On only when speaking, and only in a "formal" meeting with people outside my immediate team. If I'm only dealing with my boss, we talk on the phone like normal humans.

Cameras on is stupid. People keep their cameras off so they don't have to make a quaint little Zoom background, or dress in professional attire, or do their hair, and all those other ridiculous things that have zero to do with productivity or job performance. If you hear their voice, they're participating, and they get their work done well and on time, then who cares if someone prefers a phone conference over a video conference?

Anonymous wrote:It means they are normal.

Cameras on is some oddly bizarre thing expected post 2020 because bosses are old and antiquated and don’t know how to treat people like adults.

Really don’t wanna look at your big fat face and see the hair in your nose. Please turn off your camera.

Lol. "Bosses" "don't know how to treat people like adults." I'll treat people like adults when they act like adults. Or when they get their work done. Whichever comes first.

My assumption is that they are not fully present or don't look put together yet. I have a job where we sometimes Zoom at 7:30 am and I assume people literally haven't combed their hair yet if they aren't on camera. Which for that particular meeting is actually fine. Later in the day I assume they are not paying attention or doing something else -- like folding laundry, walking their dog, whatever. Which is not totally fine.

FWIW, at my job we generally have meetings with under 30 people or so, and we do have a culture of having cameras on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a manager, I set expectations of when I want cameras on. Important external meeting? Your cameras need to be on. One on one meeting with me or other coworkers? No need to turn it on. I do expect that the camera is on for our weekly staff meeting. My staff is small and it's part of getting to know each other.

I've found that dysfunctional places generally are cameras off kinds of places.

Then allow your employees unrestricted access to their office. Oh, what's that? Corporate says that's not allowed? Then I guess I'm having hardware issues IT can't seem to figure out.

you seem unhinged. It's not April 2020

This person complains in every thread that their workforce is required to be remote. It is a bit unhinged.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.

I sort of feel this way too. We have these meetings with about 8 of us. 5 of us always have our cameras on and we contribute to the meeting. The cameras off people don't speak even. It's like they're just there to creep on us. We're all peers, and none of our managers are on.

And about what we did before zoom- we would get together in our conference rooms with a video camera if everyone wasn't in the same city. I'm a millennial and don't remember a time before video cameras.

Thats wild to me, and I'm 43. Prior to 2020, video call at my work was reserved for something like an address by the head of the organization. But I would talk on the phone with people all over the world, and had years-long friendly relationships with many.
I mean, people used to do this by paper letter! Even today, plenty of friendships are sustained mostly through texts.

I'm not anti video, but I think video-on mandates put the emphasis in the wrong place. The point is the relationship. Video does not get you there by itself, and can be a distraction.

Same age and I agree. We used to meet in conference rooms and dial in others who weren't there on the speakerphone, but we didn't do video until Covid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.

I sort of feel this way too. We have these meetings with about 8 of us. 5 of us always have our cameras on and we contribute to the meeting. The cameras off people don't speak even. It's like they're just there to creep on us. We're all peers, and none of our managers are on.

And about what we did before zoom- we would get together in our conference rooms with a video camera if everyone wasn't in the same city. I'm a millennial and don't remember a time before video cameras.

Are the meetings mandatory?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.

I sort of feel this way too. We have these meetings with about 8 of us. 5 of us always have our cameras on and we contribute to the meeting. The cameras off people don't speak even. It's like they're just there to creep on us. We're all peers, and none of our managers are on.

And about what we did before zoom- we would get together in our conference rooms with a video camera if everyone wasn't in the same city. I'm a millennial and don't remember a time before video cameras.

Thats wild to me, and I'm 43. Prior to 2020, video call at my work was reserved for something like an address by the head of the organization. But I would talk on the phone with people all over the world, and had years-long friendly relationships with many.
I mean, people used to do this by paper letter! Even today, plenty of friendships are sustained mostly through texts.

I'm not anti video, but I think video-on mandates put the emphasis in the wrong place. The point is the relationship. Video does not get you there by itself, and can be a distraction.

i wish there was a feature to only have your camera on but only visible to others when speaking. meaning that only the person speaking is visible, not to be confused with when there is only one speaker.
yes there is a speaker only view on zoom but i mean from the user end. if that makes sense?

Anonymous wrote:What's the culture? My office is camera on for smaller meetings (around 10 or less people) and only turn your camera on if you're speaking in a large office wide meeting (around 50 people). So it would be odd and unusual for someone to have camera off on a regular basis. I would assume they are not paying attention or not in an appropriate location.

Same. On for small meetings, off for big ones unless you’re speaking.

Anonymous wrote:It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.

I sort of feel this way too. We have these meetings with about 8 of us. 5 of us always have our cameras on and we contribute to the meeting. The cameras off people don't speak even. It's like they're just there to creep on us. We're all peers, and none of our managers are on.

And about what we did before zoom- we would get together in our conference rooms with a video camera if everyone wasn't in the same city. I'm a millennial and don't remember a time before video cameras.

The Botox is crazy those big foreheads with no wrinkles look bizarre.

Anonymous wrote:It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.

LOL. So turns yours off.

Camera on is an unnecessary distraction IMO. The focus should be on the message not on the messenger. Personally I tend to get distracted when the camera is on. You can’t not focus on expressions when the camera is on. Some of us have RBFs when we are tryin to concentrate, which can be misconstrued. I am at my focused best when the camera is off. Camera on makes me self conscious. At the end of the day, it’s about getting work done. There are different ways to do it. Feeling the need to prove that you’re adding value by being on camera, is a little too much. But that’s just my opinion.

It's creepy when the person doesn't have their camera on, but when they share their screen to show something, it shows that they're watching YOU on their screen. I forever write them off as a creep and I feel violated.