NATURE: How I learnt to love Zoom

Description

As the three-month mark of the UK lockdown passes, I’ve had plenty of practice at videoconferencing. I am someone who would rather send a quick e-mail than have a telephone conversation, and so I was apprehensive about the change to videoconferencing to begin with. But now, Zoom is an essential and very useful part of my working day. It brings my team together for laboratory meetings, journal clubs, coffee breaks and the occasional after-work drinks. While we’re all social distancing, it’s nice to see familiar faces. I like the fact that Zoom meetings make it easy to have quick catch-ups with colleagues. And if, like me, you always seem to be asking questions, a quick call can give you the answers you need, rather than waiting for an e-mail reply. Instant-messaging platforms such as Slack are also good for this.