Those are among the results of a survey on what Americans think is acceptable for video meetings, both personal and business. Some opinions are consistent: In the survey by YouGov, more than 70% of all respondents, regardless of age, considered playing music or a TV in the background of a video call to be unacceptable, along with vaping or smoking and having an alcoholic drink. Those are inappropriate for any type of meeting.
On the flip side, more than half of us think it's OK to leave the room during a call, have a pet sit on our lap or eat a snack during such a meeting – apparently never having sat through a Zoom or Teams meeting where a work colleague is snacking after neglecting to mute their microphone while they chew loudly.
Video calls – particularly professional video meetings – are common, which might have shocked the 2000 version of you. The explosion of such meetings for business purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic never slowed. In many work scenarios, video meetings are the default.
If you're on such a call with colleagues who are 30 or older and you're wearing pajamas, realize that statistically, the majority are irritated by you. If it's a bunch of 18- to 29-year-olds, the YouGov survey says that only 40% of them think it's wrong, likely because they're wearing pajamas while they eat avocado toast into an open microphone while somehow blaming you for their student debt.
Of the 22 behaviors included in the survey, the oldest respondents – those age 65 and older – were the most likely to think every type of questionable behavior was unacceptable, including turning off the camera (if they knew how) or wearing a hat (fedora? Now I'm stereotyping people who are barely older than me!).
Respondents who are 18 to 29 were the least critical of weird video-meeting behavior (the majority think it's OK to eat a meal, leave the room and even wear sunglasses on camera). Of course, young people are more forgiving and less bound by tradition. They grew up in a world where suits and ties were rare. They called adults by their first names when they were children. They've never lived in a world without the internet or cell phones.
Also, they've been making video calls far longer than the rest of us, so they've seen their friends in pajamas and eating meals and they've taken a call while wearing sunglasses indoors and realized it didn't ruin things.
How you handle video calls probably says something about you. If you're concerned about how others see you, you're likely to minimize questionable behavior. If you don't care or if you are under 30, you probably are fine with almost anything.
The takeaway? We all have personal rules for what's appropriate for a video call and many of us have workplace rules. But like everything, how we should behave on video is a moving target.
A moving target like the person who wanders around the room in their pajamas while eating on a video group call.
Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.
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