The significance of cameras kept off at online meetings
PremiumHumans are territorial creatures given to home domain control and assertions of work liberty
A peculiar trend in behaviour is being observed among employees who work from their homes. Most of them refuse to switch on their cameras during online meetings. In pre-covid days, these were the very employees who would have had no problem in trouping into an office conference for a face-to-face meeting. Companies offering video-conferencing services have recently added several features to help improve online interactions among participants. It is now much easier to upload a presentation, ask a question, put forth a point of view and even applaud. But there is no evidence that camera usage, a salient feature of virtual meetings, has increased. Why are employees so reluctant to switch on cameras and be seen while working from home? What does this behaviour portend?
With an overwhelming share of the human brain’s processing capacity assigned to the intake of visual stimuli, switching to video mode can add significant improvements to the quality of interactions. A study by Frank R. Castelli and Mark A. Sarvary of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, have interesting insights for the corporate world. They studied why students do not turn on their video cameras during online classes. In that study, the majority of students agreed that with their cameras on during online classes, they developed a better sense of identification with classmates and it helped construct a “more complete picture" of their peers. The students without video on reported lack of non-verbal communication with their classmates and this “reduced their educational experience". In the same study, teachers reported lower satisfaction levels with their teaching experience because they had a feeling of “talking to yourself" when students did not have their cameras on.
With the corporate world moving towards more flexible work schedules, work-from-home and online meetings are bound to be an integral part of our new work style. If we don’t manage to get participants in online interactions to switch on their cameras, the quality of the exercise is bound to be less than satisfactory. Most often, the reason given for not switching on video is that “my internet connectivity is poor". This just sounds like an excuse to cover up a more insidious barrier. With the very efficiency online interactions under question, it is imperative that one understands the deeper reasons that may prompt individuals not to switch on cameras during online meetings.
Ethology, the study of animals in their natural habitats, sheds light on how animals interact with each other and their environments. Territoriality, by which an animal lays claim to and defends an area against other species (and occasionally members of their own species too), is a significant aspect that affects the behaviour of almost all living beings. Robert Ardrey, an anthropologist, proposed the notion of human territorial aggression in his book, The Territorial Imperative: A Personal Inquiry into the Animal Origins of Property and Nations. In this revolutionary book, Ardrey argued that the territorial instincts of animals apply equally to humankind.
Humans, like other animals, are compelled by instinct to possess and defend territory that they believe belongs exclusively to them. Like any other animal, humans consider their homes to be their natural habitat. It is the territory that they are most comfortable in. The norms, the dress and the very identity that humans have in their home territory is very distinct. The office was always a territory that belonged to someone else. So the norms, attire and identity that a human donned in the office environment was quite different from those at home.
Until the pandemic, one’s home identity remained very personal and it was never really exposed to the outside world. But today, when cameras are switched on during online meetings, one’s home and home identity are exposed to others, including people one does not know very well. So the camera is an intrusion into one’s personal territory. Switching it off is thus an instinctive reaction to prevent an intrusion into one’s personal territory. It also points to the precedence of one’s home identity over work identity when the individual is working from home.
By switching off the camera, the individual is also providing some pointers about the future of employment relationships. Today, for most individuals, employment in the formal sector is a monogamous relationship. An employee usually does not share talents and time with multiple employers simultaneously. The main reason this single-employer loyalty existed was that work was being done in a place owned by the employer. But as individuals work more and more in their personal territory, they will start taking even more personal ownership of their talents and time. People will become more confident in decisions on how and to whom their talents and time should be distributed. While working in their own territory, individuals might be more inclined to share their talents and time with many others who seek it. The switched- off camera is just a reminder to everyone of who the real boss is when one is working from one’s own territory.
In England, before the Great Plague of the 17th century, around half its population was legally tied to a single local landlord in serfdom. But after that pandemic, these workers broke free of that yoke. Similarly, the work-from-one’s-own territory trend that the covid pandemic has set off will empower individual employees to assert themselves even more. The switched-off camera is just an indication of many more things to come.
Biju Dominic is the chief evangelist, Fractal Analytics and chairman, FinalMile Consulting
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