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Though globally remote is worse. You're expected to be able to jump on cam at all hours I think that's the price you pay for being globally remote. We have som

Though globally remote is worse. You're expected to be able to jump on cam at all hours I think that's the price you pay for being globally remote. We have some overseas support staff, and they knew before they took the job when they'd need to be expected to dial-in for team meetings, and they all seem to be fine with it.

cableshaft 8y ago
You can 'dial in' without a webcam. We do it all the time at my job, which went fully remote six months ago. Half the people in our various Webex meetings use their phones to dial in, even. My boss originally wanted people to use their webcam when joining those meetings when we first went fully remote. That initiative lasted about two weeks before no one did it anymore, including him. I just wear a headset, and half the time I can leave it on mute anyway (especially if the puppy decides now is the time to chew on her squeakiest toy, or bark at some people running down the path beyond our back yard).
- Johnny555 8y ago
  Is the video the real issue with dialing in at all-hours, or is it the "all-hours" part?
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Yes.
- learc83 8y ago
  Is the webcam a west coast thing? I work remotely for a NYC based company, and in the hundreds of meetings I've had both internally and with people from other companies, not once has someone turned on a webcam (or requested it).
  - taurath 8y ago
    It’s a tech vs non tech thing. Everyone in older companies tend to be used to communicating by phone.
  - Aeolun 8y ago
    I don’t know. Without a webcam I am missing about 100% of all your nonverbal communication. I can see why one would be handy. Is it really that hard to put on a shirt for your meetings?
    - stronglikedan 8y ago
      > missing...nonverbal communication Screen sharing?
      - GrinningFool 8y ago
        I don't think that was the non-verbal communication he was referring to.
        stronglikedan 8y ago
        I was hoping it wasn't body language, because that's more of a detriment to the meeting, since it's completely subjective. We have an exec that constantly interrupts meetings to ask people about their body language, but the bad part is that he's almost always interpreted it incorrectly, and he proceeds to make mountains out of molehills and waste everyone's time (often while making people extremely uncomfortable). Unless it's a sales presentation where a professional salesperson needs to "read the room", we're better off without cams.
  - matwood 8y ago
    We are east coast and always use webcams. I find it really helps communication. If the goal is to match the level of communication of being local, then webcams are a must.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      East coast company. Turning on webcams is pretty common but by no means universal. It's more common in smaller meetings.
- nsxwolf 8y ago
  We do cams on Thursday stand ups only, just as a team building sort of thing. Voice or Slack all other times.
- distant_hat 8y ago
  At my company, we have global meetings daily and not once has anyone turned on the cam. We use Bluejeans and it seems to start with the cam on, but I guess everyone remembers to cut it off before joining.
  - aquaticsunset 8y ago
    IIRC, the Bluejeans app remembers your last used setting for video / mic.
- StavrosK 8y ago
  In my remote job we do cam, but everyone wears whatever and nobody minds. Many people are in their pyjamas, I wear whatever old T-shirt I have, etc. That's one way of solving that problem. However, in my previous company every remote developer had a Polycom phone in their home office and the main office ran a PBX for them. I found that an order of magnitude better, because the phones had much much better sound quality, they were physically on the desk so there was a feeling of "this device connects me to my coworkers" associated with them, and they just lowered the barrier of calling someone by a ton. They were so good, that we'd routinely just call each other up and keep a line open while we worked, so we could chat about work, what we were doing or just generally about our lives, and we really felt like we were sitting next to each other in a way that Zoom doesn't.
  - jonaswouters 8y ago
    The physical phone thing is also my best experience while working remotely. Like you said we would call each other up and leave the line open for hours. We never used a camera, but I went to the office at least once every other week. I still miss the phone on my desk, and I've been considering to buy one for years, as a gate with an asterisk multiple choice menu in between :)

cableshaft 8y ago

You can 'dial in' without a webcam. We do it all the time at my job, which went fully remote six months ago. Half the people in our various Webex meetings use their phones to dial in, even. My boss originally wanted people to use their webcam when joining those meetings when we first went fully remote. That initiative lasted about two weeks before no one did it anymore, including him. I just wear a headset, and half the time I can leave it on mute anyway (especially if the puppy decides now is the time to chew on her squeakiest toy, or bark at some people running down the path beyond our back yard).

Johnny555 8y ago
Is the video the real issue with dialing in at all-hours, or is it the "all-hours" part?
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Yes.
learc83 8y ago
Is the webcam a west coast thing? I work remotely for a NYC based company, and in the hundreds of meetings I've had both internally and with people from other companies, not once has someone turned on a webcam (or requested it).
- taurath 8y ago
  It’s a tech vs non tech thing. Everyone in older companies tend to be used to communicating by phone.
- Aeolun 8y ago
  I don’t know. Without a webcam I am missing about 100% of all your nonverbal communication. I can see why one would be handy. Is it really that hard to put on a shirt for your meetings?
  - stronglikedan 8y ago
    > missing...nonverbal communication Screen sharing?
    - GrinningFool 8y ago
      I don't think that was the non-verbal communication he was referring to.
      - stronglikedan 8y ago
        I was hoping it wasn't body language, because that's more of a detriment to the meeting, since it's completely subjective. We have an exec that constantly interrupts meetings to ask people about their body language, but the bad part is that he's almost always interpreted it incorrectly, and he proceeds to make mountains out of molehills and waste everyone's time (often while making people extremely uncomfortable). Unless it's a sales presentation where a professional salesperson needs to "read the room", we're better off without cams.
- matwood 8y ago
  We are east coast and always use webcams. I find it really helps communication. If the goal is to match the level of communication of being local, then webcams are a must.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    East coast company. Turning on webcams is pretty common but by no means universal. It's more common in smaller meetings.
nsxwolf 8y ago
We do cams on Thursday stand ups only, just as a team building sort of thing. Voice or Slack all other times.
distant_hat 8y ago
At my company, we have global meetings daily and not once has anyone turned on the cam. We use Bluejeans and it seems to start with the cam on, but I guess everyone remembers to cut it off before joining.
- aquaticsunset 8y ago
  IIRC, the Bluejeans app remembers your last used setting for video / mic.
StavrosK 8y ago
In my remote job we do cam, but everyone wears whatever and nobody minds. Many people are in their pyjamas, I wear whatever old T-shirt I have, etc. That's one way of solving that problem. However, in my previous company every remote developer had a Polycom phone in their home office and the main office ran a PBX for them. I found that an order of magnitude better, because the phones had much much better sound quality, they were physically on the desk so there was a feeling of "this device connects me to my coworkers" associated with them, and they just lowered the barrier of calling someone by a ton. They were so good, that we'd routinely just call each other up and keep a line open while we worked, so we could chat about work, what we were doing or just generally about our lives, and we really felt like we were sitting next to each other in a way that Zoom doesn't.
- jonaswouters 8y ago
  The physical phone thing is also my best experience while working remotely. Like you said we would call each other up and leave the line open for hours. We never used a camera, but I went to the office at least once every other week. I still miss the phone on my desk, and I've been considering to buy one for years, as a gate with an asterisk multiple choice menu in between :)