To think mandatory video calls is a ridiculous request?

[Lizzie523]

After nearly a year of working from home our manager has requested we all turn our cameras on for every daily team meeting (which is every day).

I can't say what my colleagues reasons are for turning theirs off some days, but I tend to do it on days my mental health isnt great or I've had a terribly sleepless night due to the stress of this whole situation. Probably once or twice a week. They are arguing we should appear like we were in the office - but in the office we got on with our work and were not having a daily meeting or sitting in front of all our co workers faces.

The meetings are usually pointless check ins where no one has a thing to say. It is always the same extroverts talking about personal stuff. The fact the videos on is now mandatory because they say so has annoyed me quite a bit. AIBU?

Once you have done a few they quickly become second nature, just like being in a meeting room, and communication is much better when you can see who you are talking to. Really not worth making a big deal of.

Dont agree with pp and not muting mic either, audio distractions/background noise are terrible in zoom calls, nothing worse than constantly saying X can you mute, your line is noisy. We are the opposite, for practical reasons mute unless you have something to say.

We had the opposite request today from our boss - to consider whether video calls were required when a phone call could do instead as people were getting fed up with them!

I'm curious: for those mandating cameras on, how many meetings do you do a day?
Since Covid, my workload has exploded, I manage a team over 80 people and on average, I am on back to back meetings/ calls for 9hrs every day. There is no way I want to be on camera for that length of time, nor would I expect my team to. Client meetings, I do have camera on (as do they) but the other internal, no. It is a lot more draining being on camera so much, we are all professionals and I know my team, like myself, are delivering more than pre-Covid with considerably more stress factors in the home environment and I trust them. For HR matters and one to one's, then yes to cameras but not every single meeting.

Sometimes when people turn the camera off it can feel like they've checked out of the meeting which can be hard for the speaker/manager who is under pressure to keep all on board and check in with everyone. It wouldn't bother me once or twice but would if it was happening all the time.
Perhaps they are keeping an eye on one or two people whose work times or productivity don't add up and can't single them out at this stage.

Our meetings don’t happen in working time, they’re in our own time and I turn video off if something is being screen shared that’s going to be on for a few minutes or more... usually to eat tbh, lol

Yesterday I was told not to do that

We have a daily morning meeting, we all have cameras on. It has helped the mental health of all our team by being able to see and talk to our colleagues every day. The person on our team who has felt most out of the loop is the person who has had IT issues and has only been able to join the meeting on audio, by not seeing faces, facial expressions etc she has not felt connected and really struggled.

I think you've got some big, unconnected issues here - the camera is a red herring

• ask line manager to query if daily meetings are necessary and suggest once a week or more targeted / project / department focussed

• ask line manager to improve awareness of mental well-being in team. Suggest 1 to 1 check ins every week / month and proper support / help for those who are struggling. Could someone in HR be a mental health champion??

• find, and use, the 'hide self view' button it is very liberating

I do agree that if you're in a meeting, you should have your camera on so that everyone can see you're concentrating and not doing the dishes etc.

If the meetings themselves are pointless - address that, not the camera

@Chilver I’ve got 5 meetings tomorrow, straight through 9-2 and all will be cameras on. We have always done that and it’s second nature. I can’t remember having a cameras off meeting since WFH

Having reflected a bit on why video meetings make me feel uncomfortable, I concluded that it's the combination of being able to see myself and knowing others can seee at the same time. If you're in a meeting in person, you don't think about how you look to others, but on Teams/Zoom/whatever you can't escape it.

I sometimes move another window in front of the Teams window where the meeting is, or move it partly off the screen - just enough so I can't see my own video. I find that helps me relax!

This is it @Chilver. I have my camera on for all client meetings barring bandwidth issues. I am only suggesting cameras off sometimes internally. Now this has been fine for almost a year but now they are making a big deal about it, it leaves a bad taste. Don't they trust us by now, havent we proven we are doing the job we are paid to do?

And to people abovw saying you get the camera on and do the job you are paid for, WELL, I did not take this job to sit in inane meetings every morning where a sexist culture often shines through via conversation topics and with babies and dogs noising up the backgrounds. I really miss using that valuable time well.

Like you I often have up to 4 or 5 calls like this a day. It IS draining and it does impact us.

Thankfully we don't have meetings
I've seen my manager once in the last ten months (email and speak of course) but he FaceTimed me to help with a laptop issue and that's it
Most stuff communicated via email

@MintyMabel

As someone who frequently hosts meetings I find it rude when people have cameras off and are muted. They’re always the same people that claim “you just cut out there, could you repeat the question”

Perhaps they have a poor connection. It is poor manners to be unmuted in a call. When I start a meeting I ask everyone to mute unless they want to speak. It is very disruptive to hear every cough, keyboard tap, chair squeak, interruptions from others in the room etc. I had a meeting this afternoon and the person running it kept having to turn her camera off as her entire family was online and the connection was running slow. There can be perfectly acceptable reasons not to be camera on.

But people like you who don’t trust others and treat them like children make this a whole thing far more difficult than it needs to be.

This!

I would suggest it’s a sign of your own insecurity as a manager if you need to control people to this level.
You can’t enforce ‘engagement’.
If staff are leaving the meeting to go and have a cup of tea or not listening that’s most likely a sign that your meeting is not a very productive one.
Or if they have small children , family around you should also respect it and not apply extra pressure. These are not normal circumstances.

I work as well as being a mature student, having everyone with cameras off during tutorials is just annoying, I assume most of the students just say hello at beginning then sod off. As only one -two of us contribute and tutors don't tend to want to call people who may not have an answer (though we are 50% through the course, not week 1)
At work we are all camera on unless it's a quick 5 min one in one call which may be phone or just over internet as that's easy to do via our messenger system.

I am always dressed and prepared. Though sone times teddy appears in the shot as I am working from my bed.

[quote GreyWall]@noblegiraffe you'll have a right laugh at this pathetic lot 😂[/quote]
No she won't because she's not a bitch.

@Lizzie523: I manage 2 great, hardworking, but very anxious individuals who require my support to perform (one resigned then retracted resignation due to stress/depression, the other is tearful/very emotional regularly ).

I am always on camera myself, and asked them to be so I can check they understand - but the main reason is to see how they are doing, and adjust things if they need extra support. Very occasionally (less than 5 pc of the time) they are off camera for a meeting or 2 - that’s fine but if it went on for days I’d be concerned

If you are feeling uncomfortable, could you play ball for a few days and then excuse yourself from time to time? Or do the 5 min hello and then switch camera off when others presenting/talking?

I want to agree with you because I hate being on camera but I can see why it is necessary sometimes.

For one thing, i imagine it can be difficult to see who is engaged without seeing people's faces (obviously 1:1 phone calls are different as it's quickly obvious if someone isn't listening).

Plus in group settings it's easy to forget someone is there if they are sat quietly with no camera on.

And I mean this gently, but if your face is too screwed up in pain/your mental health is bad enough to need your camera off, you shouldn't really be working. If sick pay is an issue can you speak to your boss about taking some annual leave?

@Atrixie

You are WFH, but you are at work. You get up, you get dressed for the office and you behave in a professional way. If you can't face putting the camera on, to do the job you are paid to do, then I would suggest you seek help.

Couldn’t agree more.

Bollocks to that. WFH is not the same as working in the office. If I have a call much before 10 these days chances are I'm still in my dressing gown, and nobody down the end of the line is any the wiser.

If there is a demonstrable need for cameras to be on, fine.

But fuck off with the utterly pointless camera-on daily meetings.

It's rude to be on mute?! No, it's courteous to mute yourself so everyone else doesn't have to hear background noise on every call!!

Ask the manager if the Tue and Thursday meetings can be "camera days" and M-W-F can be camera off days. Compromise.

@Throckmorton

It's rude to be on mute?! No, it's courteous to mute yourself so everyone else doesn't have to hear background noise on every call!!

Also this. If you aren't talking, you should be on mute.

@waitrosetrollydolly

I request that all cameras are on when I'm paying people their wages to work. I'm not paying them to sit in their PJ's . I expect my teams to be as presentable working from home as they would be in the office. I haven't had anyone ask to go off camera yet .

Some might call a person acting like that 'a petty control freak'

We do a daily meeting with cameras on, my boss got tired of talking to an empty screen after couple of months. It took a bit of time to get used to it but now it's fine. I don't have it on for all my meetings though.

I don't always turn my camera on, I don't like staring at my face for an entire meeting..... it makes no difference to the meeting if my face can be seen or not - I am still contributing to it.

Besides, if we all have our cameras on the video quality majorly drops and you get some very unflattering frozen images of people.

Also, can we stop having every bloody post turn into a teacher discussion..... not everything has to be about teachers right now

@QueenPawPaws

Thankfully we don't have meetings I've seen my manager once in the last ten months (email and speak of course) but he FaceTimed me to help with a laptop issue and that's it Most stuff communicated via email

Gosh, it's almost like these frequent 'Team Meetings' aren't actually necessary to get the job done

Who'd have thought hey?

@Throckmorton

It's rude to be on mute?! No, it's courteous to mute yourself so everyone else doesn't have to hear background noise on every call!!

Oh but you're suppose to be sat bolt upright at a desk, work clothes & make up on, no one else in the house - nor pets - so there shouldn't be any background noise.

🙄🙄