It’s Official, I Can’t Do Business ‘Anywhere’
Why the grace period for casually connecting on Zoom is over (but that doesn’t mean we all need to go back to an office)
Since spring 2020, I’ve had one constant in my life: 4:30 p.m. is puppy pee-pee time. I don’t know why we settled on that time of day for a walk, but every day since I first adopted Pearl, it’s go-time.
In the beginning of the pandemic, when we were all still figuring out how to do this “work-from-home” business, I would routinely join phone meetings while walking the dog. I was usually on mute, but most often my colleagues would hear me try to discipline my dog and keep her focus on leash. “Leave it,” was a constant refrain.
It’s still not unusual to take work calls while doing other things. I’ve listened in on very important updates while unloading the dishwasher. It’s one of the many early joys I experienced working from home. But that’s when this was supposed to be a temporary fix. A quick solution rooted in “how we’re doing this now”, while hinting that we’ll get back to normal soon.
Yes, we have the technology to join remote meetings for wherever, using whatever device has wifi, a microphone and a camera. But that doesn’t mean I feel my most professional self from just anywhere. Sure, I can turn off my video and be a profile pic smiling on a screen. But that pales in comparison to being a moving, breathing, reacting face conducting business.
There are still so many advantages to working from home. The only downside is how much extra work is involved to show your presence and be engaged with either co-workers or clients. Once I put the effort into setting up a professional-looking background, this space became my armour. I feel like an authoritative presence onscreen. I’m framed like an anchor. I have cheap and cheerful decor behind me. I have the good lighting only a large bay window can provide.
So when a recent client meeting needed to move to 4:30 p.m., I was instantly filled with regret. Luckily, I was only the connective tissue of the call and not a key player. My client wanted to update her at-home studio background so I arranged a consultation with a set designer friend of mine. Decorating for TV is not the same as decorating for the sake of having a nice house. I wanted a professional set of eyes.
The designer needed a later meeting time so she could be home with more reliable Internet access. I agreed to the later start time, but also informed everyone involved that I might have to pop off to take the dog out (which I did and promptly got kicked off Zoom as soon as I got on the elevator. Needless to say, the dog was under a lot of pressure to pee quickly so I could go back upstairs and rejoin the meeting from my usual spot).
Everyone was accommodating and brushed off these inconveniences as “well, this is how we’re doing business right now.” But even as my designer friend got caught up in traffic and had to join the call from a parking lot, and I attempted to stay on the call while walking the dog, neither of us felt like we were paying the proper respect to the task at hand.
I’m so lucky the three of us have actually been working together for years and this is just a new way for us to work together again. But if this were a new client, someone who only knows me from consulting? I wouldn’t be surprised if I got fired on the spot.
A good video call setup is to the 2020’s what the power suit was to business women in the 1980’s. As soon as I tried to conduct business outside of this setting, I felt less and less professional.
For many of us, remote working is no longer temporary. We have to find a way to feel professional from our non-office spaces. I’ve carved out my professional niche in a corner of my condo. And now I know for sure it’s the only place I want to do face-to-face business.
And it has to wrap before 4:30 p.m.
