Requiring Staff to be on Camera for Teams Calls?

[Anonymous]

My team of 8 is fully remote so when we meet, it's on Teams unless we're together in-person for an occasional onsite or retreat. I'm judicious about scheduling team calls - they're biweekly with pre-planned agendas, usually for no more than 45 minutes at a time, so not a heavy lift in my opinion. I'm in my 50s and spent much of my career before 2020 working in person/ in an office. I'm supportive of and like the flexibility afforded by a fully remote workplace, but I feel like it's much more difficult to connect with my employees and build culture in a virtual environment. When I first started at this company a year ago, everyone was on camera for meetings within my team. Now, I find that increasingly most of them stay off camera unless it's a one-on-one. I'm thinking of requiring my staff to be on camera for all meetings within our team. I don't mind if people are dressed casually or have their hair in a ponytail and no make-up. These aren't client-facing calls. Maybe it's my age, but I feel like it's the only way I can know whether people are engaged - seeing facial expressions helps me gauge their response to things and frankly it's also about respecting the person/people speaking. No one likes to talk to a screen of boxes with names in them. I realize the world got by on audio conf calls for a long time, but now we have the option to see each other...so why not do so?

Does your company or department require employees to be on camera for calls? How would you respond/react to this request? I was talking to a peer who leads another team and she attributed this concern to my generation (X) and my response to the evolution of the workplace. Basically she said it was an old fashioned notion, and the young people will hate it. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

The young people will hate it, but I am not sure that’s a reason to do it or not do it.

[Anonymous]

Most people on my team would not like this. Even if you don’t care about how they look, they may be self conscious.

I had a manager who required on camera, and everyone hated it. She departed and now it’s no cameras and morale is much better.

[Anonymous]

I require my team to be on camera. I also require my in person people (about split between remote and in person) to not be on their phones. If you can't pay attention for 45 minutes a week then you need to show your coworkers you can't.

I also just sit there and don't say anything when phones are picked up. They hate feeling awkward. Me? Nope.

[Anonymous]

There is good evidence showing that requiring cameras to be on is bad for both productivity and moral.

[Anonymous]

Your colleague is right.

[Anonymous]

My fully-remote company requires us to be on camera for all calls. There are about 30 of us in total and I think it is definitely helpful for building and maintaining collegial relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is good evidence showing that requiring cameras to be on is bad for both productivity and moral.

link?

[Anonymous]

I dunno. Watching people not paying attention isn’t a whole lot better than imagining it.

[Anonymous]

I think being off camera when someone is addressing the group is rude.

[Anonymous]

I hate having to worry about how I look on awful Zoom, but more importantly, I find out I concentrate better when I have my screen off.

Can we please just go back to conference calls?

[Anonymous]

It’s the custom at my company yo be on camera. It’s collegial. But nobody requires it, it’s just the culture.

[Anonymous]

I’m required to have my camera on for internal meetings like this. Doesn’t bother me. I’m a millennial if that matters.

[Anonymous]

At my company all Teams meetings are required camera on, but they were pretty laid back. We were recently purchased by a bigger company, and they are much stricter about everything. Cameras on, plus be ready to speak and answer questions. We have to pay attention.

They will definitely be getting rid of some people. I'm sure being strict is a way of weeding people out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My team of 8 is fully remote so when we meet, it's on Teams unless we're together in-person for an occasional onsite or retreat. I'm judicious about scheduling team calls - they're biweekly with pre-planned agendas, usually for no more than 45 minutes at a time, so not a heavy lift in my opinion. I'm in my 50s and spent much of my career before 2020 working in person/ in an office. I'm supportive of and like the flexibility afforded by a fully remote workplace, but I feel like it's much more difficult to connect with my employees and build culture in a virtual environment. When I first started at this company a year ago, everyone was on camera for meetings within my team. Now, I find that increasingly most of them stay off camera unless it's a one-on-one. I'm thinking of requiring my staff to be on camera for all meetings within our team. I don't mind if people are dressed casually or have their hair in a ponytail and no make-up. These aren't client-facing calls. Maybe it's my age, but I feel like it's the only way I can know whether people are engaged - seeing facial expressions helps me gauge their response to things and frankly it's also about respecting the person/people speaking. No one likes to talk to a screen of boxes with names in them. I realize the world got by on audio conf calls for a long time, but now we have the option to see each other...so why not do so?

Does your company or department require employees to be on camera for calls? How would you respond/react to this request? I was talking to a peer who leads another team and she attributed this concern to my generation (X) and my response to the evolution of the workplace. Basically she said it was an old fashioned notion, and the young people will hate it. What do you think?

Why do you want to see people's face? I will be nervous when I am on camera. I am ok to talk face to face in person.