AIBU for being sick of every meeting needing to be a video call?!

[Videokilledaudio]

Maybe I'm being precious, but I am really fed up with the constant need for every colleague contact since Covid forced home working having to be done via bloody Zoom. Even the simplest 1-2-1 call now needs to be a video call. I'm stuffed with it being shoved down my throat the whole time. It's hot, I'm not really dressed and I haven't tidied. I also have some sensory issues and don't like video calls.

I could have maybe understood if before this pandemic we were always together in an office doing everything face to face, but my team has been dispersed for years, and before Covid I would perhaps see them all once every three to six months. WFH about three days a week prior to Covid, with team members in different cities.

I don't have an issue with the weekly meeting being via Zoom, but every flipping interaction? It's driving me bonkers and defeats the purpose of being at home somewhat. Before we would just do a quick phone call to talk things through.

AIBU for thinking this constant video chatting is unnecessary and stressful?

I was on a video call yesterday and everyone looked really hot - so I imagine if you are hot, so are your colleagues, nobody is judging you.

I agree with a pp that if you are on paid time you dress appropriately. That doesn't mean putting make-up on but it does mean wearing more than a strappy top, bikini bottoms and flip flops (for most workplaces anyway!)

You can use a background on Zoom so nobody can see your untidy house and on Teams you can blur the background.

But I agree not every interaction has to be a video call and a phone call can be quicker and more efficient as you're not messing around with the video or losing connection.

If you are being paid for work, you should dress for work and be prepared for what work ask you to do. I am sick of people thinking they can do what they like during work hours and still expect, not only to be paid, but to be promoted!

Yes, I agree I have gone from maybe 2 or 3 real meetings a week to 4 or 5 Teams meetings a day. It's like nobody can make a decision or carry out a task without a bloody meeting. The irony is the majority of us were working from home for 3-4 days a week before Covid. I use the lack of bandwidth excuse when I have had enough. We now have Teams meetings "coffee breaks" scheduled as well for non work "light chat"

I'm deaf, seeing facial expressions and lip reading helps me be part of the meeting.

I’ve spent over five hours today in Zoom calls. I have barely touched my inbox. It is all shit.

* I agree with a pp that if you are on paid time you dress appropriately. That doesn't mean putting make-up on but it does mean wearing more than a strappy top, bikini bottoms and flip flops (for most workplaces anyway!)*

Sure, if my employer is willing to install air conditioning or get Chrises Hemsworth, Pratt and Evans to fan me in loin cloths, then I'll stick ony

I never turn video on I just have my pic instead

YANBU!

We all worked from home for years pre Covid with never any need for a video call. Now it’s all video calls. Fuck off with it already please!

By ‘we all’ - I mean the company that I work for.

We had a mix of home workers and people in offices across the world - we've always had some video calls alongside voice calls. So there's probably an element of company culture.

On the positive side, when we do have video calls, there are fewer people showing only forehead and Wall, or nostrils and ceiling. It's making people better at video calls.

We have video calls for our team meeting weekly.

Calls to other professional agencies are usually microphone only, as are CP/SW conferences thankfully as I can wander about with toddler at same time.

Due to the amount of us for briefings we log on with no camera or microphone other then whoever is delivering.

@1TimeC

I think long term WFH is gonna be alot more collaborative than people are expecting or hoping for

Middle management isn't going to relinquish its existence without some sort of fight

Haha - our middle manager quit in February, and the guy who expected to be promoted into what we'd already established was a redundant layer of management is very sulky about not being promoted into a needless gap.

My bug bear with home working is that people can be too lazy to write down quick questions via messenger.

I'm not talking about things that need proper meetings or conversations. But things that really could be answered in a two line exchange, non urgently.

E.g.

"Can I talk for two minutes?"
"Sorry, I'm busy, could you please ask me here?"
"I need to nip up the road for milk, is it OK for me to head out?"
"Yes, fine"
(Subtext of why the fuck did you want a phonecall for that? We've explicitly told people they can arrange their days as they want as long as they continue to meet their targets.)

Oh no, I would hate that. I'm working from home right now and I just working in scruffy clothes and my hair is scraped back in a messy ponytail. I hate video calls. I've told my manager I hate them too. Thankfully she's stopped doing them and we just do a group call without video.

I get up, shower and dress for work. I sit in front of my well stocked bookcase and start work. I’ve made it clear to the team that I’m available for video calls - but only in the mornings. I spend my afternoons catching up with emails etc. I set my location etc to busy. No one disturbs me.

Could that be an option for you OP?

Never have my camera on. No one minds at all.

@dwiz8, DP refuses to have his camera on, too!

He reluctantly agreed to have the camera on for some training session he had to do. They shouldn't have let him though, I think it only encouraged him to show off!

I gave up video calls in about week 3 of lockdown and haven’t done one since. They’re unnecessary and my work doesn’t have the right to see whether I am working from the patio or from the kitchen - just that I am online and working.

Well you asked, so yes I do think that YABU.

You might not be used to video calls or like them, but this is the nature of the way that we work today and the way that we will continue to work in the future. Things evolve and the way we work is no different.

If your employer is trying to create a culture where video calls are becoming the norm, I would embrace it. If you're being paid to do a job, and pre lock down were able to get dressed for it 5 days a week, there's no reason why you can't do the same whilst working remotely.

That doesn't mean you need to be in formal office wear whilst sitting at your kitchen table, but you can and should get changed out of your pyjamas.

I'm 7 months pregnant and was WFH prior to Covid and during, and have adjusted my wardrobe accordingly so that I'm still comfortable but presentable for the many video calls I have in a day.

YABU you have control over whether the video is on or not. My team do all the calls through video conferencing, as not all them have company phones, they can choose to use the video, or not. It's up to them/ you. We often use it for screen sharing too so video calls are much better than using phones. I also agree with Ellisandra

I am a team leader and have lots of client contact but moved away from attending face2face meetings 4 years ago. This means that prior to Covid clients only saw me if they came to the office for a meeting , otherwise I ran online webinars (showing my screen not me) and did loads of phone calls. We were a casual office but I always wore smart clothes, brushed my hair and wore make up.

Then came lockdown and the rise of Zoom and his friends (it has to be a man). I moved my desk environment to my house, and started to work and thought I could carry on as before. I needed to do team briefings and did use a Zoom equivalent for this but didn't need video just audio. In fact I found video distracting, I hate seeing myself and if I can see that one of the team is also wrangling a child it stops my train of thought. If they are doing this and I can't see, I don't care! Still all was well and I stopped wearing make-up and started wearing my around the house comfy clothes and just bunging my hair in a scrunchie.
Then the requests for other in-house meetings came, along with the wouldn't it be nice to see everyone comments. So I put on a nice top, turned my desk around to face a boring wall and made sure the lighting was poor so I didn't need to put make up on!
This has been my go to ever since, my new normal is no make up, basic hair and a presentable top on stand-by, even when customers use a video call. Plus my default is to enter the meeting with video off and only if others have theirs on and I think there is a benefit do I switch mine on.

But you didn’t NEED to put make up on in the first place 🤷🏻‍♀️

In large meetings, we normally have our cameras on at the start, then most of us switch them off unless we're presenting talking (there's always a few who seem to like being on camera!)

There never seems to be any pressure though, some people never have their camera on. I do like to see the team I manage on camera occasionally as it's useful to pick up on non-verbal cues about how they're feeling, but I would never ask them to switch it on.

One of the issues is that is becoming more of a 'let show everyone about your private life' situation. It isn't actually my employer that is enforcing this, it's that my team (and I'm not sure about other teams) have been forcing the video thing more and more. It's all well and good to say to just not turn your video on, but reality is not that simple. It feels similarly to going out when you don't drink and constantly having to explain yourself.

Some of our team meetings now have this almost obligatory section where you talk about your house and show people round. Or where on Fridays I'm suddenly required to attend afternoon meetings in the 'virtual pub'. All of these social interactions are being forced upon me, and if I don't participate I'll look like the boring problematic colleague. I don't want any of this.

It's not just that everything is via video, it's also that contact in general has increased to above and beyond what is a comfortable work environment for me. Earlier someone mentioned how they were deaf and needed video. I totally understand that and would obviously turn on my camera in that situation.

At the same time though, I do not want to attend unessecary meeting after unessecary meeting on camera when it is having an affect on my health and ability to function. Yes I can decline, but it's a lot easier to do that in theory than doing it in practice. Yes I can choose not to wear makeup and just dress in my casual wear, but I don't feel comfortable doing that and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's just frustrating.

Hate video calls and I just say no and I keep the camera off. A good manager or team understands different personality types and ways of working. Those who insist do not understand other people. As long as people collaborate where needed, it is fine.

I don't have many people in my house. I'm certainly not having work colleagues in there via a video call.