Do you go on camera on Teams?

[thelastgoonthemerrygo]

I had a meeting with a supplier today and he had his camera off the entire time and I just find it unprofessional, like you’re suppose to be building up a relationship and I’m just talking to a black screen.

Ive worked with colleagues I’ve not met in person and they still don’t go on camera. So bedsides a profile photo I’ve don’t have much idea what they look like.

I say this as someone who hates seeing myself on camera.

Yes! Isn't that the point of Teams meetings?

We use Teams for meetings and phone calls. If it's a big team meeting we generally have cameras off but for meetings that are smaller we'd have them on unless someone specifically said they weren't on for a reason (eg eating).

I have regular meetings with an internal team and there's a new person working with me who didn't have their camera on - I asked them to switch on so I could 'meet' them which they were happy to do.

I think if it's a short external call there's no need for cameras but for small to medium meetings it feels awkward if cameras are off.

For our tedious management meetings we have to (to make sure we are all paying attention)

for our clinical meetings some have their camera on some don’t but everyone engages in the meetings it doesn’t bother me either way of someone does or doesn’t half the time the screen freezes anyway

We’re a camera on organisation. I like it, makes communication easier.

If it’s a voice call only, usually very early in the morning or late at night, I’ll specify in the invite or when I accept

If I’d rather keep my camera off I’ll explain why (hay fever etc) and all colleagues would do the same.

Even in big meetings, 40+ people, cameras are on for 90% of attendees

Work for a large global, we might put our camera on our team call, once a month but other than that there’s no expectation. Mostly though we’re talking about work and we screen share.

You can blur the background so nothing can be seen. I would find it very rude if I was having a 1:1 meeting with someone and they kept theirs off unless it was agreed that the call would be a phone call. Same if I’m leading training to a group. It’s not a nice feeling presenting to black screens.

Agree.

I rarely turn on my camera, and never expect anyone in my team to do so. I had one man who worked for me for two years and I still don’t know what he looks like. He produced his work on time and to the correct quality. That’s all that is required of him.

Camera always off for me and I don't have a profile picture either. Was the same when we used Microsoft Lync for years as well.

Never bothers me and never worry what others think.

Not everyone has phones!!! Ffs.
Or critical thinking skills either apparently.

Well, in the olden days, there were these things called phone calls and there were also meetings, ikr! They had different functions. Even though times have changed, I expect that most people with a wfh job would understand the difference and probably have access to both a phone and computer to boot.

We don’t have phones any more - just make calls through Teams.

I don’t think that’s particularly unusual.

This is me. Generally, the larger the meeting, the less likely it is to be relevant, and I want to be productive while it's on in the background. If it's a 1:1 call, I tend to use camera if it's something where I think it's 'personal'. If other person has their camera off, I turn off mine and treat it as a phone call. Admin stuff, I start with camera off.

You know you can make 'phone calls' in Teams, right? Just like how you can make both video and audio calls with WhatsApp or Messenger.
The difference is that Teams doesn't have two separate options, it assumes everything is a video call with either camera on or camera off, unless you both happen to join by phone.
Most people join on their laptops because they don't have corporate phones anyway. We're a big MNC and don't. Teams, Outlook etc we can have on our personal phones if we want but not mandatory.

I have camera on or off depending whether I think it should be a 'phone call' or 'meeting' but that's a matter of personal judgement. However, given that we've always worked with teams globally and had video calls long before Covid... people working in some places were usually cameras off due to bandwidth issues etc.

@mynameiscalypso
It's very rare in my organisation to have camera off unless you're dealing with an organisation that has cameras disabled (eg I think the Ministry of Defence doesn't allow camera access).

I’m with MoD. It was policy during most of the lockdown period to have cameras off to preserve bandwidth
Different departments in MoD may have different policies / guidelines, and of course the specifics of a workplace may dictate the camera on/off situation

I’ve found that different groups tend to have cameras on or off, with some teams that I deal with tending to be on and others tending to be off.
If dealing externally the trend is to be camera on, but in mixed meetings it’s also a combination of those who are on or off
Ive been studying with an external company and a mostly external cohort which default to camera on

In office we are on an open plan floorplate, though my usual bank of desks has its back to the wall. Generally it would be camera off on the floor plate and if using cameras to use a meeting room or breakout area with a level
of privacy screen.
I do sometimes put the camera on while on the floor plate if I’m backed against the wall, therefore I’m less likely to capture others in the background

At home it’s no issue to put the camera on when appropriate as it’s just showing me and pictures on the wall behind

When cameras aren’t on my profile picture is up. Which at least shows who you are taking to. Policy is to have your photo or nothing, but a few have a generic image
For a while a colleague in the next building had a photo of himself taken from his webcam at his desk complete with headset on - which meant that as a voice call came through it looked as if he was making a video call

Yep, I do know you can make phone calls on Teams @helpidkwhattodo, but people on the thread don’t understand the difference between a phone call and a meeting and why one of them would benefit from a camera on and was meant to replace face to face meetings.

Funny all these people saying they can't communicate without a video call. How did you cope when people used conference calls? There is rarely a reason why a video call is needed, unless you are presenting to a larger group.

Company policy is camera on if WFH, people have their off days of course and nobody bothers if it's a quick chat with a colleague for e.g. but you'd get picked up pretty quickly if you never used it in bigger meetings.

Company policy is camera on. Bigger company wide meetings you could get away with not having it on as nobody would notice, but for team meetings it would be weird. I would tend to assume that no camera means you’re doing something else in the background.

I didn’t like it much at first but you get used to it. I’ve met most people of the people I routinely work with, so they know what I look like in real life. I find it quite helpful to see people.

I very rarely make an actual phone call. I don’t even know how to log into the desk phone when I’m in the office and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone, outside of the help desk use one. I keep my company phone charged up for 2FA.

Our calls are mostly screen sharing so cameras are pointless, or team meetings which are quite chatty and people do their work at the same time so again, cameras are pointless.

I am forever grateful that I don't have to have my camera on, I find it horribly draining.

We can do what we like, thankfully. But all comms are internal, no client facing calls. I've noticed people generally try to have theirs on unless working remotely, when some do and some don't.