why turning off your camera in a meeting is a bad idea

It is now a ritual in the professional life of millions of employees. While teleworking has developed considerably thanks to the health crisis, videoconference meetings have become commonplace.

In this context, some employees are not really comfortable, and we know that visios generate what is called a “tired zoom“, characterized by certain physical ailments. Therefore, many people decide to cut their cameras punctually or systematically. If trying to protect themselves from the effects of stress is rather logical, the consequences on the career of the employee in question could however be negative.

Appearances are deceiving in video meetings

This is what emerges from a survey conducted in the United States by the company Vyopta. More than 200 business leaders answered questions related to the videoconference. A first observation is immediately obvious: 96% of respondents believe that employees who work remotely are disadvantaged in their careers compared to those who are in the office.

Another very surprising result: decision-makers tend to judge their employees very harshly when they decide to switch off the cameras during video conferencing. In fact, 92% of respondents believe that employees who mute the sound and video during these calls ” probably don’t have a long-term future in their work “. And they are 93% to estimate that the people who decide not to show themselves during the calls are less involved than the others in their mission.

This climate of suspicion is illustrated by other figures, since 43% of respondents imagine that this lack of engagement in the meeting is linked to the fact that their employees are surfing the Internet or sending messages to their relatives.

This survey is of course to be taken with a grain of salt, and one can imagine that some bosses 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 cautious because the evaluation of employees can, in some cases, be played out in minute details.