Hybrid office enforces a "camera on" rule for virtual meetings, it backfires and sparks a debate over workplace engagement: 'Everyone just stares at themselves'

Workers can be engaged with their jobs without looking their boss directly in the eyes. 

For some reason, C-level bosses and micromanagers have a weird fascination with seeing their employees' faces. Although a face-to-face interaction bolsters stronger connections and some level of social skills, oftentimes, it's not a necessary ingredient for workplace productivity. As a remote employee myself, I'd wager that my best work gets done when I don't see anyone all day. Although I enjoy the company of my coworkers, that's just the problem; we have fun, we chat, and I get distracted. See? Face-to-face connectivity doesn't always lead to greater company productivity. 

Alas, when this hybrid office decided to make it mandatory for all of their employees to have their cameras on during their weekly at-home meetings, at first, workers were peeved and felt slightly invaded. They already saw their coworkers all week; why do they have to invite their managers into their home on their antisocial day? Does that mean that when they're working from home, they have to change into a button-down shirt and a tie for their 45-minute meeting? What if the dog barks at the mailman during the meeting, or chaos ensues in the background of your webcam video? 

Many questions arose for this workforce when their bosses started mandating a "camera on" approach, but what was most prevalent in their "accountability simulating" order was that it actually stimulated their workers to question everything. Instead of fostering a face-to-face relation with one another, this awkward, mandatory order made everyone feel weird, resulting in both a decline in productivity and a brewing coup d'état-type reclamation of their camera-free ways. 

For most of these workers, who had never considered how they looked via webcam before, this mandate was the first of many peeves that led to an employee debate and a hopeful uprising in the ranks. Just because the bosses can't see their faces on camera doesn't mean that they're not actively listening. 

Most notably, if your workers are comfortably concealed in anonymity, they're paying attention to your work presentation instead of focusing on how the lighting is hitting their bald spot or how stupid their eyebrows look from this angle.