Why is turning off the camera in a meeting a bad idea

It is now a ritual in the professional lives of millions of employees. While remote work has grown exponentially thanks to the health crisis, video conferencing has become a common occurrence.

In this context, some employees don’t really feel comfortable, and we know that visuals generate what’s called “Zoom tired”, which is characterized by certain physical ailments. Consequently, many of them are the ones who decide to cut off their cameras punctually or systematically. If trying to protect themselves from the effects of stress makes some sense, the consequences for the career of the employee in question can be negative.

Appearances are deceptive in video meetings

This is what emerged from a survey conducted by the company Vyopta in the United States. Over 200 business leaders have answered questions about video conferencing. The first observation is immediately clear: 96% of respondents believe that employees who work remotely are disadvantaged in their careers compared to those who work in the office.

Another very surprising finding: decision makers tend to judge their employees very harshly when they decide to turn off the cameras during video conferencing. In fact, 92% of respondents believe that employees mute audio and video during these calls” Perhaps they do not have a long-term future in their work And they are 93% estimating that people who decide not to show themselves during calls are less involved than others in their task.

This climate of skepticism manifests itself in other figures, as 43% of the respondents believe that this lack of participation in the meeting is related to the fact that their employees browse the Internet or send messages to their relatives.

Of course this survey should be taken with caution, and one can imagine that some superiors are not in this state of mind and do not stop at these appearances to judge the professionalism of their employees. However, it should encourage employees to be careful because employee evaluation can, in some cases, be carried out in minute detail.