11
votes
What is your etiquette for starting a video call?
How long do you stare at yourself before you look away or do something else?
e: I specifically mean for personal calls. To give an example, let's say you initiate video call on your phone.
Camera & mic off until the other party joins.
Hundred percent agree with this! Also I join like 5-10 min early, start doing something else, then briefly panic when I hear someone start talking at me though my PC.
Thank you! I assume that's for work and not personal? I edited my initial post to reflect that.
Yeah, for work. I don't really make personal video calls that often. When I do, they're Facetime calls, so I'm not sitting in front of a PC for 5 minutes. If they don't answer in a few rings I'm hanging up.
I keep a physical cover on my webcam and use a headset that has a physical mute button in addition to setting my video apps to keep camera/mic off by default. Every once in a while, Zoom/Slack/Discord decides to reset an option and this gives me extra peace of mind.
I’ve never had an etiquette for FaceTime calls. My FaceTime calls are to family and friends. So I will be on the call brushing my teeth, in the shower, getting a haircut or some other random shit. I feel like if you’re close enough to FaceTime me, then you’re close enough to see the real me.
You call people while you're getting a haircut? That seems rude to the barber.
No they call me. I would never initiate a call while I’m busy but I do answer.
If this is a work meeting I organized, I start by giving a brief outline of the meeting agenda, and how I will be moderating the call. For example, if it's a group of around 4 or more people, I moderate the discussion by asking a question and then calling each person to speak. I want to make sure each person has a chance to speak, no single person dominates the discussion, and also we're not wasting time awkwardly waiting/deciding who's going to speak next. I will also offer to moderate this way sometimes for social Zoom calls, like if it's a catch-up chat with friends and we all want to make sure each person has a chance to share.
The etiquette is very similar to answering the door, the only difference is if you're not wearing pants they don't look at you funny.
Turning on your camera/mic = opening the door. So would you hang around the door or do something else until your guest shows up? :)
Honestly? Generally, it's still: "can you hear me?" "I can't hear you".
Video conferencing still sucks. Every external partner using boutique vc apps with outrageous port exception requirements doesn't help.
Honestly haven’t had to do it much since I came back from remote, but generally I would try to message the person beforehand to check if they were ready for me. I personally feel extra frazzled when I get those kinds of calls so I try to make sure the person I am talking to doesn’t have to feel that way.
I never initiate a personal call with video turned on. I start the conversation, and turn the camera on only when there's reason to.
For video meetings, it's quite different. I show up early, turn the camera on, and move the frame to one of my side monitors. When other people join, I make a point of engaging in small talk until the meeting is ready to start.
I'll usually text/email someone before initiating a call to make sure that they're actually ok with having a call.
Once the call starts I'll typically turn my camera on because many of the folks I talk to I've never met in person. In my experience I get more traction asking for things when they can see my face as I ask.