How AI Thinks Virtual Frosted Glass Could Cut Communication Hassles for a 5-Person Team
Let’s consider a hypothetical scenario involving a team of five remote workers: Alex, Sarah, Mark, Emma, and John. They often rely on video calls for their projects, but they encounter significant time losses due to the inefficiencies of traditional video conferencing.
I’ve asked the AI how virtual frosted glass (VFG) can make their team communication faster by comparing their current communication patterns to those potentially enhanced by this innovative tool.
Note that I did not provide the AI with any details about how the virtual frosted glass is implemented. Therefore, the AI gave its answer based on the pure idea of virtual frosted glass.
Here is the answer:
1. Length of Setup Time:
Currently, every time the team initiates a video call, they spend an average of 5 minutes setting up the call. This includes joining the meeting, checking video and audio quality, and responding to preliminary questions like “Can you see me?” or “Can you hear me?”
2. Average Call Duration:
Let’s assume their meetings typically last about 30 minutes. However, they often find themselves sidetracked with small talk or technical issues, resulting in only 25 minutes of productive conversation.
3. Frequency of Calls:
On average, this team holds about 3 scheduled calls per week to catch up on projects and tasks, along with spontaneous calls that may happen around 2 times per week.
Calculating Time Costs:
- Set Up Time: 5 minutes per call x 5 calls/week (3 scheduled + 2 spontaneous) = 25 minutes/week
- Actual Productive Meeting Time: 25 minutes per call x 5 calls/week = 125 minutes/week (or approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes)
- Total Weekly Time Lost (Setup + Meeting): 25 minutes (setup) + 125 minutes (meeting) = 150 minutes (or 2 hours and 30 minutes/week)
Now, let’s consider how the introduction of virtual frosted glass could change the dynamics of their meetings:
1. Streamlined Presence:
With virtual frosted glass, team members can join a call more casually. Instead of fixing setup issues, they would simply appear as a soft blur on the video feed, indicating a presence without demanding full attention. The setup time could be reduced to just 1 minute as they would instantly be able to enter the call with less concern about technicalities.
2. Length of Calls:
The team can maintain longer, more effective meetings without fatigue because they feel less pressured to be fully “on.” This might allow them to extend their productive dialogue to about 40 minutes, even if there’s background multitasking happening.
3. Flexible Participation:
With virtual frosted glass, they can easily join discussions without planning a formal call. Let’s assume they manage to reduce their spontaneous calls to just 1 additional minimalist call per week because fewer interruptions are needed-resulting from their comfortable “blurred presence.”
Calculating New Time Costs:
- Set Up Time: 1 minute per call x 5 calls/week = 5 minutes/week
- Actual Productive Meeting Time: 40 minutes per call x 4 (3 scheduled + 1 spontaneous) = 160 minutes/week (or approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes/week)
- Total Weekly Time Lost (Setup + Meeting): 5 minutes (setup) + 160 minutes (meeting) = 165 minutes (or 2 hours and 45 minutes/week)
- Original Total Weekly Time Lost: 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes)
- New Total Weekly Time Lost with Virtual Frosted Glass: 165 minutes (2 hours and 45 minutes)
In this hypothetical scenario, while the total in-meeting time increased from 125 minutes to 160 minutes per week-implying a longer overall commitment- the key savings came from reduced setup time and improved participation flexibility. Each team member can now focus on their tasks without frequent disruptions for calls, allowing for a smoother workflow.
While this specific example might illustrate the dynamic shifting a little toward longer meetings, the increase in productive time, comfort, and reduced anxiety can lead to greater creativity and efficiency in the long run-ultimately making virtual frosted glass a transformative communication modality for the team.
Originally published at https://meetingglass.substack.com.
