We don't require video but it's the norm with most of the groups I communicate with--especially with smaller calls. If I'm on a large group call that I'm sort of half paying attention to in case there's something I should know about, I'll just turn my webcam off. But for calls I'm actively participating in, it is more engaging if people are on video. I'm not sure why we'd want to have less engagement especially at a time when there aren't F2F meetings.
(And, yes, it does force you to be a bit more present than an audio call does. But that's sort of the point.)
> I'm not sure why we'd want to have less engagement especially at a time when there aren't F2F meetings.
More engagement doesn't necessarily translate into more value.
For example, I can focus more on the task at hand if I’m not having to worry about everyone judging my video feed. Do you need to see me if I’m still adequately communicating? Cognitive load is a thing.
Personally, I'm not convinced things would be any better if I were on audio calls all day--although it would let me tune out more. But, at that point, maybe I just shouldn't be in those meetings if I'm just treating them as background noise.
I admit that I'm more accustomed to the video chat thing than many. I work for a heavily remote global company and I'm very rarely in an office (even though I'm officially associated with one).
At my place of work, I’m audio only 90% of the time, except for “social meetings”. It’s actually great fun to be able to walk around, tend to my plants, or do dishes while listening to or talking through a problem. I think if I had video on in these meetings, I would always be out of frame, and would make people feel ignored!
For me, keeping my hands engaged helps me follow conversations much better. If I’m at my laptop with the camera on, I personally find the urge to write or read (both of which are linguistically distracting) too strong.
My coworkers all know this about me and are totally on board with it. Maybe we’re not corporate enough for it to be a problem? :)
That's fair and I probably used to walk around more with a Bluetooth headset during calls when slides weren't involved. Being on video has probably become more normalized the past few years. I still do it sometimes but not as consistently.
(And, yes, it does force you to be a bit more present than an audio call does. But that's sort of the point.)