Surely being on camera for most virtual work meetings is now the standard?

[CantFindTheBeat]

I've just read a post where someone said that not wanting to be on video for a work Teams call whilst working from home was perfectly fine.

Surely this is no longer the case?

Obviously illness, rare WiFi issues and other and minor exceptions happen, but on the whole, don't most employers and managers expect people to be seen as well as heard these days?

Because working with someone who thinks anyone who doesn't have a camera on must be hiding something sounds unpleasant.

Cameras on in my org. FTSE 100 company.

It’s viewed as respectful and engaged to have cameras on. The more senior and ambitious, the more the camera is on.

It’s very wearing.

I’ve found that since i worked from home more, people are inviting me to lots more meetings that I don’t need to be in. Not only do I not want to spend my whole day looking at a screen, but I also want this time to have a snack if I want to, or work on other emails if I don’t need to pay 100% to the call.

I’m also pregnant atm and it’s been quite handy to be able to lie down on calls due to extreme back pain, or snack when I fee sick, or run to the toilet as an emergency.

Like some others have said the norm in my org is on for smaller team or 1-1 calls, off for big company meetings. With excepsions for times when the connection is failing.

Some people never have theirs on however as there is no 'rule' on it. In some cases that is down to shyness, anxiety or not wanting to see their own face on camera. In most cases its people who are not focused on the meeting and are busy doing emails, laundry, whatever else they consider more important at the same time. They think they are multi tasking but then someone will address a question to them and its like when a kid in your class got caught daydreaming.

I don't really care if people have their cameras on or not but I do hate it when people aren't paying attention.

I look hideous on camera. It makes me depressed seeing myself. Even when I do hair and make up I still look awful.

We have a daily meeting with no cameras. The we have some where it's camera at the start then off and some where you keep it on.

I can't see myself in a real life meeting!

Very annoying if tiny you is mirrored, or is displaying a fraction out of sync with you.

(I usually am a Camera on person)

ND people can really struggle with cameras, so I think it's not really ok to force it.
I also dislike the passive aggressive remarks you get from "camera-on" people about not having a camera on.
"(tinkly laugh) well I can't see you of course so I don't know whether...."
"What do you think about xxx? I can't see you so..."
"Are you wearing your pyjamas? HAHAHAHA"
Oddly enough you don't get any comments from "cameras-off" people about people having theirs on.
Why are people so intolerant when others want to do something different?

Agree 100% with all of this. My manager insists that we all have camera on for all meetingsre unless there’s a PowerPoint presentation happening. Its really tiring and makes my back ache worse at the end of the day because I feel I can’t get up and walk around like I would in a listening meeting. And then when it’s hot working at home you might want to be able to fan yourself or wear less clothes than normal etc and that is much harder to do with cameras on. It seems so petty to have a hard rule about. I’m in peri so I flush and sweat and fucking hate the always-on expectation.

They already know that we all work really hard because they’re copied in to all of the work we do, so it makes no sense to me.

I think it’s another symptom of an inappropriate attitude-policing that I see coming from colleagues in senior management.

I suspect the feeling would be mutual 😂😂

Stick a post-it on your screen if you hate seeing yourself

We are mainly a camera-on company, though if someone is presenting we turn them off.

My heart drops a bit when I have a 1-1 meeting and the other person announces that it is a 'walking meeting' for them so they are just a voice and black box on screen. I have real problems following a conversation if I can't see someone's face, I lose focus and don't take things in. I had the same issue in the old days with phone calls before anyone brings up that comparison.

We let people choose. If I am in a meeting where I dont need to be fully engaged for the whole meeting, I'll have my camera off and will put on if I have something to say (sometimes, not all the time). Some people have on all the time and it can be distracting if they are not active in the topic being discussed, some have off all the time.

Sometimes I will be waking around my office with my head set on stretching my legs after a couple of hours of back to back calls while listening so camera will be off.

We are happy people do what makes them most comfortable as we all have different preferrences and needs, these might even change from call to call.

I cannot see how camera directly equates to being less productive. That is a performance issue not a camera one.

@Blanketpolicy

I cannot see how camera directly equates to being less productive. That is a performance issue not a camera one.

This thread has made me realise that may be the case.

YANBU!
it would be highly weird for someone to be in a smaller meeting (>10) without their camera on and when in a big meeting you're expected to switch on when you're talking.

This absolutely. It's a great distraction for not being productive but looking as though you are, I think.

They should be dressed and groomed appropriately for work as well.

Groomed appropriately always makes me think of a horse being got ready for a show. Such a stupid word to apply to humans.

Our management accountants' 'groomed appropriately for work' look in the summer was tight T's, mini skirts and sandals. Didn't stop her being bloody good at her job.

I cannot see how camera directly equates to being less productive. That is a performance issue not a camera one

I can see how in my line of work people using cameras off as a way of multi-tasking instead of paying attention would affect performance because the likelihood is they'd be missing valuable information, which would directly impact on their work. It's frustrating to receive emails from people asking for information or raising issues when it was addressed in a meeting that they clearly weren't paying attention to.

Camera on Vs off doesn't automatically mean someone is a productive or an unproductive colleague, but the people who are a bit lazy and unproductive probably use cameras off to hide.

We have a daily team meeting where we are expected to put cameras on and I think we should. I had bad news Sunday and had been crying so asked if I could keep mine off Monday which was ok. I’m happy generally to have mine on just like I would be seen in a meeting/chat if was in the office.

Not bing on camera Makes it very difficult for deaf people to Lipread you or observe body language and gestures and can present barriers for other disabilities too. As someone who does a kind of education job, a sea of black boxes makes it impossible to gauge interest and reaction. Adjustments such as having camera off only applies in law in the case of disability so having camera off for any other reason is rude and potentially discriminatory

This is well articulated, thank you for writing it.

When you have done it thousands of times what is the benefit? The first 15 minutes taken up of the meeting telling people they need to fiddle with their video, "Oooh that's a nice background Jo", "John move your camera round", "You've caught the sun".

Fine if people get set up on time, no cats, stupid t-shirt messages, etc. And stop interrupting. Let them have their say.

It's pretty small, but I think the culmulative affect is quite large - when taken over a day which holds maybe 4-5 hours of meetings (on average).

Why so many meetings? That is too stifling.

If you can't manage your team without them having their cameras on maybe you should ask for a management course.

I dont put my camera on for most calls (I will occasionally if its one other person) and in the winter I wore my fluffy unicorn oodie.

mmmm... sometimes the bandwidth is terrible. I don't need cameras to have a decent telecon.

😂😂😂

Maybe I should!

as a rule of thumb , if it’s the type of meeting that would have been done as a teleconference pre -2020 then it’s ok for the camera to be off.

However if it’s a meeting that would have conventionally been in person pre 2020 then I expect cameras on.