'Your camera is off' – Here’s why it shouldn’t be

With the entry of hybrid work in recent years, the rules of professionalism have changed.

Online meetings have replaced business attire and handshakes with digital competence and virtual “How are you?” check-ins. But online meetings haven’t thrown the meaning of professionalism completely out the window, even if pants became optional. It turns out that turning video on plays a role in how professional we appear during online meetings, but where you are in your career might also impact when — and whether — you turn on video. So, if you’re wondering how your colleagues might be perceiving you based on your video habits, let’s explore this a little more.

In times of flexible work, we’ve all become more reliant on technology to enable the coffee chats, meetings, creative workshops, and brainstorms that take place in the office. Even if we’re back in the office, almost every meeting involves some remote attendees. When interacting online, we cannot read beyond what’s being said and are perhaps mostly aware of our appearance, looking at ourselves in that little frame. And rightly so, with 58% working either fully remote or flexible, our professionalism online is more important than ever.

Jabra's newest hybrid work report reveals that employees joining an online meeting with video are taken more seriously and seen as more engaged in the conversation. And with two-thirds of meetings being either fully online or hybrid, there’s a lot to gain from turning on your camera. When face-to-face in the office, we constantly give away body language and social cues that impact how our peers see us. And while we can’t (yet) replicate an in-person interaction through online meetings, turning on video can boost how we are perceived. Almost half of those we surveyed say that colleagues with video on seem more involved in meetings than those with video off. With a simple act of turning on your camera, you present yourself as a more active and engaged contributor — which I believe most of us want.

At the end of the day, a lot of people are uncomfortable turning video on all the time. It can be cognitively fatiguing, drive heightened self-awareness, and research shows that it impacts some more than others.

According to our research, this applies more to the younger generations than others. GenZ and millennials are not only those who most often feel left out in online meetings, but they’re also feeling the most pressure to use video. They are typically in the early stages of their career and equipped with less experience, when many of us know it can be intimidating to be seen and heard.

In general, the choice to turn the video on is highly influenced by the number of attendees in the meeting, one’s role in the meeting and who else is attending. Sitting in a small meeting, GenZ is more likely to turn on video because it will be noticeable if not doing it. Meanwhile, generations further into their career, GenX and boomers, either care less or are more relaxed — 37% and 47% of GenX and boomers, respectively, say that they never turn on their video. However, in a scenario where the boss or other superiors are joining the meeting, there’s an even likelihood across generations to turn on video.

In other words, while there are different drivers for using video in an online meeting, the younger generations suffer most from social pressure. It emphasizes that the stage of your career is influential in how you present yourself in meetings. This poses a challenge for building organizational trust if certain groups systematically feel uncomfortable or alienated. Especially because I believe, that employees share their best inputs when joining a meeting in a way that feels most comfortable for them – remote or in-person.

While turning on video can have a positive impact on your career and how others see you, there’s still some work to be done to ensure that each employee feels comfortable at the meeting – video or not. By considering clear guidelines for different meeting scenarios to try to ease the pressure felt to turn video on, business leaders can build a better meeting culture – and better meetings for all.