Camera Politics in the Virtual Office

As the corporate world went virtual, one element I was not prepared for was the increased pressure to be on camera. There are times when I am mentally and emotionally prepared to be "on" and other times when I just don't want to be bothered.

"Everyone is dressing casually," has been the response when I use the excuse of my appearance for leaving my camera off. "Everyone" is not a Black woman with natural hair in a predominately white male industry under heightened scrutiny for the content of their work and their appearance. 

Make no mistake, as a junior to mid-career professional in a virtual corporate world, camera-time is important and vital to career development and relationship building. However, pre-quarantine, the majority of these video calls would have been telephone calls. In-person meetings were a rarity even when I was in the office 5 days per week. 

Below are a few tips for surviving "camera culture":

1. Set boundaries for camera calls. I choose not to have calls on camera before 10am or after 5pm. Set boundaries that work for you.

Professionalism during Personal Grief

Five. Between February and August of last year, I lost five loved ones. 

These losses took a lot out of me mentally and emotionally. Here is how I managed working through grief:

I did not manage well. I missed deadlines, I was delayed in responding to emails, and I down right ignored emails. 

Steps I took to get back on track:

1. I let my team know that I had experienced these losses and I would continue to do my best under the circumstances. Being too private about personal matters that may affect your performance can be a detriment to your success. I've seen some career advice that says "never let them see you cry" or "never let them see you sweat." If you set unrealistic expectations to your emotional responses to grief, your colleagues will set unrealistic expectations of you. These shared moments of humanity can foster confidence among the team and take some of the pressure off of you. 

2. I forgave myself for the mistakes. Mistakes happen even we are at our best. They are bound to happen when we are at our worst. If you do make mistakes, forgive yourself, then notify the impacted parties and correct them as quickly as possible.