Microsoft Teams

Hi there,

Is anyone finding this system for group meetings stressful? I am finding it so taxing ....all the faces looking at me, my manager says that I have to have the camera on, lots of noises, clunkiness, it's making me start to dread it!

  • Put on captions and explain that special arrangements have to be made so you can have your camera off

  • MS Teams has a ‘raise hand’ facility.  I use that in a team meeting and need to speak.  Less chance then of talking over people.

  • My company use another video platform but the premise is the same. 

    I keep my camera turned off for the vast majority of meetings, only turn it on if it is a small or 1:1 meeting when I need to talk. I hate seeing myself so much its so horrible - I can only focus on how awful my skin/hair/face/fat is. 

    For me I also really struggle to know when is the right time to talk? So I find I accidentally interrupt people or cut across people all the time. It's really awkward. I don't mean to seem rude.

  • Also, suggest using mute when not speaking to reduce background noises.

    Teams has built in noise cancellation now - at least on the Windows platform (not sure about Mac) so this should be less of an issue these days.

    The point of Teams for most managers is to see their team are all following the same rules and can be checked up on - kind of a "are you a good little soldier lined up and looking like all the others". The actual meeting is rarely necessary from what I see and more of a way to make the team feel more uniform to encourage people to act the same.

    They are so much better than the meetings in person though - maybe think on that and realise this is a breeze by comparison and it may help.

    At least with a Teams meeting, people cannot tell you have no trousers / skirt on... Slight smile

  • Hey! Don't worry; you're not alone in feeling this way. Virtual meetings can indeed be overwhelming, especially with everyone's camera on. It's okay to find it stressful.
    You can try talking to your manager about your concerns to make it easier. They could be more flexible with the camera-on policy. Also, suggest using mute when not speaking to reduce background noises.

  • It's natural to feel stressed with all those faces and noises. Maybe talk to your manager about the camera-on policy; they might understand.

  • I hate it! I refuse to have the camera on.