Requiring Staff to be on Camera for Teams Calls?

[Anonymous]

OP, why not pick one "all-hands" meeting a week and add "cameras on!" before it (at least a day) so that it's anticipated, but not constant? People might like it.

[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.

Geez, just blur the view or do a background, not hard.

[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?

TLDR
SUM IT UP

[Anonymous]

I don't like cameras on but I think it's totally reasonable to require. It's an expectation at my job. (Millennial)

[Anonymous]

I think it’s more than reasonable to require them to have their camera on. I’m sure they would hate it much more if you required them to come into the office. Some people are so clueless and don’t know the good thing they have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Exactly! Another clueless idiot who thinks her complete lack of making sure she has a space to perform her job is somehow her employer’s shortcoming. Get a desk princess.

[Anonymous]

I started a WFH role in 2004. Of course this was most audio based at the time. As video conferencing tools got better, the team never embraced being on camera. We would just use the computer tools to facilitate calls rather than using the phone. About 2 yrs ago, I moved to a company where being on camera is the norm. I found that I like it more. I don’t like being on camera but I find that I pay more attention when I can see people’s expressions. I can tell when something isn’t making sense to someone rather than them telling me they get it when they really don’t.

I understand some people don’t like it but if the alternative is going into the office to have F2F meetings, I’ll take the camera. I’m heading up a new team and yes, I’m going to require cameras on or you can come into the office. I’ll be at the office so it doesn’t matter to me which you choose but I want to see your expressions throughout the mtg.

[Anonymous]

My Team is on camera for all client calls.
My DH is on camera if anyone more senior to them is on camera.
I go on camera for all calls and it has helped me connect the dots for some performance issues.
Example - one person does not have child care for their toddler.

If you want everyone on screen for a meeting - you need to explicitly call it out as opposed to hoping people select that option. I agree that it helps when people are on screen for building relationships. Can you rotate the person presenting for the meeting you have and ask that the people presenting are on screen as a way to move in that direction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s more than reasonable to require them to have their camera on. I’m sure they would hate it much more if you required them to come into the office. Some people are so clueless and don’t know the good thing they have.

+1. You could also roll it out in a way that it isn't a harsh mandate. Show up yourself in a ballcap on a bad hair day. Sip your coffee instead of checking emails while someone else is briefing. Make it clear it isn't about perfection, but about being present.

My current team doesn't mandate it, but it's generally the norm. Plenty of times though someone may be on a phone because they're driving between locations or are trying to work even if they feel under the weather and really don't want to be on screen. Earlier this week when storms were coming through everyone kept their cameras off because internet connections were a bit shaky for some people. Rather than a mandate make it more of a "hey, unless there's a really unusual scenario let's try to be on screen more".

I've been working from home a long time and do think it makes a difference in building relationships.

[Anonymous]

The fact that you said you don’t care if people are wearing ponytails and no makeup kind of makes me think you do care.

[Anonymous]

My company now has an unwritten rule that everyone is on camera for all calls. (I’m on consulting and this extends to client calls, even if everyone on those calls are camera off.) I think the best solution I’ve found is to have meetings be camera-optional unless you’re speaking, at which point your camera should be on.

All that being said, I really hate zoom/Teams calls and unfortunately I understand these will be a reality for the rest of my career. I think they’re much less productive yet somehow more performative than in person meetings. I really really wish we could have meetings in person. I think this would (a) compel people to be more prepared and pay better attention and (b) cause there to be fewer meetings.

A gal can dream haha

[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.

Wow, you don’t own a desk, table or chair and you claim to be working productively from home? I’d say you’re the exact reason why employees should be forced to go on camera sometimes. There are some people who just can’t work from home for whatever reason - inappropriate space, young kids, etc. WFH is not a right.

[Anonymous]

Where I work, our internal department meetings are all on camera and it's because everybody's remote. This was set up from leadership from the top down. The leaders come on camera and they say hey I want to see everybody's faces. We expect it so we know to have at least a decent top on and our hair brushed. It's not unexpected.

I live in a very small apartment, but my teams allows me to put a background on, so I have a background of a hotel lobby. Nobody can see what my room actually looks like.

Some people don't like being on camera and I'm one of them as I prefer to be off camera. But it's my job and if they want me to be on camera, I will be on camera. It's not something I'm going quit my job over.

[Anonymous]

I require my team to be on camera for our weekly team meeting and for anything where the client is on camera. They hate it, but they do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Wow, you don’t own a desk, table or chair and you claim to be working productively from home? I’d say you’re the exact reason why employees should be forced to go on camera sometimes. There are some people who just can’t work from home for whatever reason - inappropriate space, young kids, etc. WFH is not a right.

Sad to say I agree with this and I'm a huge proponent for "working where it makes sense". Working from your couch? That's as bad as people working off their phone only.