Camera On or Off?
Do you agree that the camera on-off theory is split among people?
Absolutely everything is better with video: Teamwork, trust, productivity
I don’t want to turn my video on and I’ll make any excuse not to do so.
I got into a virtual meeting recently with 5 people as requested by a client.
I remember asking the client how many people would be joining the meeting. I was told just 2. So, I gladly assumed a small group discussion and one-person representation from my side would be okay.
The meeting started and it was almost 20 minutes of discussion …. I asked, “could you all please turn on your camera.”
It went totally silent, and only one person turned on the camera much later.
I felt weird, as I was the only person with the camera on.
There was no engagement in the conversation.
I could not pick up cues if the client agreed or disagreed with my suggestion.
There was much silence in between the discussion.
I was feeling uncomfortable and felt this meeting was not productive.
I had to put the meeting to closure by saying, “perhaps internally you all like to discuss your end objective and we could speak once again next time :).”
Did I feel time wasted, did I feel disrespected, certainly YES!
Communication is a two-way thing, regardless of whether it is a social connection or a physical connection.
I am sure we all agree, that great communication comes with a great connection, so let’s make that work from the beginning!