By now, most of us have experienced the ubiquitous and dreaded “Work Zoom Call.” When the Covid-19 shutdown first happened, many people had never even been on a teleconference call. There was quite a learning curve and so, so many questions.
“How do I position my computer so that the camera doesn’t shine right up my nose?” I learned far more about the health of my colleague’s tonsils than I ever wanted to.
“Can people see me when I walk around with my laptop?” YES and you are making us dizzy.
“Does anyone hear my dog barking in the background?” Yes, but strangely, we all find that to be charming. Or we don’t notice. Kind of like how we got immune to car alarms or cell phones ringing in public places. It’s just part of the audio fabric of our lives.
The worst thing that can happen on a Work Zoom Call is when we don’t realize that we are NOT muted and/or that are camera is NOT off. Once we discover our error in either regard, the best we can hope for it that:
a.) We didn’t say anything disparaging about our boss and
b.) We were fully clothed.
I don’t think these Work Zoom Calls are going anywhere soon, so I guess we have to get used to it. We’ll just have to make sure to pad the bookcases behind us with intellectual tomes we claim we have read instead of “50 Shades of Grey.”