To think that people could attend meetings in person?

[Zorilla]

Just that really. Where I work most of us are in most days due to the nature of our job. However, whenever we have project or team meetings, only about 1/3 of the people will go into the meeting room, everyone else joins from their desk over Teams, with camera off.

AIBU to find this irritating? Today we had a team meeting, which is a conversational meeting rather than PowerPoint presentations. I was in the meeting room but only one other person joined me so I ended up just talking to a black screen of faceless people with their microphone off. What is the point?

I feel like you don't really acquire the same interpersonal skills speaking to a mic/blank screen as you do when you have to present things face to face.

If you ever have to do things like client presentations, or even just key meetings, things like eye contact, body language, etc, make a huge difference to your overall credibility/confidence you inspire. It's a bit like the way in which many young people nowadays feel uncomfortable making phone calls at work because they've not had much practice.

I think it's really weird that they'd sit at their desks only a few feet away instead of physically joining the meeting. At our place, I just can't think of a situation like that happening. Yes, sometimes people will occasionally join us on teams if they need to work from home but not from the next room

Doe it actually matter as long as they were present?

Are they present though if their camera is off and their doing other tasks?

I deliver training on Teams, the number of times I need to remind people to turn their cameras on and give me (and the other people attending) their full attention is ridiculous. The training is very interactive and relies on group exercises/discussions, it’s incredibly rude for people to come and basically observe others taking part, it’s also public protection training and an integral part of their job, so something that needs thought and attention.

If these are meetings for the sake of it you need to think about why you’re doing it, but if they are essential, people should be expected to turn up and give it some importance.

I think the behaviour @AllDayBreakfast92 describes is more common than we want to admit. I suspect that a lot of remote attendees have their camera off mainly so they can be present in name while doing something else.

I agree with you !

sounds like I work in a similar workplace to you OP.
During pandemic remote meetings made the aggressive and bullying nature of part of our team bearable. We returned to F2F meetings a couple of months ago so myself and others are now looking for a new jobs. The problem group are a profession/ specially known for believing they are omniscient, and are particularly extreme examples, so there is no chance of them understanding or changing.
What’s the dynamic like in your team?

Your staff are trying to tell you they don't see the point of these meetings and have nothing to contribute.
Maybe the answer is to email instead of monologuing to a black wall.

Attending meetings via the pc is massively more convenient in terms of having easy access to reference materials and be looking at the work being discussed in order to participate most efficiently.

I would usually have my camera and microphone on for a meeting. Cameras are a matter of personal preference, but how could I participate in the meeting without the microphone? What sort of meetings are you having where it is just you talking on and on while everybody else listens? That doesn't sound like it should be a meeting at all. Maybe you should try just putting what you have to say in an email, rather than wanting people to come in person to what sounds like a rather pointless meeting.

You’d have thought Covid would’ve taught us. Meeting remotely is entirely possible and saves time/money/the environment. Just because we did it before, doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from improved working practices. Ask her to turn her camera on and think about the waste you’re creating insisting on commuting.

so glad the bureaucracy of arranging and travelling to meetings can be avoided

Used to be common in a place I worked back in 2014. Hour long meetings where perhaps only 5 minutes would be relevant or where you would have to contribute. Massively more efficient if you can do something else until it's your turn.

The only meetings I went to in person were the 8am stand ups and that was only because I'd walk in the door at 7:58 so my computer would still be booting!

Indeed. Its sime time since I worked (pre covid) even then we had remote workers. Unfortunately they seemed to get sidelined and allocated the tasks that required the least personal interaction.

We ended up simply asking for updates from them and holding the meeting with the core team in the office.

It honestly sounds like meetings for the sake of meetings to be honest. There’s nothing more annoying than unnecessary meetings planned in by people who just want to fill your diary when you actually have work to get out.
If the majority of people aren’t ever contributing to these it’s because they don’t need to happen.

Depends. How many people are in the meeting and is there a room big enough to fit you all in and comply with fire regulations? Where I work rooms are like gold dust and booked up weeks if not months in advance. In addition people are often insanely over committed and meetings overlap and clash.

The use of Teams etc during COVID has made it very apparent how much time is wasted in meetings, for some people it seems to be a badge of how very important they are when actually any real decisions are made way in advance or over coffee between the two or three main people. If folk were more honest about whether their meetings were really necessary or not and who really needed to be there they'd be ten minute slots, not ninety minutes back to back, physically or on Teams....

I do this sometimes, if I'm not a key attendee and intending to just listen in and work on other things at the same time. If I need to give it my full attention I go to the meeting room.

Obviously there is generally a microphone and big screen in the meeting room, so you can speak, to the PP who thought that OP would be the only one speaking. Plus you can have your own laptop on to view papers etc you might need.

Yep they are rude not to pit their cameras on. WFH people now really take the piss. I once had to do an interview where the interviewer didn't have his camera on, so I had to spend the whole interview talking to a blank screen. REALLY fucking rude. My husband did a Uni course last year and never had his camera on because he wasn't paying attention.

We have this too, it is like sitting in a meeting with a bag over your head!

Absolutely bizarre and should be challenged but I expect my view is the minority ☹️

Oh they are actually in the office? Then tell them to move their lazy arses into the meeting room.

Ok our (not very large) office the rule is if you are at home you join remotely if you are in then you all go into a meeting room (assuming there is one free which is definitely not all the time)

No way would we allow this

Thankfully, you can't really do construction work remotely so it's not an issue in my workplace. But I think to be really taken seriously, climb the ladder in corporate environments etc, you're much better actually being there. Much harder to build relationships in a virtual room of 20 people with cameras off than it is when you can have an informal chat/coffee, or nip out for lunch.

Is it actually made clear they should attend in person? I’ve started a new job and it’s been quite unclear about some meetings.
but most people join meetings in person if they’re in the office, or usually turn their cameras on if home

Tbh I wish we could go back to doing more on zoom. Most of the time I could listen and do something at the same time at my desk. It would be much better for me to tidy my desk or mark a few books while listening.

It's a management / work culture issue.

I wouldn't be happy with it either.

I think it's ridiculous that grown adults don't switch on cameras for meetings.

i wfh the majority of the time, only go into the office a few times a month (it’s a 4 hour round trip)

I rarely put my camera on in meetings; usually only when I’m speaking to my line manager or immediate colleagues.

the reason for this is that I suffer from frequent migraines and facial pain and twitches when I have a migraine. So, I’m often making odd faces and wearing a hat or cool patch to deal with the pain. And yes, often I’m working in my pjs or an oodie. If I wake in pain at 7am I can take pain relief and sleep a few more hours and log on at 9: still in pjs. If I’m not in pain when I wake I tend to log on straight away to “bank” more hours in case I have a migraine later in the day. This isn’t really information I want to share with everyone I meet with.

But; I’m obviously very present in meetings: often sharing my screen, and asking questions / contributing / taking my own notes.

There are way too many meetings