Cameras on
As someone who's been working in digital media forever, I like to share the philosophies I've acquired based on my experiences, and this is one of 'em:
I believe when we're working from home we should have our cameras on, for every team meeting, as well as every one-on-one call. (With some specific exceptions, which I'll get to.) I can go on and on about why — and I will! — but it really comes down to respect; showing people you respect them, and earning their respect. That's it. This is something I think is especially true for younger colleagues who may be starting their careers in this new world where remote work has become much more commonplace.
I know this is a polarizing topic! You don't have to agree with me. :)
So, most of my colleagues and I have been working from home (WFH) ever since covid lockdown 2020; some full-time at home, some going into the office on some days. I have been almost completely remote during this whole time. Personally, I've found that this has been fantastic for my productivity!
Ever since I became a tech director way back in 2012, a huge part of my time at work is spent in meetings; usually 30 minutes a pop, with different teams, often five to ten per day; sometimes more. These days, of course, all of my meetings are online. This might sound crazy, but I love meetings! I really enjoy getting to talk to different groups of people all day and hopefully answer some questions and solve some problems for them. My main goal every day is to feel at the end of the day like I've helped some people. All these meetings are also great because I really enjoy getting to look at a huge variety of creative work every week.
My rule, for me alone, is that I always have my camera on for every meeting — at least when I first join. I'm always delighted to see when other people are on camera as well. And if no one is, I'm definitely a little disappointed by that.
Let's think about client meetings
A pretty typical situation with cameras is that the boss is lenient about camera use for internal meetings, but they require cameras-on for client meetings. Ask yourself, why is that?
It's not because we're all so beautiful (that's just an added bonus!). It's because the clients are paying us for a service, they are our valued customers, and we want to perform all the correct gestures to show that we respect them, that we're professionals, and that we're here for whatever they need. We work in advertising; we sell image. There is value in showing our clients that we're aware of how important image is.
So, even if you don't like being on camera, do you see why all this makes sense from a business perspective? Why the bosses insist?
Now, let's extend that to being on camera for internal meetings. It's the same thing; we're showing our colleagues that we respect them, that we're professionals, and that we're here for whatever they need. We understand that the image we're conveying is important.
Seeing each other helps form a bond
You don't have to believe me on this (or anything!), but when I work with teams who consistently have their cameras on, there are benefits that the no-camera teams don't get to enjoy. We communicate better, we can express ourselves more easily, we become friendly with one another faster. Seeing each other on camera builds trust, and confidence, and respect. All of this leads to better work, but it's also just good for morale, and makes the work day more pleasant. We laugh more! I know that's not what we're here for, but isn't it better when we're having a nice time working together?
A somewhat more cynical side to this is that, when we see each other on camera, we know no one is slacking — we're not doing something else, we're not lying in bed, we're not assembling a complicated Lego set, etc. We're all focused, we're all together. You don't have to worry while you're speaking: is anyone even listening to me? You see heads nodding; you see faces reacting to your words, whether it's a good reaction or bad — both are very important for communicating!
The old pros are judging you
This is something that might be considered unfair, but it's a reality: I find that my colleagues with longer career experience tend to be more demanding about their teams having cameras on. The whole thing I mentioned above about showing respect; this is something they tend to really believe in, even if they're not thinking about it consciously; it may just be more of a feeling. These folks are the ones who may view the camera-off people as slacking a bit, or not being very professional or dedicated; not being team players. And all of this can affect your reputation; it can affect who is considered for things like raises, bonuses, promotions, etc. I don't think any of these senior manager types would say it's the most important thing — but it goes into the equation.
Going a bit further, when we give our managers a reason to fear that their staff aren't focused, that's something that can put our WFH privilege at risk. Having cameras on helps avoid that.
It's a power move
We've all had a colleague say, "I'm not camera-ready" or, "I just got up, I look like crap," or whatever; no big deal. But I've heard those people talk about other colleagues who are always on camera, like: "She always looks amazing!" "He's always dressed like he's at the office," et cetera. People notice all of that, and people do respect it. Ever since I went remote during covid lockdown 2020, I've set a couple simple rules for myself: always be on time, always be on camera, always wear a button-down shirt, always be well-coifed and clean-shaven, and always be in front of my nice home-office backdrop with good lighting. I never want my boss or anyone else to be able to think I'm slacking, or I'm not focused, or I'm not taking the job (and my privilege of working remotely) seriously. People compliment me for my camera-readiness. Is this the most important thing about my job performance? Not by a long shot. Does it make a positive impression? Absolutely.
Here's a thing that happens sometimes that is so cringe-y. A bunch of us will show up for an internal staff meeting. My camera is on. Most of my colleagues' cameras are off. The boss shows up, on camera. Everyone panics! They didn't realize he was in this meeting. They all turn their cameras on. Some of them look camera-ready, some don't. It's embarrassing for all of them. Of course he would never mention it, but he definitely notices the scramble.
They know the boss wants cameras on; he's said it many times. So why didn't they have them on by default?
Read the room
If I join a meeting with, let's say, ten or more people, and I'm the only one on camera, I'll say hello, wait maybe three minutes and see if anyone else turns their cameras on, and if they don't then I turn mine off. No need for me to fill everyone's screen and weird them out. It's still important to me that I join the meeting on camera, to show that I'm 100% present and focused.
However, once in a while — fortunately not very often — I'll be invited to a meeting where I know it's going to be a bit tense. Maybe it's a team that's always very difficult or unfriendly. Maybe it's about a situation where I have to deliver news to the team that they're not going to like, or explain something bad that happened — or maybe they're going to ask me for something that's above and beyond, and I can decide to say yes or no. You know I'm going to be on camera for those, and stay on camera no matter what, even if it's just me. If you're going to give me a hard time, you have to look at my smiling face the whole time. I'm not afraid to take up the whole screen, and I'm not afraid to be the only one on camera. Again, in this way it can be a bit of a power move.
No need to be strict about it
When I've managed my own teams of direct reports, I've never required them to be on camera, with the exception of during client meetings — and these folks would rarely have to attend those, to their great relief. (Me, I love client meetings!)
I have, however, always told my direct reports why I believe being on camera is good for their work, their reputation, and their career.
Also, for whatever it's worth, the various bosses I've had since covid lockdown 2020 were all pretty vocal about their preference for everyone being on camera. I basically had the choice to enforce this or not. I already believed in being on camera all the time for myself, but as for the designers and devs on my teams, I just passed down the info: "I'm not requiring you to be on camera, but I'm telling you the boss prefers that we all are. You can do with that what you will." Basically, be aware that the boss might be judging you for your camera use, or lack thereof.
A conscious choice to not care
I've worked with some team members who were very honest with me, who said, "I don't care about any of that. I don't want a raise or a promotion. I don't care what other team members think." Okay, I suppose this is a fair point! I respect anyone who knows what they want. And I'm glad that in the case of these folks it was a conscious choice; they're aware of the repercussions, which they considered minor. What I would not want is for younger colleagues to not be aware of all of this and be surprised and disappointed when they get passed over for those things.
Considering accommodations
I know there's an issue of some people having very real challenges that make it more difficult or even impossible for them to be on camera. I absolutely am sympathetic to that, and this is part of why I've never insisted on camera use for my own team members. But those people should be aware of the effect it may have on their career, and if they haven't discussed this with their manager and/or HR, they should consider doing so just in case, to avoid any kind of misunderstanding or tension.
Camera-ready tips
By the way, along with my rules for myself that I mentioned above (nice shirt, clean-shaven), I believe it's important to make sure that our camera set-up looks presentable as well. For me this meant buying a simple external webcam to put on top of my monitor, and an inexpensive ring light to go next to that. This makes you look much, much better than being in crappy lighting and looking downward at your crappy webcam on your laptop. Lighting matters, angle matters. Listen, I need all the help I can get. These two little purchases made a tremendous difference for me.
Whew! This is a lot of words about a fairly complex and delicate topic. I hope it's eye-opening for a few people!
– Manning
Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at manning@manningkrull.com. I update these articles pretty frequently — best practices evolve over time as the world of digital quickly changes, and I always welcome insights from others.