Video meetings – funnies & pet hates

Topic:

PSGS news

Date published:

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Author:

Jasmin Clark

Video calling really has saved us during the coronavirus pandemic. Without the use of platforms like Skype, Microsoft Teams and Zoom, I think it would be easy to lose all human interaction (or your marbles). It’s ensured we can still work as a team, hold pension trustee meetings and make client calls whilst seeing friendly faces and staying social with our colleagues, friends and family.

Although everyone has adapted well and technology has really been on our side, I do feel we should share a few funny video call experiences we’ve had or heard about.

Mixing work and children…

A client told us he assumed when the camera wasn’t showing him, he couldn’t be seen. In the mix of daddy day care and home working, he let his young daughter paint his face with lipstick to then make the unfortunate discovery he was in full webcam view looking very pink.

Speaking of make-up, isn’t it great not applying this every morning? At least until a video call rings and we opt for the camera off option. Actually, it is good to see us females getting more comfortable on camera being make-up less or with un-styled hair!

Curtis Mitchell decided to model the ultimate lockdown look - smart shirt on top, casual shorts below combo. Unfortunately, just as one of his video calls started, a delivery came to the door (perfect timing as always). In his haste to deal with them as quickly as possible, he forgot about the camera. The pensions manager on the other end of the call doesn’t have English as their first language, chuckled and said, “nice laundry!”

At least you had shorts on Curtis…

A colleague’s son attended a Skype meeting with 20 others early one morning. One of the participants thought his camera was off and contributed to the meeting whilst wandering around his bedroom completely naked. Yes, starkers!! With his speaker muted, he was totally unaware his colleagues were all shouting to him. Someone pressed print screen and the rest is history. The return to the office after lockdown may feel a little more daunting for that chap!

Pets (and pet hates)…

We have a lot of animal lovers in the PSGS team. It seems cats and dogs like video calls just as much as we do! Jill Durrant’s cat, Teddy, pops into our weekly team meeting every Monday and Wayne Phelan’s dog, George, likes to make his appearance. I think the best one yet has to be Chris Hayes’ cat being sick on his laptop when he was on a video call to take over a new pension scheme.

Here are some top tips to resolve the pet hates we’ve found with video calling so far:

1. Think about where the natural light is – you don’t want harsh light shining directly in your eyes, but you still want your face to be well lit otherwise you can’t be seen.
2. Mute yourself if you’re not speaking to reduce any background noise (like your kids shouting, “Alexa, play Blinding Lights by the Weekend” whilst they do their millionth TikTok dance).
3. Not every call needs to be a video call.
4. Let one person speak at a time, otherwise it’s whoever shouts the loudest! Use the raise hand function if you have it, or just raise your hand the old-fashioned way (provided you have video on, that is).
5. Warn your family you’re going to be on a video call – remember that great example of the nanny’s appearance on BBC news (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4f9AYRCZY)?

And one thing you should do - share the downright daft non-work things

We’ve been posting videos, photos and stories on Yammer and Microsoft Teams to share the stuff we normally chat about while making a cup of tea but can't if we're working from home and I’m really enjoying it. It reminds me of the office chit chat and really brings me back to normality!

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