How Not to Humiliate Yourself During a Zoom Call

The flexibility of working from home comes with a lot of responsibility. While your job is unlikely to get very upset if you take the time to do your laundry, make a sandwich, or watch something funny on YouTube, it doesn’t give you carte blanche for what you might be doing after hours. working day.

This is especially true when you are stuck on a regular video meeting with your coworkers. It almost goes without saying, but now is probably not the time to play your favorite video game, movie or streaming service, masturbate , turn off your camera and take a quick nap, or anything else that could get you into hot water, there were others to figure out. , What do you do.

But if you have to and are afraid of exposing your laziness, there are several things you can do to protect yourself. Some of them will seem like common sense, but it seems that quarantine at least made some of us completely forget what it is, at least when we are stuck with another Zoom call.

Let’s say your webcam and microphone are always on.

It’s easy. Never trust software. If you are participating in a virtual meeting, assume you have your microphone and camera turned on. It doesn’t matter if they are not included. It doesn’t matter if you can clearly see that the sound is muted and the camera is off. You are Paul Atreides and this is a form of mental training.

If you always assume that everything you do or say can be experienced by others, you will not do stupid things like take off your clothes, openly scold your boss, share sensitive information with your closest partner, snore, etc. many. many other activities that you may not want your coworkers to see or hear. Paranoia is your friend here.

Look for the lights

On any modern laptop, there should be a small light next to the webcam that comes on when the webcam is in use. In theory, all of these types of installations are hardware driven; the software could not trigger the light, the application on your system could not turn off this light is off, leaving on the webcam.

It doesn’t matter if you take our first offer to heart. But if you ever forget or just don’t want to listen, you can at least look at your laptop to make sure your webcam is turned on or off. This doesn’t mean your microphone is on or off too – just your webcam. Note the presence or absence of this light and double check any software you are using to make sure your webcam is off before doing anything other than looking at the screen or nodding when someone – This expresses an opinion at the meeting.

Close your webcam

Apple disapproves of this advice , but I don’t care. Another great way to make sure no one sees you through your webcam is to cover it up. As before, this doesn’t mean that any sounds you make are muted – so yes, your coworkers can still hear you watching Avengers: Endgame instead of paying attention to your weekly check.

The harder you cover up your webcam when you don’t want to be seen, the better you will protect yourself from this, the incredibly rare occasion that you forget to turn off your webcam and do something that might get you caught. trouble. Cover the camera when you are not in an active presentation or do not want your face to be seen.

Know your angles

Even if you’re doing everything on the rise, know that your housemates, pets, family, friends, or a partner can pass in the background of your shot and do something you didn’t expect. They may not know that you are video chatting.

Basically, this is not their fault , because you have to make sure that your working setup does not lead to an unwanted catch of someone in the background. For example, if you work from home in your bedroom, perhaps don’t tilt your laptop so that it picks up your sleeping partner – or the partner who just stepped out of the adjoining bathroom after a shower. Such things.

Use a different device for personal belongings

If you absolutely have to do something else when you should otherwise be paying attention to a boring meeting – I feel like you are there – then don’t use your work laptop (or desktop) to do that . Whatever you use to “attend” a meeting, do not touch this device. Check three times to make sure your microphone and webcam are turned off, and then work on a separate device: your personal laptop, phone, Nintendo Switch, or the nearest book.

Why? Because 99 percent of the time, you’ll be fine on your work laptop until you’re called and accidentally shown the wrong window and not the presentation you wanted to show. Eliminate the possibility of an accident by using the work device for work only . It is so simple.

Don’t take off your clothes just because you are working from home.

Comfort is comfort, but how about we all agree that 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday (or whatever time you work) is a great time to stay on top. Just treat this day as if you were at work. I am not saying what clothes to wear; Work in your comfy jams, I don’t care. But while you are working, maybe agree not to take off your clothes until you officially finish the job. Then quit your video chat apps, restart your laptop or desktop, and be as free as your birthday. No one will judge you – and most importantly, your colleagues.

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