To think British people could bother to turn on video during introductions?

[GinDaddyRedux]

So I've joined a new department. It's based in the UK, but we work across geographies - Asia, parts of west Africa, and Europe.

We had a core team introduction video call on Tuesday. Everyone at the moment is working from home due to COVID-19.

For information, I'm relatively senior, but the incumbent manager was hosting the call. It was specifically labelled on Teams as "Video introduction with XXXXYY team" etc.

We go on the call, 15 people, and those from Asia and Africa and Europe? All had their video on, all very friendly and positive.

The Brits? I couldn't actually believe it, but aside from the manager who was excellent, not one person had their camera on. Just a black screen with their initials.

Now this is not the first time I've experienced this. At a previous department, it was the same sort of culture. Some folk especially from IT or HR were happy to have the camera on, but anyone from the project teams? Oh no, not us...never ever on.

I think that's fine if you're sharing slides, or you know the people, but this is team building in the time of COVID. Surely it's not unreasonable to expect that when the only tool for connecting is video, then someone could be bothered to quickly say "hello" and smile at folk to make them welcome?

It was also notable how the people with black screens/letters, barely spoke. The critical in me was thinking whether they come on the call, mute their mic, then wander around doing other tasks. Yes video calls can be too numerous and lengthy, but it's such a poor way to make a first impression.

AIBU here? I remember seeing a topic on this last year on here and being roundly told to "keep my nosey (sic) beak out of my house", as if I want to see into someone's furniture and upholstery choices!! Nope couldn't care less about your house, I just actually want to interact with my team!

GDPR always seems to get whipped out on here, especially for things it isn't applicable to!

We're actually not allowed to have video calls as our vpn isn't up to it - suits me fine. I have electrical tape over all my video cameras anyway.

I've never felt the need to see anyone to have a meeting. In my last job we frequently had meetings across various sites and video calls just weren't a thing. I do like Skype that tells you who is talking but I don't need to see anyone's face.

Generally, most of our meeting involve screen sharing anyway, so even more reason not to have the screen cluttered up with faces

@Beautiful3

I think that's really rude, not to show your face on a video call.

I agree. It's probably scruffy Brits in their tracksuits or lack of confidence about their looks but blamed on preferring privacy.

Poor show really

I have electrical tape over all my video cameras anyway.

Why? your camera only turns on if you turn it on...

People can hack into cameras. I have a little cover on mine, not that they would see much...
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/webcam-zoom-privacy-safety-tech-security-hack-working-from-home-lockdown-a9469156.html

geographies
count noun (especially in business)
a geographical area; a region.
‘I think what I said in my remarks is really all geographies were strong.’
www.lexico.com/definition/geography

YANBU.
It's a whole new ettiquette thing, and some people haven't quite grasped it. I think people need to be told what the expectation is in those specific circumstances to avoid confusion.
Personally, I'm not keen on having my camera on - partly self-consciousness, partly because it's laggy and annoying. But that's just something I've had to overcome, because I feel it's expected. It's just how things work now.
My kids do online school. In my DD1's class (Y10) NO ONE has their camera on. Self-conscious teens and all that. But it must be really hard for the teacher to talk to a bunch of black boxes on screen - the idea is to make it like a real classroom, and it's so not.
In DD2's class (Y5), about half of the kids have have their cameras on. She doesn't. I've noticed that the kids with the cameras on always engage with the lesson more. Oh well....

I work for a large company and my laptop is so shit that if I have video on, my laptop stops responding

That's true, btw, but so is the fact that I don't generally wear bras when WFH so don't particularly want to be on video anyway

At my organisation turning the video on is optional and many staff won’t do it (British or otherwise). Not speaking up either suggests they probably weren’t required on the call. Did you or the meeting host set your agenda appropriately? Often British job titles, while the same as other markets, tend to be misleading and in a large multinational they may actually be more senior than you think. For example I am often asked (20-30 times a day) to attend analyst meetings by low ranking Indian staff who think I am a junior - need to remind them that I run the department and so can’t join detail calls.

People are working from home. Some people don't have designated work stations and are working from bedrooms etc. Personal spaces which they don't want broadcasted to all and sundry. And if they are on mute, perhaps they have kids in the background and can't speak often. People are juggling a heck of a load of shit right now. Try to be compassionate.

I don't have a camera on during video calls because I don't actually have a webcam. Not everyone has one.

Your use of the word "geographies" is most peculiar. Why not use the word countries intead as it makes more sense.

You're grumbling about the team's actions on mumsnet while not telling the actual team what you want from them. That's not managerial. If you're a senior manager, then you should have just asked your team to turn cameras on for introductions, simple.

When you haven't met someone, it is more polite to put the camera on, but not always sensible. The overall infrastructure isn't set up for everyone working from home; we all often work remotely and it never used to be an issue. If you asked your team, it might be that they could let you know if they have particular issues that put them off using the camera; kids and partners with sensitive material on a nearby screen can cause issues too. I usually ask my teams to turn off cameras after a hello to reduce risk of bandwidth issues for one or another of them.

We don’t have dentists in the UK and so we all have terrible teeth. We don’t use video because we don’t want those foreigners with their even white teeth judging.

I thought everyone knew that?

Remember the olden days when we did business on the phone?
I don't recall it being a problem..
I am always dressed and made up, with my hair either done or wrapped up in a scarf but I only put my camera on when I absolutely have to.
I like a separation between work and home. This situation is forced on me, I didn't invite my work colleagues into my home and I find it intrusive. YABU.

Remember the olden days when we did business on the phone?

Ah yes, the olden days when the majority of office workers were stuck at home, conducting large team meetings by phone all day....

Voice is fine to a point and one on one, but in olden days, people were overwhelmingly in the same room for large meetings. Face to face has always helped.

One of one voice calls are fine. But voice only calls with multiple people tend to end up being dominated by just a few.

I facilitate a lot of meetings and with video on I can spot someone who wants to speak or is trying to and ask them directly, but this is really hard on the phone - even without this, it's easier for more junior people or those who are less confident to speak up if they have a chance to 'read the room' and spot an opportunity to jump in.

Between this and the fact that people on phone only are often using it as an opportunity to multitask or completely ignore the meeting, I dislike it when bigger meetings are voice only.

Ah yes, the olden days when the majority of office workers were stuck at home, conducting large team meetings by phone all day.... hmm

Are you really so unimaginative that you can't conceive of a business that doesn't take place in an office building with people who all live in the same location?
Er....people have been trading/importing/ exporting goods on an international scale for a very long time without needing video conferencing 😂

Er....people have been trading/importing/ exporting goods on an international scale for a very long time without needing video conferencing Hell yes! We even managed to design and test across multiple languages, time zones, cultural mores, institutional misogyny and just plain old landlines dropping out.

Or do people now not realise that we had conference calls last century?

I remember my first ever video conference with my then team in India. We were so excited to see each other after working together for months, but neither side could hear a word, so we had to ring them on a landline alongside. Happy days.

UK here - standard culture in my workplace to have video ON. Massively improves engagement in on line meetings / discussions. Perfectly acceptable to turn off camera occasionally but not all of the time unless really necessary. Really strange to go back to just voice calls once everyone’s adapted to video.

You're grumbling about the team's actions on mumsnet while not telling the actual team what you want from them. That's not managerial. If you're a senior manager, then you should have just asked your team to turn cameras on for introductions, simple.

Thanks for the pointers...perhaps I was canvassing people (real life friends and colleagues) before speaking to my team on Tuesday?

Every time I put my camera on, some twat takes a screenshot or makes a recording and sticks it on the bloody internet. I don't go into the office and have people taking photos of me non-stop.

I also find letting people into my home bloody intrusive.

Actually, I find insisting people put their video on bloody rude.

Can you tell I don't like video calls?

I have a manager who insists we all use video when they are on the call. We all resent it and believe it should be a personal choice. When members of the team call each other, none of use uses video.