Women with Zoom Fatigue, are your employers supportive of a camera-off environment?

Anonymous

September 30,2021 at 2:16PM UTC

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Women with Zoom Fatigue, are your employers supportive of a camera-off environment? Have any of you gotten pushback for keeping cameras off when you're fried after a long week of Zoom? I'm trying to cope here but it's hard to have the camera on constantly.

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AnonymousSeptember 30,2021 at 3:33PM UTC
Yes cameras are always off in my org.
AnonymousSeptember 30,2021 at 6:01PM UTC
you're so lucky!
AnonymousSeptember 30,2021 at 5:22PM UTC
Actual conversation with my co-founder (an older white man) after we finished sales call with a potential customer.
Me: That was a great call. I'll follow up with Sally (not her real name) in a few days.
Him: Yes, it was a good call, but I find it suspicious when a person doesn't turn on their camera during a Zoom call.
Me: (laughing, because I thought he was kidding)
Him: Yes, I always wonder what that person is hiding.
Me: (realizing that he was not kidding) People who do not turn on their camera's are not hiding anything. Many people don't want to look at themselves while talking in a business call, or they are working from home and their home office is the kitchen table so their background view doesn't look good when doing a business call, and numerous other reasons, so you are wrong.
Him: Really? I had no idea.
Me: Yes, Tom (not his name), you are completely wrong.
Me: (shaking my damn head)
AnonymousSeptember 30,2021 at 6:01PM UTC
what they're HIDING? LOL! Wow...
Megan LeasherSeptember 30,2021 at 6:43PM UTC
My company definitely prefers us on camera as often as possible. They are ok if you are off-camera once in a while, but I don't think it would be ok if it were a continual end-of-week / all-day thing. Curious how others respond!
Emmy BemmySeptember 30,2021 at 6:57PM UTC
I personally prefer that all meeting participants have their camera on. Most of the programs offer the option of a virtual background, so there shouldn't be an issue of not wanting people to see your home. Usually you can set the view so you are not staring at yourself during the meeting, if you don't enjoy that. I didn't feel this way at the start of wfh, but my team and I all prefer on camera now that we are used to it.
I don't necessarily think people are hiding anything (other than possibly not "getting ready" for the day). However, I notice a very different level of engagement between people that are on camera vs off camera. It may not hold true 100%, but off camera participants are often multi-tasking or are not at home/in an office and that other environment can be distracting. People are less likely to email/read/etc during a meeting if they are on camera. Everyone being engaged on the conversation saves a lot of time and makes the meetings more effective.
That said, I am in meetings about 50- 75% of my week, so I do get some time "off camera" time in my day.
Aya IbarraSeptember 30,2021 at 7:05PM UTC
You’ll find that if you give people context and heads up on turning videos off, others will thank you for the break as well. Mixing meetings up with walks outside is great for you AND your colleagues. Similar to other suggestions in the comments, I strongly recommend turning the camera off regularly for specific situations like large group meetings and presentations.
AnonymousOctober 1,2021 at 3:08PM UTC
It really depends on the meeting? When I have 1:1s with my direct reports or smaller team meetings I leave my camera on when possible (sometimes people are in locations with connectivity issues, and cameras on make the connection unstable) and let them do whatever makes them comfortable. I do this in an attempt to signal that I'm engaged in those calls with them and not multi-tasking in the background. For larger meetings we are usually only camera-on while talking/presenting, and this is across levels and departments. To my knowledge, no one has ever complained about the people w/cameras off and it hasn't been an issue.
AnonymousOctober 1,2021 at 3:31PM UTC
I just read an article someplace that said someone worked out the following poicy bc of not wanting to be on camera all the time at a company that had a camera on policy. Her camera is on, but only shows her shoulder. That way everyone knows she's there, engaged, not doing pilates or in the other room. You might suggest it. You can probably find the article nad cite it as an option that other employers have accepted. Good luck.