Let's Be Invisible!

One of the often-toted disadvantages of working from home is that coworkers lose the personal interaction and face to face discussions that make us feel connected as a team. 

To this I say, hogwash.

Nothing makes me bottle up my thoughts on a discussion like sitting in a room with people staring at each other or stopping into my desk space to talk.  I’m an introvert.  The former feels like an interrogation.  The latter feels like an invasion of my personal space. 

Phone calls, webinars, teleconferences, emails and chat messages have improved my ability to open up and contribute to the team.  I can plan ahead for a phone meeting because I have agendas or topics in the invites.  When the leader of the call asks for a report or questions each of us by name, I have my information ready to go, my questions at hand, and a computer to reference if I need it.  If I am writing emails or chatting, I can backspace and edit the message until it sounds just right.  When I instruct with webinars, I never feel the eyes burning a hole through me. 

But there is one aspect of working from home that frightens me.  The Webcam. 

That little lens pointed right at a close up of your face, shown always either in over or under exposed lighting, is just not enjoyable.  Having one trained on me for an hour long meeting is downright torture.  And then there are the background distractions.  Kids, pets, the doorbell, having to get up and grab a bottle of water for your parched throat, or wondering about a person's taste in decor based on the movie poster behind their back are just not apropos. 

Fortunately, the rest of my team seems to avoid the webcam as well.  We all have them, we all are quite capable of using them, but we never, ever mention turning them on.  We know what we all look like.  We even know each other’s voices.  I’d rather they hear my voice and picture me mentally in a jacket and blouse, or a business casual sweater.  Because I am sure I wouldn’t put across a professional message if they saw my puppy pushing her toys in my lap midway through a demonstration ;)

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek College Humor video on working from home with webcams.  Enjoy!