Heck, I know everyone doesn’t feel the way I do.
And I understand that. I just feel differently. I think it is okay to disagree on this.
And I do appreciate fully the ability to leverage virtual meetings.
At this point in my career, I do a lot of meetings now. There may be 10-15 people on them, and often, I am the only one actually showing my face on a camera. Everyone else has theirs shut off.
I show my face deliberately for a specific reason-because for me, I always regarded my ability to communicate effectively with people across the board as a personal strength.
I am one of those who believes in a handshake. In looking into someone’s eyes. In listening to their voice. In watching their facial expressions, and in doing that, judging if they understand the issue.
The totality of those things was my own strongest personal asset, not just for how I perceive people, but how they interpret and perceive me in the decision making and planning process.
My face is an open book. I have never been one to hide my feelings, humor, anger, frustration exasperation, all of those. They plainly show, and are evident to those around me to the point is a standing joke. Being a weak person in some areas, I often feel the temptation to be dishonest as much as any person, and I sometimes struggle as I try not to succumb to that temptation. But my face will betray me every time, so...it keeps me more honest.
My boss recently deliberately wanted me to keep my camera on in a sensitive meeting...he was joking, but he meant it.
This personal characteristic has been both a blessing and a curse my whole life, and at some point, I decided to leverage it as much as I can to make it a strength as strongly as I can, and accept the weakness as something to be dealt with.
The point is, this pandemic, this isolation, this working from home, this jumping onto virtual meetings with faceless people who often don’t even have a picture of themselves, they have a dog, or a plane, or...anything, in a fell swoop, took away one of the tools in my arsenal I depended on getting things done, and consigned it to the trash.
It was very difficult for me to overcome this, so I had to work at it. That is why I feel so strongly about it, apart from the simple fact of getting things done.
What I do can be done almost anywhere with a good internet connection.
Do I miss seeing some folks in the office? Yes.
But I don't miss all the woke posters about DIE at the office.
I miss having lunch with my old boss.
I don't miss a two hour commute or having to get up real early to avoid the commute. It just makes no sense to drive to sit at a desk when I can get up and go sit in my office at home and do the same thing.
But not all roll that way. I do appreciate the flexibility to WFH or go into the office.