Disastrous Teams meeting - is it as bad as I think?

[BoringSilentHill]

Name changed as work related.

important teams meeting. I’m sat on couch, suddenly my dog jumps up and rams her nose into my eye, my mic is off . I try to push dog away and she thinks I’m playing so starts wrestling with me. Big dog. I notice the talking has stopped and colleagues are half way between amused and horrified.

I manage to sort this one out and everything is back on track until DH suddenly starts belting out Rule Britannia - this time my mic is on and in his defence, he didn’t know I was on teams. It was because we watched the choir.

this is a new job / one week in. How bad is it really or am I overthinking it?

I would be wondering if you had a proper WFH set up tbh. Sitting on the sofa for an important meeting isn’t very professional and with a bouncy dog and a DH around how likely are you to be distracted on a regular basis. If I was your manager I think I would be increasing your office days for a while if that was contractually possible until I got to know you better.

I mean it’s interesting for a new starter but if it’s just a one off I really wouldn’t worry about it. Change your set up and keep on moving.

I wouldn't be bothered about the dog at all, unless it was a regular occurrence.

Sitting on sofa is slobbish - do you not have a desk and chair?

Husband in the room (plus being loud) would not go down well at all with my employer as our work is confidential. I can't have our cleaner around if I'm WFH. Your employer may not be so strict but it still looks pretty bad and distracting to you and anyone else on the call. Tell him to stay out of the room.

Totally agree. Sitting on a coach, dog in face, clearly not a good working environment with husband close by blasting music. I would be concerned a week in how seriously you were taking your job.

When I am working I sit at a desk with the study door shut

That would prevent all those issues

Everyone has been on a meeting with a pet or another human making an appearance. Don't worry about it.

You need to be more professional.

I'd guess people are finding it funny because they're normal human beings.

How stuffy are they ? I work a corporate job and I wouldn’t think anything of the dog or singing husband.

My line managers husband once walked past her camera in his pants during my 1 to 1. She was mortified but I was laughing hysterically. She usually starts our meetings off with “I’ve told so and so to keep his trousers on”

What they will probably notice is you’re sat on a sofa in your living room. You need a work space set up - that’s the unprofessional bit you need to sort if working from home is going to be a normal routine.

What is this???

My first thought was a Hyacinth Bouquet fan (she did the BEST version!)

One of the big bosses' cats was trying to dominate her attention on a company-wide call last week. Everyone was thrilled 😁

Someone was heard saying "my arse" during one I was on. Someone else thought they were privately messaging their friend asking did someone really just say that - they actually sent it in chat to everyone on that call, so anyone who hadn't noticed in the moment did find out.

Keep a piece of blu-tak stuck to the top of your laptop, and ram it onto the lens if things go wrong.

Actually, it's a security tip to keep the lens blocked at all times when you don't positively intend to be seen.

Headphones are good, they will also allow you to concentrate on the meeting.

I like to sit in front of a plain wall or door, and close enough that there is nothing else for other participants to look at. Remove pictures, ornaments, furniture, coats etc from the field of vision. Put the camera slightly higher than your face, not on the desk, so they can't look at your chin or up your nose.

If it makes you feel better, during the pandemic one of my chickens jumped on my desk and bitchslapped me in the face with her wing. I did my very best to pretend nothing had happened and nobody mentioned it... 🐓

Sorry but it doesn't look good, might be recoverable if you're super professional and very hardworking and proactive going forwards but honestly if i was in a meeting with someone dicking around with their dog with their partner singing in the background I'd write them off.

Why are you on a teams meeting on the couch?

Depends really I hate to say this but for me it would throw into doubt whether you have the right environment at home to work from home.

I wouldn't be cross about the call itself but I would be having a discussion with you about whether working at home is appropriate. Make sure you close doors in future calls.

It depends on your industry, as others have said.
the main problem I think might be confidentiality; if you’re taking a teams meeting and your husband can hear, it would be a major major problem in my line of work.
i think it might be good to be in a room with the door closed from now on.

It really depends on your work place.

Tbf if she's only been there a week she probably has no real idea about the workplace culture. Unless it's a clown college or something. That's why it's always preferable to be over formal initially (in dress, punctuality, Teams etc).
Probably a good idea to apologise to boss and definitely necessary to change your WFH set up which sounds like a mess atm.

I agree with others that the OP needs to be more professional with a proper desk (because DSE regs apply to WFH too) and the dog and husband out of the way but I was amused when one of our department heads, who's a very blokey ex military type, was accompanied on a Teams call by a fluffy white cat.

1 week in to a new job and taking a Teams call on the sofa is the worst thing thing you did.