On many of the videoconferences now a daily feature of secure-in-place work, participants elect whether to turn on their camera.
Why chose to be seen?
It’s well known, although not widely operationalized, that communication between people is dependent on multisensory exchanges. Beyond word selection, vocal tone, cadence (including the use of silence), facial expression, visual connection, and discerned degree of distractedness accrue to reinforce, or to erode, the strength of the dialog.
Communication is a craft. Why would a craftsman elect to turn out an inferior product by omitting some of the resources at his disposal? Instead, chose to further improve the quality of communication using as much of the spectrum available.
Measures of success in communication include:
How broad an exploration of options was made?
How comprehensive was involvement by those involved in the conversation?
How succinct was the prelude to effective decision-making?
How little follow-up is needed to clarify action items?
How well positioned was the team to move forward following the conference?
This is a great list of questions to ask oneself BEFORE joining a web conference in order to set one’s expectations or to prime some effective behavior during the discussion.
It’s best to be seen as a contributor, as a catalyst, as an owner of key take-aways, as an active participant. Use all the tools in the toolbox. Be seen. (for moving static information, email or text messages are very effective).
