What’s the worst thing you’ve witnessed in a Teams/Zoom meeting?

[purpleroses2]

I am ultra paranoid about online meetings, as I’ve witnessed a few mishaps:

1. A woman took a personal phone call and didn’t realise a colleague had left their mic on. She started slagging the whole team off and we could hear every word.
2. A man left his mic on and went to the toilet
3. Not me personally - but a friend was in a meeting where a woman left her cam on by accident and she had just got out of the shower. She then got dressed in full view of everyone on the meeting.

I wouldn’t dare do any of those things even near my laptop, just incase of an accident occurring.

Why not? I was the only person in a very small room, in a very small local garage. Until it connected to the Bluetooth, noone else could hear it.

And pre hearings are technically public hearings so they're not confidential or anything.

I won, by the way, I got my client dismissed from proceedings as intended.

In a really big meeting where there were dozens of people, a bloke didn’t realise he was visible to everyone and his wife came in and stood behind him and started giving him a sensual shoulder massage.

I was on a job interview in our front room during Covid when the doorbell went for a parcel. I apologised to the interviewers and carried on and the doorbell and knocking kept going- I think the postman could see me through the window. So the people interviewing me encouraged me to go get the parcel and that it was fine. I did and carried on with the interview and got the job. The timing was awful but their understanding grace with the situation really showed how nice of a team I would be joining- they remain awesome managers to this day!

I would have felt so much sympathy for you if I was interviewing.
I've had a similar situation and was so frustrated with the postman but it's just dawning on me now that I could maybe get a sign for the door for any future "do not disturb" situations

I agree. @Negroany I am actually horrified a lawyer would think this ok.

I would be taking disciplinary action if a member of my team did this. It's totally unacceptable. And a clear breach of our policy

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a member of anyone's team.

But, I'm still doing their tribunals many years later and I've told the CEO this story.

My son started secondary school during Covid, so they had their transition meeting online. About 150 families on the call and one mother sat on the sofa in a bra. Most had their cameras off, so the few with cameras on were displayed along the top.of the screen. She also hadn't figured out how to mute herself, so every time she made a noise it highlighted her on the screen.
The poor teacher leading it was trying to be subtly helpful by saying "please do feel free to turn your cameras off if you'd like," but nope, she sat there for 45 in her bra with her poor daughter next to her on the sofa.

I thought I was on mute and did a series of really awful big burps.

We were told a team had to do another team's work. I wasnt really paying attention and without thinking shouted "oh they'll love that". Yep, microphone on.

Someone's mum in her underwear in the background.

Breathing. How do people breath so loudly?!

During Covid, teaching a class on Teams. One girl was working from her kitchen table and her very tubby Dad walked past her in only his underpants. The whole class could see…

It's rude to put people on speakerphone without telling them. Everything that is said might be written down anyway but you should still tell people they are on speakerphone because we all know tone can change meaning and I'm guessing at a pre-tribunal it isn't written verbatim.

I bet if you asked the judge if it was ok to put everything on speakerphone in a garage she would have said no.

Worked in a school during Covid.
It was when teaching staff were at home and support staff were in for key worker children.
The head called a Teams meeting, those that were in were called to the hall, teaching staff dialled in.
One of the science teachers was laid in bed on the call, the screen had been shared to a big whiteboard, so all of us in school were tittering away at him.

This one did it for me 😂

Someone cutting their nails… pretty tame

Oh and during Covid when our ceo joined a company wide teams call to tell us ‘we’re all in the same boat’ except we weren’t… as it became obvious he was on his yacht.

That's really funny 😂

That made me laugh out loud! Brilliant!

A girl left her mic on and scolded her husband.

That has made my morning 🤣 Just tried to read it to DH and I had to hand him my phone as I couldn't speak for laughing

During Covid, I think I saw a viral reel where someone accidentally turned themselves into a talking potato in a very important meeting and then couldn’t change it.

I’ve been on teams calls with about 300 students. All sorts happened such as speakers getting randomly intermittently muted, very inappropriate backgrounds….

Oh my gosh! Were they from a case or their own. How harrowing for the audience.

Wonder if some of the "accidental" half naked exposures are intentional. A modern take on the old school flashers.

Very impressed that a 4 year old came out with “vulva flash”! 🤣🤣🤣

The worst I saw was on a whole company monthly meeting. Always first thing on a monday morning. The director who hosted that months company update did so from her bed, with the laptop resting between her legs. She was wearing a nightie and nothing on under which was clear when she pulled her knees up. She thought the camera was off as was the usual practice for company wide meetings.
Several hundred people saw her...
Not a single person could say anything as everyone but the host was muted.
Someone eventually managed to get through on her phone to tell her.

We have one of those at my work place, every teams meeting I sit anticipating what deliveroo she will begin noshing off in full view. Often she'll let everyone know shes going to the door to collect! Drives me insane