Work meeting etiquette

Virtually no one in my organisation turns their camera on; it's unnecessary, and hogs screen space from whatever is being presented.
What annoys me more is occasionally having to waste time correcting shoddy process documents written by native English speakers who should know better: "there time is up" "could of"... Most of my team have English as their third language and they don't make basic errors like these, OP.

Yes- I really think it does. Nothing worse than talking to a sea of blank screens, no way to pick up visual clues, engage with the other participants, tell whether you have their attention etc. And people definitely pay less attention when their camera is off- checking other emails, etc. I agree that it's incredibly rude

Genuine question, OP - why do you feel so strongly about people having their cameras on? Does it really make a difference?

Yes, civil servants do love meetings and we certainly used to have plenty of professional meetings engineers but they were very good at running meetings properly. It was after we were privatised that we endured 20 minute meetings crammed into two hours because no-one seemed to know how to shut people up!

The bit about declining or accepting meetings is true and drives me insane especially when I'm booking meetings for a specific purpose and those people should be there.

It's the height of ignorance.

Meetings re meetings with nil productivity and a sheer waste of time.
My experience of working in a senior role in a public organisation only served to confirm that it was a different suit on a different day with a tweek of the management speak.
At the same time, front line services were short.
I attended as few meetings as possible and concentrated on responsibilities that directly impacted on service users

Depends. One job had cameras disabled for security reasons. Previous job was cameras on unless it was a regional all-hands with hundreds on the call, in which case cameras only for speakers. Also had meetings where some individuals were asked to turn cameras off because their bandwidth wasn't coping and looking at a fuzzy, pixilated image trying to reload which was making the sound go weird wasn't helpful.

Generally my preference is for cameras on.

Jesus, stop being ridiculous and read my earlier comment, I don’t wear make up on the days I WFH as it’s not necessary and I don’t need to have my camera on!!

The point being, if you - or anyone else - feels they do "need" makeup, then you need to put it on before work starts.

Same as everyone brushes their hair or gets dressed. Doesn't bother me two hoots if someone is wearing make up or not, it is the fact that you are actually suggesting it as being a viable reason for not having your camera on in a work meeting that is ridiculous.

Don’t be ridiculous!!
I’m a highly qualified professional ( 7 years to qualify) and if I choose to wear make up I will, if I choose not to I won’t, it isn’t necessary for cameras to be turned on in most meetings anyway.

In my profession 90% of people have their cameras turned off so it makes no difference. When I’m in the office as I’m a senior member of staff I want to and need to look professional and good grooming is part of that.

If you don’t wear make up that’s fine but you really need to understand that a lot of highly qualified intelligent women actually do

Such a silly comment

Because it is a business meeting, not a beauty contest.

If wearing make up is important to someone, they can get up and put it on before they start work, but most people manage to do their job without wearing make up.
It is a ridiculous reason for not taking part in a meeting fully and would not be considered as a reason to not put your camera on where most people work.

Why

1 - meetings should end at scheduled time, or before. Overruns, unless very marginal or driven by someone super-senior are unprofessional.

2 - cameras should always be on. I always call, out people who switch cameras off, unless it’s just for a minute or so (e.g, a toilet break which you might have in a physical meeting).

3 - I don’t mind someone sending me a meeting for a slot that’s booked out in my open calendar unless they mind me declining it. It it’s a meeting i feel I have to attend, it can’t, then I decline asking for the meeting to be rescheduled.

4 - ambient noise from other people’s unmuted microphones is asking for a sarcastic comment.

Ultimately, other people are often dicks. If they are, treat them accordingly.

I don’t turn my camera on as I never put on make up when I’m WFH, most people don’t turn their cameras on now for various different reasons, Microsoft teams makes everyone look pretty awful IMO

Yeah, lots of people also don’t accept / decline invites so you have no idea whether they will turn up or not

Civil servants?

Clashing invitations is sometimes unavoidable. If I’m arranging a meeting with, say, 5 other people, sometimes I have to just go with the time that works for most people. Or for the people who are most important to the meeting. The partners at my firm have completely chockablock calendars and if they have to be in the meeting, someone else might get an invitation that clashes.

Please add to your list colleagues calling on teams when you are in a call. Before I call anyone I check first

Unless you have a special agreed accommodation or it's a very large meeting where you're not required to contribute in any way I think it's the height of rudeness not to have your camera on.

I agree about the chair needing to manage the meeting and keep people to their time limit.
It’s so frustrating as some people just love the sound of their own voice and have no awareness that they are digressing.
I feel your pain op

I find this whole issue with camera’s baffling as we can see everyone in face to face meetings. The background thing is silly as you can have a background on. Another reason for employers to want staff back in, nothing less engaging and motivating than a meeting with camera’s off.

I've not had a meeting over run since COVID. Everyone just logs off onto their next one on the hour.

I'm public sector too though. We're all too busy to faff about.

Hate cameras, I turn mine off. In my opinion if people want to see my face it needs to be in person

Open calendars are fine but actually more than two invitees and I end up hoping someone can come anyway or we won’t meet til August … the updates, absolutely drive me bananas