When is it a good idea to turn off the camera during a video call

video calls Across Zoom, MS Teams, Jitsi, Webex, and many other platforms, in many places during the pandemic. In the home office Almost every office employee has one call or the other. Team meetings, meetings with clients, creative meetings, weekly or daily meetings such as press interviews, press conferences, etc.

But it doesn’t have to be camera really ready for every call. There are times when it’s totally fine not to show your face. According to “The Next Web”, it has somewhat evolved etiquette Developed where you can join video conferencing not better Displays.

When it’s best to keep the camera closed:

• when do you eat There are often situations where it is not possible to plan a single break between one-on-one meetings and you plan to eat your food at a meeting. Here it is recommended to turn off the audio and video playback.
• When multitasking. Many employees know it: There are parts of meetings that are more relevant to you than others. Additionally, you can check your Slack account, work through some emails or do other things that require multitasking. Here, too, it is advisable to turn off the camera so as not to disturb and distract others for whom the part of the meeting is convenient.
• In large group meetings. At press conferences, group lectures or other large meetings with more than 20 people and you only passively participate, the speakers are of special interest and as an audience it is enough to join with questions via voice messages or chat.
• When you are not satisfied. You’re not ready to be in front of the camera 24/7. If you did not have time to make yourself “good-looking” before the meeting and did not wipe your sleep from your eyes, it is better not to turn on the camera.

On the other hand, it may be important in certain situations that all team members pay equal attention to video calls.

• discussions. For example, if there is something to discuss and you want everyone to participate and deal with the agenda. It is helpful here to clearly communicate before the meeting that video attendance is desirable.
• clear timing. It also makes sense to clearly define these conferences in terms of time. It is easier to turn the camera on for 15 minutes than for an hour.

Gone are the days when you had to turn your camera on 24/7 for video calls.