To think working from your sofa is unprofessional?

[LajesticVantrashell]

Like most people, I’ve been working at home now for close to six months along with the rest of my colleagues. We have a spare room for an office, so I’ve had to set up in our bedroom working from my vanity table/desk where I normally do my make-up.

My colleague, so as not to drip feed, earns considerably more than me (think £30k more) and lives alone paying a nominal amount of rent in relation to her salary (I know this because she told me). Yet, she works from her sofa every day. Yes, none of my business, she can do what she wants but she’s constantly moaning about her back and being uncomfortable.

Yesterday, we had a meeting with a potential client and we all dialled in. We all had certain bit we needed to present and my colleague was again, sitting on her sofa with her laptop on her knees. This meant the screen was wobbling about everywhere as she scrabbled to reach her notes around her. To me, it just looked completely unprofessional and I’ll admit, it really annoyed me.

So AIBU to think that on a high earning salary, with enough space in your living room (because I can see from the Teams calls) and after six months with potentially long term home working being suggested, that she should invest in a bloody desk?!

The next time she moans about her back maybe suggest she tries a decent chair and table which might help.
Maybe just give her the heads up in a nice way that her laptop wobbles around and when she is on teams it is difficult to follow her due to this?
She may not be aware. When I am on teams it is interesting/enlightening to see what is in the background!

OP

YANBU

She can work where she wants, so long as the work gets done. She has some responsibility to speak out if she has a bad back / no space for a desk etc.

I agree with you that it looks unprofessional working from a sofa. I variously work at my desk / kitchen table / bed if I need a change of scene, but for video calls always at my desk with just a closed blind behind me.

PPs are reading too much into your comments about her financial / home situation. Basically you're saying you think its unlikely that finances or where she lives are preventing her sorting a better setup.

I am currently working from my sofa in my dressing gown having just done yoga and showered. Sometimes I work from my bed- sometimes I go crazy and sit at the kitchen table. Sometimes I don't even get dressed! Even my manager has rocked up to meetings in his PJ bottoms. I think as long as you are getting your work done and its done to a good standard then do what you need to do. I work somewhere that is very hot on MH and taking care of yourself. They have made it clear through lockdown that we have to find a way of working that works for us.

Just forget it, op. It's nothing to do with you. She might be more uncomfortable working in another place. Does it matter that her laptop moves about, I would have thought 'talk' was more important than visual unless something specifically has to be shown.

I honestly don't know why you are so concerned with this as long as she does her job.

Maybe it’s the best place for her? I have really bad msk issues - I have a desk but I find working there uncomfy, likewise the kitchen table. I propped myself on the bed with a laptop for a while but now I’ve a tablet, that doesn’t work so well - so whilst sitting on the sofa for calls isn’t good for me, it’s the better option. You don’t truly understand anyone’s circumstances.

It's the WFH equivalent of going to the shops in your PJs. I'd not do a call with a client from my sofa with a laptop wobbling around in a million years. Lots would and I'm surprised, but I shouldn't be. Like the PJ thing. Other people are strange.

I hate whinging when people could easily fix the problem. I would shut that down straight away the next time she breathes a word about her back, just to say "yep, mine would hurt too if I was working from the sofa" and change the subject immediately.

If you have any kind of post-mortem for that call (or in fact any call) I'd make a matter-of-fact statement about how the wobbling laptop was distracting. We had to have a similar message from our managing partner saying that all calls had to be taken from a stable location or with cameras off after one particular team member kept taking them while walking with his baby in a pushchair and the rest of us were practically seasick by the end of the call.

An article was also circulated about the expectations for video calls - put your laptop up on a stack of books so it isn't filming straight up your nostrils, don't have your back to the window, make sure your whole face and shoulders are in the frame, consider what's behind you or use a virtual background, have cameras on unless you need to step away from your computer for a minute, have microphones on mute as default, etc etc. Seems common sense to me but it was amazing how many people didn't realise eg. that a window behind makes them look like a shadowy outline with no face. Then if anyone wasn't doing those things, there was an objective list to refer back to and remind them of what the expectations were.

This is such a weird thing to get upset about

I agree it’s unprofessional. Lifestyle, earnings and available space is irrelevant. If you’re job involves being on video calls, you should find a way of being able to attend these and look profession. Blank background, some thing stable to put the laptop on. WFH doesn’t mean you can lower standards.

I don't think it's weird at all. If you're putting in work preparing for a client call, you want it to go well. Then you see a colleague coming across as unprepared and disorganised, wobbling laptop, scrabbling around for notes, it will feel like they're not taking it seriously and reflecting poorly on the organisation. You feel like it undermines your own efforts.

Is she definitely working from the sofa? I do a lot of calls from various parts of the house because I like the change of scene. I do a lot of desk work from my desk but too long gives me backache.

The only thing possibly unprofessional is not being set up for easy reach of notes etc.

Some calls I take in a quiet room which is often the lounge depending on the time of day and who is around. I had a job interview from the sofa the other day - got the job!

YANBU.

The setting isn't the issue. My company's directors have a sofa in their office and it's often used for meetings, albeit that's not at someone's home. But the camera shake is an issue, if I was watching it would make me feel sick (like motion sickness). And complaining about back pain when working in a poor environment and doing nothing about it is highly annoying.

Unless, that is, there has been a dispute between her and the company regarding WFH equipment? Does she think the company should provide, but they won't, and so she's refusing to buy her own on principle? (Still stupid for her to injure herself to make a point, but understandable.)

You don't know that she has a bad back because she sits on the sofa though. She may be sitting on the sofa because she finds it to be the least painful way of sitting. I have a bad back and often sit or even lie down to do my work. I switch the video camera off so no one can see how "unprofessional" I am as I don't really see why people need to see me anyway.

@TheMostHappy

You would hate me. I've perfected laying in bed working it is peak comfort. Fan on. Duvet on. Cat at my feet. It feels good.

lol. Me too!

If offices are refusing to allow staff in to work in a professional environment I think they've got a cheek complaining about an employee's home set up. Yeah, it is cheaper for the employer to have the office shut, but if you expect employees to have desks etc they need to be paying!

I'd say it's a bit of both, though mainly YABU.

I work from my bed, sofa, desk, table.
I've been in Zoom meetings with people who're in the garden - a dog has even been present (and that's somebody who earns more than double my salary, but salary is not thie issue). But, those are internal meetings.

For external, my laptop would be balanced and I'd be at the table or desk. I don't have a bad back though.

You're overly worrying. It's for her and her manager to address (if the manager even has an issue or if she even has a manager).

I agree with you op to an extent. If she's talking to customers or potential clients and she presenting from her lap and the screen is wobbling everwhere and her notes aren't to hand, then that's not a great corporate image to project. Internal meetings I wouldn't give a hoot.

Your thread title says working from the sofa is unprofessional, but you seem to have massively back-pedalled from that now...

I couldn't give a flying fuck where people work, as long as they get the job done. A wobbly screen is such a tiny issue in the grand scheme of things.

I´ve been working from my dining room table since March, flowery table cloth and all....

For general meetings, I wouldn't worry so much, but for a presentation to a potential client in a professional role I think that is really out of order.

If anyone who worked for me did that then we would be having a serious conversation about professional behaviors and it would be feeding in to performance management discussions.

So if you get backache from your working set up, then as an adult you have a responsibility to ask for help from your workplace to modify it

No, if your employer is making you wfh then it's their responsibility.

YABU.
If she gets the job done, it doesn't matter if she presents from a garden shed..But the wobbling is a bit giddying.
If she earns that much, I don't understand why she is renting, rather than buying.
Wobbling aside, why should it bother you?.

The real point is that your employer is being neglectful. Regardless of having a WFH contract or not, there is legislation about companies being required to provide a safe and healthy work environment. And that's at home as well as in the office/on site.

If she or anyone ends up with severe or permanent health issues and decides to sue, the company are up a gum tree.

I'd encourage her to ask the company for what you are all entitled to re workspace provision.

As long as the work is done professionally where it is done, whether on the sofa or a desk, is none of your business. YABVU.

@Ohthatsgreat

I agree it’s unprofessional. Lifestyle, earnings and available space is irrelevant. If you’re job involves being on video calls, you should find a way of being able to attend these and look profession. Blank background, some thing stable to put the laptop on. WFH doesn’t mean you can lower standards.

Nope - if employers want people to look professional on video calls, they need to supply the equipment needed to do so. Not everyone has the funds or space for a desk at home, so employers need to either provide a desk and chair, or provide a set-up that means the employee is comfortable and able to do their job properly.