Requiring Staff to be on Camera for Teams Calls?

[Anonymous]

Are they working at home by choice, or was it forced because of COVID and just continued?

This matters. I hated being on camera during COVID because I live in a one-bedroom apartment and my desk is in my bedroom, which seems a bit invasive to me. I never signed up to work at home, and never had a proper professional-looking environment there. If I had intentionally chosen to work at home, then the situation would have been different, and I would have chosen to live in a place that had a more appropriate-looking environment. Yes, I know that virtual backgrounds exist, but I hate them. They never work that well, and always make me feel that people are trying to hide something. I'm genuinely glad to be back in an office full-time, so none of this is an issue.

Beyond that--does everyone have sufficient network bandwidth to do this?

[Anonymous]

I'm also Gen X and don't feel people need to be on camera. Consider it a conference call. My being on camera has no bearing on the work I produce. Actually, it'd make my work suffer because I would pause work to complain about you to coworkers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are they working at home by choice, or was it forced because of COVID and just continued?

This matters. I hated being on camera during COVID because I live in a one-bedroom apartment and my desk is in my bedroom, which seems a bit invasive to me. I never signed up to work at home, and never had a proper professional-looking environment there. If I had intentionally chosen to work at home, then the situation would have been different, and I would have chosen to live in a place that had a more appropriate-looking environment. Yes, I know that virtual backgrounds exist, but I hate them. They never work that well, and always make me feel that people are trying to hide something. I'm genuinely glad to be back in an office full-time, so none of this is an issue.

Beyond that--does everyone have sufficient network bandwidth to do this?

Yep, I also have a tiny one bedroom apartment and work from my couch. My back faces mirrored closet doors. If I were on camera, everyone could see the entirety of my apartment by looking at the mirrors behind me. I am not interested in showcasing my crappy apartment. The only other place to sit in my apartment is my bed, and that'd be even worse. I don't own a desk or table.

[Anonymous]

I would not require it. It won’t come off right. However, you should model having your camera always on, including times you are more casual to show it’s ok, and provide mild positive reinforcement occasionally- “hey, this meeting was nice with several of us having camera on today. Its great to see everyone! I know it’s not always feasible, but it’s nice when it works out.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are they working at home by choice, or was it forced because of COVID and just continued?

This matters. I hated being on camera during COVID because I live in a one-bedroom apartment and my desk is in my bedroom, which seems a bit invasive to me. I never signed up to work at home, and never had a proper professional-looking environment there. If I had intentionally chosen to work at home, then the situation would have been different, and I would have chosen to live in a place that had a more appropriate-looking environment. Yes, I know that virtual backgrounds exist, but I hate them. They never work that well, and always make me feel that people are trying to hide something. I'm genuinely glad to be back in an office full-time, so none of this is an issue.

Beyond that--does everyone have sufficient network bandwidth to do this?

Yep, I also have a tiny one bedroom apartment and work from my couch. My back faces mirrored closet doors. If I were on camera, everyone could see the entirety of my apartment by looking at the mirrors behind me. I am not interested in showcasing my crappy apartment. The only other place to sit in my apartment is my bed, and that'd be even worse. I don't own a desk or table.

I bought a room screen and put it behind me when I have to be on work calls.

[Anonymous]

I would rather be on camera than forced to be in person

[Anonymous]

Man some of you are pussies!

[Anonymous]

My company doesn’t require cameras on, but it is the work culture to have them on, and it seems antisocial and disconnected to leave them off, unless it is a really large meeting or slides are going to be shared for the preponderance of the meeting. I would be unimpressed if one of my team consistently had their camera off.

[Anonymous]

Being on camera can be very dysregulating and distracting for individuals who are neurodivergent. The need to maintain eye contact, be aware of one's appearance on camera, and being perceived by others can be overwhelming for individuals with autism. It's a common accommodation for neurodivergent individuals to be able to leave camera off during meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not require it. It won’t come off right. However, you should model having your camera always on, including times you are more casual to show it’s ok, and provide mild positive reinforcement occasionally- “hey, this meeting was nice with several of us having camera on today. Its great to see everyone! I know it’s not always feasible, but it’s nice when it works out.”

+1 positive encouragement is the way to go

Requiring cameras on is off putting to many

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being on camera can be very dysregulating and distracting for individuals who are neurodivergent. The need to maintain eye contact, be aware of one's appearance on camera, and being perceived by others can be overwhelming for individuals with autism. It's a common accommodation for neurodivergent individuals to be able to leave camera off during meetings.

Holy crap, this explains so much! Is this why I'm exhausted and depleted at the end of on-camera meetings?

[Anonymous]

I’m neurodivergent (ADHD) and also don’t think I hear very well. If a meeting is a small group talking to one another I have a much easier time with us all using cameras so I can read body language and I suspect I do some lip reading as well without really realizing it. We are expected to have cameras on in these meetings but it’s not enforced and I feel strange asking my managers to turn their cameras on. By contrast, if I’m listening to a training session or a presentation where there’s no expectation that I speak, I prefer not to be on camera. If there’s no back-and-forth I stay focused better when I can fidget and keeping the camera off helps with that.

[Anonymous]

There’s so much space between saying nothing and requiring it.

All of these excuses are such BS. You can digitally blur/replace your background. You do not need to look at yourself on the screen.

But I wouldn’t require it just because of the BS responses. Just encourage it. Make it clear you appreciate people being on camera and expect it unless there is an extenuating circumstance.

It’s possible your team will just ignore you but at that point, the camera thing is such small potatoes anyway.

[Anonymous]

Cameras off sends the message of not being engaged. I have colleagues who do this and it’s awful. It’s always the slackers.

[Anonymous]

We just went back to this and I hate it. I feel like it's micromanaging.