and connections due to a variety of things, not to mention poor quality home Wi-Fi signals or Internet connections.
With too many participants, it's easy for individuals to talk over others.
Some meeting topics just aren't well suited for online meetings with larger audiences, especially when topics get into emotional discussions.80
Another recent article looked at four specific downsides to online meetings. The author of the article indicated that after attending online meetings all day while working from home, he missed social interaction, balance, and mobility.81 A second downside, specifically for working parents with children at home (also distance learning with tools like Zoom, Blackboard, and Canvas learning management systems (LMS)), found it challenging to manage work and childcare, with support for their children's online learning environment.82 A third downside is “inequity in accessibility,” as some families with working parents and students in school can't afford the same levels of high-speed Internet service or modern-day wireless networks (and how to maintain them) from home.83 Some responsible corporations have been reimbursing staff for better quality Internet service while working remotely, but it's still yet to be seen about whether these financial supplements will continue postpandemic, regardless of whether workers come back to corporate offices or work a hybrid office/remote work schedule. The forth downside is related to security issues like Zoombombing, which can occur as a result of individuals sharing online meeting credentials outside of an organization.84 CIOs today need to mitigate online meetings from being hijacked by outside entities by providing clear guidance on meeting setup, and staff training and educational sessions about online meeting security. In addition, corporate staff should be trained on related security risks such as phishing, strong passwords, and social threats such as spear phishing to mitigate risks.
I asked my CxO panel a variety of questions about use and usefulness of online meeting and collaboration tools. Their responses follow:
CxO Survey Question: What percentage of your organization staff regularly used online meeting tools prior to Covid-19?
20 percent responded that 40 percent of staff regularly used online meeting tools prior to Covid-19.
40 percent responded that 60–75 percent of staff regularly used online meeting tools prior to Covid-19.
40 percent responded that 100 percent of staff regularly used online meeting tools prior to Covid-19.
CxO Survey Question: Do you anticipate continuing use of online meeting tools like Teams, Zoom, WebEx, etc. postpandemic (assume 2022 forward)?
60 percent responded that they would keep the use the same, while 40 percent responded that they would increase online meeting tools.
CxO Survey Question: For 2022 forward, indicate whether you plan to decrease, increase, or keep the same percentage from the peak of the pandemic (2020) regarding online meeting tool usage?
100 percent responded to keep the same or increase their use of online meeting tools
CxO Survey Question: How satisfied was your organization with your online meeting tools throughout the pandemic?
60 percent responded that they were very satisfied with their online meeting tools.
40 percent responded that they were somewhat satisfied or satisfied with their online meeting tools.
CxO Survey Question: What steps are you taking to make satisfaction higher with online meeting tools?
1 Conduct additional user training to understand features better.
2 Conduct additional communication on technology standards supported along with raising awareness for the Acceptable Use Policy.
3 Conduct an end-user survey to understand the “voice of the customer.”
—DAVID LIN, CISO, Gemology Institute of America, Inc.
Lessons Learned
After discussing things that went well and things that didn't throughout the pandemic with CIOs, CISOs, and CEOs across the country, I had to ask my CxO panel for their input on what they've learned the most about during the pandemic.
CxO Survey Question: What top-five lessons have you and your team learned during the pandemic? Answers can be technology related, employee behavior, risk management, business continuity, and so forth.
1 Staff fatigue occurs faster when you are looking at a screen for 10–12 hours per day.
2 Increase phishing awareness.
3 Not everyone has a home office.
4 Increase helpdesk resources as people do not always remember how to use the tools.
5 You may need collaboration tools. Just one will not do.
—EDWARD ANDERSON, CIO, International Monetary Fund
1 Communications and meeting technologies were set up for traditional in person meetings and not conducive to remote or hybrid work.
2 The DR/BCP planning did not consider a pandemic company-wide shutdown as a scenario.
3 Frequent communications to employee population throughout the period of unknown is a must. Even if there are no updates. Hearing assurance from leadership has a calming effect.
4 In absence of clear guidelines or practice, people get creative out of survival instinct to achieve objectives. Example: taking office desktop computers and furniture in order to work remote.
5 The sudden increase and demand for remote work exposed the inadequacy of technology support. Further, known vulnerabilities are forced to be exposed due to the need to connect from the outside.
—DAVID LIN, CISO, Gemology Institute of America, Inc.
1 Have an onboarding/termination process that relates to remote and on-site alike. We were fortunate enough to onboard a handful of new team members in 2020 and did not have a formal onboarding process that was easily translated into a remote workforce. We adapted quickly and had a very transparent open-door policy for all. Transversely we did terminate two team members for performance-related reasons and experienced similar bumps in the process for a remote environment.
2 Security – develop and test on and offsite security measures/processes including file storage, sign on/login. With a primarily on-site team prior to COVID, we were able to lock down access from our physical location and adapt processes around a similar structure. When we moved to 100 percent remote, we had to adapt to home network access, process for storing files remotely and access control all over secure connections.
3 Culture
