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As someone in a leadership role is it more important to keep the camera on?
I haven't turned my camera on in meetings for over 8 months, I don't think anyone really cares that much, and I find some people like it because they feel less pressure to keep their own cameras on as a result. That's been my experience at least, I'm sure some people have bosses that require it for whatever reason which might make that not an option for everyone.
Very grateful I work for the former.
Just turn off self view. It's distracting and weird to see yourself in a meeting.
I've done full days of real meetings. Those were exhausting and very draining. I'm surprised that anybody would expect anything different from virtual meetings.
I have noticed that it's harder to feel people as fully human when they're little 2D movies. Even moreso when they're disembodied voices.
It's less so when I've met the people IRL. I'm guessing I can then link their image or voice to the human I know.
In my experience, there's also far less participation when everybody has their camera off.
We used to have a shortage of meeting rooms when having them physically and locally. This was great as it meant they naturally spread out over the week. Nowadays folk think they can get you to hop on a virtual meeting room in minutes regardless of what you’re doing.
I’m very good at declining meetings where I think I’ll not be offering much value giving a reason why. I find quite often people want me in because they think I’ll enjoy it, or don’t want me out of the loop. They can summarise after by email if that’s all they want.
I I'd be WFH for two years during covid, and everyone had their cameras off, I'd go crazy. Not seeing a face for months, being stressed about the other party in a meeting not even paying attention, just speaking into a void etc.
I haven't turned my camera on in meetings for over 8 months, I don't think anyone really cares that much, and I find some people like it because they feel less pressure to keep their own cameras on as a result. That's been my experience at least, I'm sure some people have bosses that require it for whatever reason which might make that not an option for everyone.
Zoom should add a pause button. Freeze the camera, people can see your face but it doesnt have to be live. Or use a photo instead