Experts explain how to know what remote work etiquette is appropriate.
Peopleâs ideas of work-appropriateness may have shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic began and more people have been working remotely and interacting through Zoom and other work communication platforms. Drawing the line between appropriately casual and too informal may be difficult, in both appearance and behavior.
How casual is too casual? Is it okay to show up on Zoom after a run, in running clothes and dripping with sweat?
For attire, pajamas may be where employers and workers draw the line. In a of U.S. workers working remotely, conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 17% said they wore PJs as their usual work attire, and about 7% do even when theyâre on a video call. Sixty percent said they wore casual or athletic wear such as sweatshirts as their daily attire, but only 34% did for video calls.
When deciding whatâs appropriate, context is key. âThink about how youâre coming across,â including the nature of the call and what peopleâs expectations are, Valerie Frederickson, founder and CEO of , told The Org.
For a regular meeting with people you work with closely, it might be fine to show up with bedhead and your dog in your lap. But for a client meeting or presentation, you might want to dial up the professionalism.
If youâre responsible for influencing others in a meeting, you might want to shift into a different mode, said Jessica Gilmartin, head of revenue marketing at Asana. âFor me, at least, it helps to be in a different space. I like to dress upâit helps to be in professional attire, because that sort of helps me interact with others in a different way.â
But that doesnât mean you have to don a suit. âIâll put a nice scarf on, and maybe a power necklace and some lipstick,â Frederickson said. âFor guys, that could be putting on an unwrinkled shirtâmaybe even a shirt with a collar.â
Also consider your background on a video call. In a Harvard Business Review , most respondents said theyâd rather see the actual room youâre in than a virtual background. But sometimes the actual room can be distracting.
In Fredericksonâs executive search work, she has had to tell people that the room theyâre Zooming from is so ugly or unkempt that it reflects badly on them. âItâs tough for people to think about that,â she said. But at the other extreme, Frederickson said she does Zooms with billionaires in their oceanfront mansions with the waves lapping behind them, and that can also be too distracting.
One CEO Frederickson worked with had an ideal Zoom setup: a charcoal-gray wall, a nice plant on a table and some artwork. But he explained that it wasnât the ideal room: it was his garage. A media consultant had transformed one spot in his typical-looking garage by painting a patch of the wall and getting him a modern desk and a good lamp. âThe CEO told me very proudly that he went to Target and picked up the fake plant for 10 dollars,â she recalled.
Of course, not everyone can set up a workspace in a garage, but it shows that a little adjustment can go a long way. âGood lighting is super important,â Frederickson said. âBuy a $25 ring light and set it up somewhere.â A tripod can also be helpful, to place the camera slightly above you, which is most flattering, she said.
If you have to Zoom from your bedroom, try to place the camera so that the focus isnât your bedâso that the bed is directly behind you and partially obscured, or you have some artwork on the wall that gives people something else to look at, Frederickson advised.
If the room youâre in isnât good, sometimes fake backgrounds are your best bet. But ones that make it look like youâre perched on the edge of a precipice might be unnerving or distracting. You also want to avoid using the same one everybody else is using. âIâve been on calls where thereâs been two or three people using the same Golden Gate Bridge background,â Frederickson said.
Beyond appearance, sometimes on-camera behavior might veer into being too casual. Itâs hard to know whatâs appropriate, because people on the receiving end can be unforgiving, Frederickson said. If it were up to her, âI would say that it was OK for everybody to eat during Zooms as long as they chew with their mouths closed.â But she remembers a Zoom with people who âpulled out the largest salads Iâve ever seen and spent the whole time just shoving salad in their mouths and chomping, and they somehow thought that they could do that and multitask and answer questions.â
If youâre going to eat, try to choose something that you can eat more discreetly, and consider mentioning it. If you say, âSorry, if you donât mind, Iâm going to be eating my lunch during this call. I just havenât had time,â people are likely to say itâs no problem, Frederickson said.
The same goes for other intrusions, which may be unavoidable. Some people are Zooming from a laundry room or a kidâs bedroom, or with kids and pets running through, âand I know people get really stressed about that and really embarrassed about it,â said Gilmartin. So she tries to normalize these distractions. âI make sure to say, âHey, I see youâre with your kid, Iâd love to say hi,ââ she said. âI think thatâs really important as a manager to show empathy for the people that you work with that are in really difficult situations at home.â
Timeliness can be an issue on Zoom, said Mary Elizabeth Elkordy, president and founder of . In an office, you might factor in time for people to get from room to room. âBut for me, I think thereâs less of a grace period with remote work for being late,â she said. âI also find that with remote work, people are stacking their calls more.â So she tries to schedule calls for either 25 or 55 minutes so one call doesnât overlap with the next.
If you need to set boundaries for Zoom, Gilmartin says, âWhat Iâve learned over time is that the best way to have your team really embrace the norms and embrace the rules is to create them together.â Overall, she added, âI believe the onus is on leadership and people managers to model the behaviors and set an example for their teams to follow.â
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