Teams meeting - side chats and smirking

[SarkyMummy]

Advice please. In a teams meeting today two of my ‘subordinates’ appeared to be messaging each other on the side - both were laughing/smirking at the same time whilst I was speaking, whilst looking at their screens. I have concerns about the performance of one of them and whilst the second is performing well, they are resistant to taking direction from me. We’re working on a tough project and I don’t feel great about my leadership of it recently so this happening has made me feel really paranoid. How do I address the apparent behaviour professionally? I do feel like I need to nip it in the bud. Very grateful for any thoughts!

Just ask them to screenshare and laugh when they look flustered.

I would have addressed it on the call. I would have paused and said ‘Uh, Claire, Lucy have I missed the joke?’

It's work property. Treat it the same as email which can be tracked at anytime as can your Internet history, calls made via the system, logging on times etc and works phones

Message on private property if needed

I have the power to request all of my teams online stuff. I've only done it twice though, and for serious concerns (not office rants).
I have seen private messages be used as evidence in bullying cases.

We also get auto flagged if someone is using excessive Internet, gambling sites etc

Mine once also auto flagged someone as having a concerning history of sending bad words, as her dog was called a word that was an insult

Anyplace with an it department will have it when you sign for equipment that you consent for it to be audited

I’d be holding meetings in the office from now on

This is awful. She shouldn't be looking at their chat without good reason and, as you say, people can always find other ways to communicate including outside of working hours.

But if she had put colleagues, we wouldn't have understood the hierarchy, and it's obviously relevant. And subordinate is better than 'report' which someone else has used. Report doesn't sound like a person at all.

Ha ha.v

You think people don't roll their eyes in physical meetings?

Maybe she doesn't line manage them!

Subordinate is perfectly normal term for people under your overall management/leadership at work. It literally means 'sub' your rank.

Are you able to have the meetings in person?

If so I would do this in future.
Then if they start smirking you can call them out there and then.

Yes. I describe myself and my peers as Manager McManagerface's₹ minions.

₹ Not his real name.

😂😂😂😂 This! It sounds like they were mocking you/ something you said 💁‍♀️💁‍♀️💁‍♀️💁‍♀️

Why is that reassuring for the op?

I do.

It sounds like they weren’t being very professional. Wonder if anyone else noticed. If so they might think smirkers were out of order or nothing wrong with it. If OP is too heavy handed might side with them even if they think wrong.

if they had side chat they may not be concentrating so perhaps ask a question. However, sarky comments that have a teacher/student vibe just sound petty.

It doesn't matter what a manager calls us. It doesn't matter how fluffy he or she tries to be. We know it's all for show. His or her job is to give orders and our job is to carry them out.

At least when a manager calls his or her team "subordinates", he or she is being honest and I can respect him or her for that.

The word for someone who wants to try to police microexpressions is "ableist". Autistic people already struggle to "act normal" without bullshit like this.

My company actually provides a training course on this!

Do you have a bridge to sell me as well as that EDI snake oil?

"facecrime — a facial expression which reveals that one has committed thoughtcrime" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak#List_of_Newspeak_words

Welcome to 1984.

Are you always this nasty?

Just out of curiosity, how old are your workmates?

I hate being on camera anyway and I would get really fed up with my expressions being analysed like this or my teams messages being looked at

Mind you I would focus on meeting

I'd rather be called an eejit than a subordinate personally.

Thanks again to everyone who provided kind, constructive, comments and advice. I was having a rubbish day and they were appreciated. 😌

I won’t be requesting teams records as that wouldn’t, as some posters, have said, be appropriate. I have already taken what I think are some constructive, non confrontational actions to understand why my colleagues/team members/line managees, were behaving in a surprising way.

Again, thanks again all of you who offered help. I’m logging off and moving on…

You think they don't? Or you do roll your eyes?
Because absolutely do roll their eyes, raise their eyebrows, smirk, etc. whatever they can get away with when the boss is not looking. You can't really policy people's emotions.

Youngest late 20s, oldest early 60s. Are you trying to say that not totally respecting your boss all the time is a young person thing? Because often the most cynical are the ones who've seen it all before.

Urgh that's such a primary school teacher way to approach it. Just have a normal chat! It's easy to manage when you can just speak normally to people!

I do roll my eyes.