What is the ʺproper protocolʺ for video conferencing?
What is the ʺproper protocolʺ for video conferencing? Some say cameras on all the time, some say cameras for speakers only, and some say toggle on/off if you are speaking - do companies allow background changes (or are they more distracting)?
Best Answers
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Good question! Prior to COVID-19, as a general practice we'd ask that everyone turn their cameras on to create a more inclusive environment for onsite and remote Team Members.
Some Teams took this practice a step further and stopped booking conference rooms altogether. So whether you were onsite or remote everyone was on equal footing. We've all had the "fun" experience of trying to contribute to a conversation when you are dialed into a conference room meeting.
Little did we know that this latter practice would make us better prepared for today's environment.
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I have not seen any formal protocol - I think it is currently more dependent on the culture of your company. We try to show camera when presenting and everyone else is off (supposedly this helps with bandwidth) - but this is not enforced or always consistently applied; also, we laugh at background changes so we use it as a way to bring levity to what can be an awkward situation for some people.
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I am not proposing a protocol, but my preference is to be able to see people, subject to bandwidth availability. Being able to see at least facial expressions and gauge reaction and attention is helpful to me.
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No formal protocol, but we encourage all participants to share video to enhance the quality of communication, and discourage multi-tasking. Also, when appropriate, we try to make good use of breakout sessions to enhance sharing and engagement.
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Interesting comments. In IBM we went in the past without a real protocol, but I think lots of people thought that video removes multitasking, and other just think it is more personal and helps in serious discussions. I experienced in my own team that we're always on camera in 1:1 or teamcalls (independent of homeoffice or office). I think we all enjoy seeing each other. But I also experienced in the past that the larger the meeting is or when there are people who do not know each other well there is a certain trend to not have video on. With the COVID19 situation IBMers created a pledge for working from home, and I really like it. It is including rules for video - and I think we should all respect them. Arvind made the "IBM work from hole pledge" public, you can find it on: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-pledge-support-my-fellow-ibmers-working-from-home-during-krishna/?linkId=87805422
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This is a "High Five" question. I think it depends on who you are engaging with, and you should always respect every ones camera situation. I think it actually gives us a deeper way of connecting with our teams and customers that we didn't always utilize. When your camera is on you can read someones body language, and that's important. You can see if that person is having a good day or bad day. You may get to "virtually' come face to face with someone that you may not have in "real life".
On the lighter side, its always good to have a fun background competition with your colleagues Check out the link below
TSIA"S Linkedin
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I think video on as much as possible if bandwidth allows. Probably like many people, I can be terribly undisciplined and get distracted by incoming emails, WhatsApp messages, MS Teams chats, and other channels in our omni-channel world. Being on video forces attention to the call in progress, unless perhaps you want to be seen as being blatantly rude.
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I try to accommodate the situation as much as possible. If I'm just reaching out to ask a quick question I'll tend to keep video off similarly if I am listening in on a town-hall style presentation. However if it's a team meeting or a scheduled smaller meeting, then we encourage video on as much as possible. Our company put together a guide around both remote work in general and video calling specifically: https://www.fuze.com/the-Ultimate-Guide-to-Remote-Work
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Our organization does not require it but does encourage folks to use camera's. Small team meetings we use video almost 100% of the time for 1x1's many of us may go outside for a walk as we are finding we are stuck behind zooms for many hours a day.
Our company does allow change of backdrop and they have even posted company branded ones for us to use. It looks pretty cool!
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Fantastic - by having everyone "pledge" this is an excellent means for getting "buy-in" from workers who are new at WFH - or just new to the strange new "everything and everyone is at home" status. This is wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for the link. I personally worked remote for many years before OpenText moved me abck to an office (and can "hear" frustrations and distractions without seeing body language) - also before video was optimized and streaming was normal. I am indeed guilty of multi-tasking (and my colleagues can "hear" my typing and have asked me to mute off and just listen. I have also been in dual headset situations (2 ears, 2 meetings, but my portion is at different times) - it's hard enough to control which meeting you are currently speaking on without having to worry about video as well. Thanks everyone, I am glad for all the various responses.
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