New research has found that the pressure you feel during consecutive meetings is all in your head. A study conducted by Microsoft's Human Factors Lab examined the brain activity of participants as they endured one meeting after another, without breaks, and observed an increase in beta wave activity—a feature seen during mental effort. The team also looked at another group of individuals who were given 10-minute breaks between meetings and found that beta activity decreased, allowing individuals to reset and perform better during their next appointment. Microsoft researchers stated that these findings prove that breaks are essential for improving people's ability to focus and engage during meetings, suggesting that even grabbing a cup of water or stretching a little is enough to clear your mind.
The research was published in 2021 when most of the world was working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, and all meetings were held online. However, now that the world has returned to normal and offices are filled with employees, in-person meetings are consuming people's days once again. The study remains relevant.
About 14 volunteers were equipped with electroencephalogram (EEG) devices—a cap to monitor the electrical activity in their brains—while attending meetings. On the first day of the study, the group attended stretches of four consecutive half-hour meetings, with each call assigned to different tasks and no breaks. On the following day, participants endured another round of four half-hour meetings, but this time they had 10-minute breaks between each session.
Microsoft shared in a press release: "As we saw in previous studies, during two consecutive hours of back-to-back meetings, the average beta wave activity—those linked to stress—increased over time. In other words, the pressure kept accumulating, but when participants had the opportunity to rest through mindfulness, beta activity decreased, allowing for a reset."
This reset allowed participants to enter the next meeting calmly, compared to those who did not take breaks and stressed only about the next meeting. The researchers also analyzed the difference in alpha wave activity on the left and right frontal regions of the brain, known as frontal alpha asymmetry, which is linked to higher engagement during meetings. Positive levels in brainwave patterns were found among participants who took breaks, while those who attended consecutive meetings showed brain fatigue. These individuals also reported it was difficult to focus and engage in the sessions.
Michael Bohanan, Senior Director of the Microsoft Human Factors Engineering Group, who oversaw the project, stated: "Our research shows that breaks are important, not just to make us less exhausted by the end of the day, but to actually improve our ability to focus and participate during those meetings."
