Working from home - cameras on laptops?

[bbcessex]

I work from home at least two days a week, and regularly have conference calls etc.

In the past, it's not standard to have laptop cameras switched on for conf calls as we are a financial services company and it's not been common, but that's changing with teams about to regularly work more remotely due to corona policy.

I actually much prefer seeing the person / people I'm talking to and i think it helps with connecting / focus / communication. I've given my team notice that as we are all going to be working from home more (not formally told to yet but likely) I'd like to have work laptop cameras on during team calls wherever possible going forward.

Most people are fine - I've had the obvious comments 'oh no, I'll have to get dressed, ha ha', but a couple of people are really not happy about it (without being specific about why).

It's not mandatory of course, and i can't / won't enforce it, but I will encourage it.

Does anyone else have a view on this? Is it unreasonable to encourage?

I'm struggling to think of all these jobs where video conferencing is so vital to doing w gold job

@adaline

At risk of outing, here's one example of a job where its actually vital. I line managed a team in the Far East where I was only able to fly out once or twice a year.

Managing a team of people from a different culture and geography down a phone line is fucking ridiculous - there's no way it could be effective.

So even though you may at such a job or scenario, it was mandatory that we did video chats and it worked with no complaints from anyone.

It really isn't with mine adaline which is why I won't be making any adjustments if I have to work from home! I manage to have calls in the office with only a photo showing and I even hate that! It's bad enough we have pictures on our emails (internal emails only thank god) without inflicting video on us!

@GinDaddy
In reply you may not give a monkeys about my home being on your screen but I do! My house my rules, so yes nosey beak out of my home please!

@GinDaddy, you're 'that' manager, aren't you? The one about whom everyone says "Christ, I used to work for this absolute nightmare manager..."

@StCharlotte
It's my home. I may work from home but it is still my home primarily. "The least you could do is have a work space" - WHERE?!! We have a three bedroom, end terrace and its spoken for! Why the he'll would I want to VC? I find screen share very useful particularly for schematics and engineering drawings - my nose and hair line really don't add to understanding.

I'm not really bothered one way or another. My laptop has a little slidey camera cover. My cats like to join conference calls though so there would likely be a few furry faces!

My cat likes to rub his face around the corners of the laptop and sleep on it if it's closed! He's banned from my MacBook but my work laptop is ok

@gindaddy that still doesn't explain why you need video chats to do your job properly.

It just sounds to me like you think it makes your life easier so you want everyone else to think that way too

@pinksparklypussycat exactly!

Thankfully I'm self employed and when I'm working at home I'm normally in pyjamas with a dog or cat draped across me

I'm gobsmacked by this thread and the variety in work cultures. We all use video and noone has raised any objections. Corona times aside, people working at home are expected to be available (including on video) within core hours and to have a suitable working environment free from distraction. If people don't like that, there's an office they can use! I do accept this will be flexed during the Corona virus period for the advantage of employee and employer alike.

It's sad to hear all those concerned about make up. What have we done to ourselves as a society when this is such a big issue?

I did some work today and had to keep moving the cat’s tail off my laptop! I think if video calling is inflicted on me I’ll just put a smart top over my PJs! No one will know and it’s not as though I look pristine when I’m in the office - no make up and I don’t have the right sort of hair to look pristine!

I would object simply because it's unnecessary most of the time and it's obtrusive. It's all very well saying that we should have perfect little home offices, but I don't have the space for that so my desk shares the room with about 5 guitars, a drumkit, records and usually some washing drying, and I still get more work done at home.

Managing a team of people from a different culture and geography down a phone line is fucking ridiculous - there's no way it could be effective.

We've been doing it very effectively in my company for decades. Though, perhaps, that may depend on 'culture' in something other than a geographical sense. There are some clues on this thread that quite a few of us who've been doing WFH/ remote working for donkeys' years and are baffled by why people would be interested in looking at colleagues/customers rather than screen sharing are STEM types.

I WFH and find video calls extremely useful. I prefer seeing a person's face than talking to a screen. So do my colleagues. You can get a lot from body language.

I used to do conferences where nobody had video on and a lot of people didn't take everything in. There were so many questions after that would have been answered if people listened because people weren't paying attention all that much. I do admit that Incan tune out of audio only because I need the visual element too.

I don't mind at all... I don't mind people seeing me with no make up i just need to remember to put a t-shirt on. I try to sit against a neutral background so my home isn't distracting.

I can see people wouldn't like it if it's a surprise...but if you know it's expected you can plan for it...

Tricky....

I worry about people that feel they need to look at me in order to listen or pay attention. For goodness sake, ears eyes on the page/screen. I've been lucky enough to have open WFH arrangements for a few years now. Why would a work meeting need "teeth time" like a used car purchase!

We usually put video on for the first few minutes of a call to say hello / admire cute passing pets but switch them off when the call starts properly. Usually you are screen sharing by then anyway so no-one would be able to see much.

@SciFiRules

What is all this "nosey beak" stuff you keep saying?!

For me to have a nosey beak, I'd actually have to care about your house. I don't.

If we worked together I could go a lifetime without seeing your decor or your environment. I wouldn't care.

As a previous poster said, the nature of video chat means that you only see a couple of inches around someone's head in the background. What do people expect they're going to "reveal"?! It's all a bit precious isn't it?

@BrightYellowDaffodil

Nope I'm not "that manager" . I'm that manager that didn't need to ask my Asia colleagues to chat by video because they were doing it long before I came along. No one is dragged kicking and screaming to anything - they actually set up the calendar - I'm sorry to disappoint.

@adaline

Apologies that I wasn't clearer in previous post.

I don't work in a UK-only culture where people's primary motivation to WFH is so they can go straight from bed to sofa and have a "home is my castle" mentality.

In China or Singapore (again, outing) people live in small apartments, but they do video chat - I don't force them, again culturally or otherwise they just do it proactively and have been long before I worked with them.

I'm going to have to leave this thread because it's pointless me outlining my experience, people will just project onto me whatever they want to project in order to justify why they (would) hate having to video chat at work/

Apart from the exceptional corona virus home working....

It is a privelege.. It is massively beneficial for the home worker (and often for employer...).

People responding like some of the answers here it's why homeworking got a bad name.... If I'm running a meeting I expect the invitees to be present and engaged.... They are at work and are being paid!

I have no issue with people not wearing full work attire.... But would be meh if people were in their dressing gowns!

You don't NEED a study... You just need a quiet area with a couple of feet of background you don't mind people seeing.... Or use the tech and blur your background....

If you’re working from home you’re still supposed to be working so unless you have a real mental or physical issue (such as the person earlier whose direct report has anxiety over being filmed or a particularly poor internet connection - which would need to be fixed in my mind if you wanted to wfh longterm) then work is work and you put the camera on.
Same applies if you’re having the call in the office to another site.

Id hate it.

There are clearly two schools of thought on this thread and neither are going to agree

Personally I don't understand the whole "you're being paid to work" thing and why that means I need to wearing certain clothes and fannying around on a video chat. I don't need to be dressed smartly to do be able to do my job. I can work just as effectively from under a blanket on the sofa - perhaps more effectively as I'll be far more comfortable than if I was stuck sat a lot a desk all day long

I have no issue with people not wearing full work attire.... But would be meh if people were in their dressing gowns!

my study is quite cold. I often wear a dressing gown (over day clothes) for warmth in there.