otherwise be wasted. The real question is why these people are in meetings that aren’t related to their work. It’s worth thinking about the next time you catch someone multitasking.

Why blame the manager?

As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to create an environment that allows your team to succeed. When a significant percentage of your team is multitasking during meetings, it means you have failed to create an environment that is conducive to full engagement. You can argue that employees have a responsibility to stay focused. However, as the person who sets the tone, structure, and agenda for those meetings, you have a greater responsibility to keep them focused.

Here’s the rub: The problem isn’t that your team members are choosing to get distracted, but that they feel compelled to do so because of the ineffectiveness of the meeting structure. Maybe the agenda is too broad, or the meeting is too long, or maybe there are too many voices in the room. Whatever it is, something about the format of your meetings is causing your team to seek productivity elsewhere. This type of behavior doesn’t just happen in a vacuum; it’s a response to the environment you’ve created or allowed to persist.

What’s more, this disengagement extends beyond the meetings themselves. When your team is multitasking in meetings, it implies that they don’t have enough time outside of meetings to get their tasks done. And that’s a major problem. It shows that the organization or team may be operating in a perpetual state of “meeting overload,” which leaves little room for focused, uninterrupted work.

Your next steps: fewer meetings, but more focused meetings

Forget what you’ve been told about meetings being the cornerstone of effective team communication. To be honest, many meetings just waste time and dilute productivity. The good news is that you have the power to change this pattern.

When you decide that a meeting is essential, the attendee list should be your first consideration. Everyone in that virtual room should be someone whose contribution is truly needed. Ask yourself, “Who really needs to be there?” If you can’t think of a good reason for someone to be there, cross them off the list. The shorter the attendee list, the more likely it is that everyone present will have a role to play, which naturally encourages active participation and minimizes the wiggle room for multitasking.

However, a narrower list alone will not solve the problem. It must be coupled with a well-thought-out agenda that requires active participation from all participants. No one should be in the meeting room, virtually or physically, just to nod or take a seat. The agenda should require everyone to contribute, question, or at least some form of active engagement. When people know they have a role to play, they are less likely to disengage and turn to multitasking to cope with a boring meeting.

If you’ve adopted these measures—fewer, more focused meetings with carefully curated attendee lists and interactive agendas—and you find that people are still multitasking, that’s a sign you need to dig deeper. The problem may not be the meetings themselves, but rather an undercurrent of team dynamics or individual motivations that you haven’t yet identified. This could range from poorly defined team roles leading to a lack of ownership and accountability to more complex issues like cultural mismatches, misaligned incentives, or even personal crises that are affecting focus and productivity.

Ultimately, it’s all about commitment

If you want to run meetings that not only attract attention but also promote productivity, you need to take a hard look at how you run them. Understand that while multitasking may offer a band-aid solution for the employee, it reveals a gaping wound in your management style and communication strategy. So don’t blame employees for trying to juggle tasks; restructure your approach and you’ll get the focus you so desire from your team.

A version of this article was also published on disasteravoidanceexperts.com.