Not everyone can handle the discomfort of being on camera the same way. Years into the pandemic, we need to entirely abandon camera on expectations.
If you still require people to keep their camera on during virtual meetings, it’s time that you seriously question that policy.
In order to build a more inclusive and equitable company, many of the general accepted rules and etiquette involving virtual meetings should be abandoned.
Requirements that people keep their camera on can be harmful for a variety of reasons, and the distribution of that harm is not shared equally.
Here are three of the biggest reasons why camera optional should be the protected standard…
1. Safer for Neurodivergent People
Maintaining eye contact can be difficult for people who are ADHD, or on the autism spectrum. Many describe the experience of prolonged eye contact as being like Superman’s heat vision boring a hole into their brains. It’s can be deeply uncomfortable leading some people to feel intense anxiety or even panic
While your neurodivergent colleagues may not say anything about it, the feeling of eye contact over Zoom can be just as uncomfortable.
This can be compounded by the intense distractibility that being on the computer brings with it.
By giving people the option of going camera off, we relieve them of the pressure of eye contact and the concern that people will judge them for light multitasking to keep their background mental process occupied.
Allowing people to process information in the way most comfortable to them can only benefit all involved.
2. Safer for Parents
Parents, especially of small children, are steeped in chaos. There are often toys everywhere, clothes to fold, and just a general backlog of life to contend with.
Having the pressure to find a suitable space to work from or straighten up the background for your virtual meeting can add unnecessary stress to someone’s life.
Instead, by making camera optional, we remove the presentability requirements that can be more difficult for those who are parents, caregivers, or any other co-habitation situation beyond their control. In a post-pandemic world, this should be obvious to everyone.
3. Safer for Humans
But, even if we didn’t care to make it safe for neurodivergent people, or parents, or anyone else previously mentioned, we still would benefit by giving people the autonomy to decide if they feel comfortable being on camera any given day.
People can feel self conscious, tired, or have difficulty balancing the mental load of the outcomes of work with the expectations that result from etiquette imposed upon them.
Psychological safety is essential for any high performing organization. So, why risk it over something that really doesn’t matter when you think about it critically.
You should be allowed to be You
The consistent theme of creating an equitable and inclusive culture is giving people the undisputed right to be themselves, and the autonomy to make their own decisions.
For this to work, at work, we need to constantly interrogate what rules, policies and expectations are truly important, useful, and necessary. This includes the camera policy for virtual meetings, what is considered acceptable clothing or hair styles, and even whether people must return to the office.
If the purpose of any company guideline is to impose control over any variable that does not truly, genuinely, and substantively impact outcomes, then it should be abandoned.