Should employees have to turn on their video camera for zoom meetings?

We adopted a balanced approach to avoid zoom burnout. Camera only needs to come on if you are presenting / speaking. Unlike the physical world, asking all attendees to switch their cameras on means that everyone feels obliged to sit there and stare directly at their screen. Contrast this to the physical world where we would be glancing at our phones, standing up for a quick stretch, putting on (or taking off) a sweater, etc during a meeting, and no one really cares.

Attention span is better when the video is on and is respectful to give that attention

I give the choice to each individuals on a regular basis, but sometimes, if I need to have a difficult 1on1 conversation, then I ask the person to turn their camera on because I want to make sure I can see them. So far, no one has refused such a request.

This is thoughtful for folks that have chosen distributed work and where encouraging video can help teams feel connected.

But recognize it is different for those that did not plan to work from home. Given these circumstances, there are times when someone does not want to be on video. They haven’t necessarily thought to invite us into their home.

Being not ready for the camera should be expected and is perfectly ok. Likewise comments about video quality, lighting, etc is something to keep to ourselves. Sue has a ring light and a nice webcam, great. Sean doesn’t, that’s great too.

I am almost always on camera by my own choice. Often I’m the only one. I don’t mind at all. I would like to see more profile pictures so I am not looking at initials all day, but also understand that has its own issues.