Uncut microphone, indecent outfit ... The pearls of videoconferences

Video conferences have their share of unexpected events -

• With widespread teleworking, there is a strong comeback of videoconferences with colleagues or group calls via Teams, Zoom, Google meet, Skype, etc.

• The opportunity to reveal the little blunders of colleagues, the road trips that we made ourselves out of inattention.

  And that our readers tell us.

New confinement is forcing the return of videoconferences with colleagues and group calls via Teams, Zoom, Google meet, Skype… Excellent ways to maintain a link with your team, organize teleworking and stay motivated.

But these communication tools carry the risk of losing some of your self-esteem.

Because each of us has anecdotes collected since last March: the little blunders of colleagues, the trips that we made ourselves out of inattention and which will remain despite everything, comic memories of this gloomy period.

"I was not wearing anything down, except my underwear"

The first danger for any teleworker: the camera that is activated during a videoconference.

The problem is, when meetings last a long time, you end up forgetting to turn it off.

This is what happened to Evy, who answered our call for witnesses: “During a boring video, I take the guitar and start a pretty nice 

, bawling well as it should.

I just forgot to turn off the camera ”.

A moment of loneliness that Sarah experienced to the power of 1,000, after a meeting on Zoom: “I decided to go for a jog, taking advantage of the hour of freedom specific to confinement.

Alas, I forgot to close the Zoom app, I just minimized the screen.

A few of my colleagues attended my change of outfit to put on my leggings, my T-shirt and my jogging jacket ”.

And if in the office, the watchword is "correct dress required", in teleworking, it is rather "light dress appreciated".

Especially for Clément, a computer consultant who works remotely with a team from New Delhi: “During a call with an Indian colleague, when I had forgotten that the camera had been on for some time, I had the bad idea of ​​getting up to close the window when I was not wearing anything downstairs except my underwear.

It was only after I had finished the call that I realized it ”.

Not easy to come back in front of the camera after such a performance!

"My baby, who was on my knees, let out a huge fart"

And while in the office, we have the impression of controlling our image and what we want to reveal about our private life or not, with videoconferences, our relatives sometimes burst in… for the worse.

In this little game, the children are the strongest.

Julien can attest to this: "In a meeting at 8 am in the room converted into an office, my 10-year-old daughter opens the door without knocking and says:" Dad, the toilets are blocked ".

Shame !

Because it was understood, ”he blushes again.

Another scatological moment that Fanny would have gone well without: “My baby, who was on my knees, let out a huge fart while my microphone was open, and my colleagues thought it was me!

".

Potty training in a child is a big time in family life, but let's be honest, crowds aren't really interested in it.

And we clearly don't want to talk to our colleagues about it.

However, Estelle's husband shared in spite of himself these moments of family intimacy: “One morning, my husband was on a teleconference with his bosses.

And sweetie, so happy to take her first wee on the potty, opened the door and rushed into the living room shouting: "Daddy, wee pot, wee pot!".

Big moment of embarrassment for my husband ... Her bosses burst out laughing congratulating her.

"

Marjory, she felt her credibility slip away in front of 30 colleagues at once!

“Monday morning, it's a steering committee.

It's my turn, I display my figures proudly and I switch to "mute".

My adorable 2 year old son walks past me a few minutes later as I get back to work while listening to my conf call.

I said to him, with a gaga air: "And what is my blanket in the diaper?".

I felt a certain leveling off within the meeting.

My boss exclaimed, "I think this is your place, Marjory."

I stuttered a "uhhhh, sorry really sorry".

Many messages appeared on my screen: "So, what was in the diaper?"

".

"My cat comes to show his butt to the camera"

Sometimes it's the pets that cross the line.

“In the middle of a presentation where I was standing, my cat comes to show his posterior to the camera.

General hilarity, and zero credibility, ”says Alice.

Maud was confronted with the same feline prank: “At the start of the confinement, my cat did not understand that I was talking to myself in front of my computer.

He always came to see me.

During a Teams with my boss, the cat climbed on the desk and showed her butt, tail up to the camera.

Fortunately, my boss took it well and just said: "these are the vagaries of the live" ".

By dint of telecommuting, video meetings and whatnot can end up getting on your nerves.

And their participants too.

Unable to be able to criticize them in a low voice in the ear of a colleague, internal messaging acts as a receptacle.

With the obvious risk of a routing error, as Laurie experienced: "In the middle of a Skype meeting and presenting my screen, I wrote to my colleague speaking of another colleague present at the meeting:" You are going see she's going to break my heart again… "".

Everyone was able to take advantage of her pejorative comment, even the main one interested!

We're still someone's moron

Just as in this period when teleworking is almost generalized, online training is flourishing.

And trainers are not immune to a blunder.

Stéphane saw it live: “During a training session with 20 participants, the trainer showed his screen and did a search on his browser.

The last link typed in the address bar was a porn site.

Obviously, I am the only one to have noticed it.

And cut off my mic to laugh out loud.

"

Tasty anecdotes that push each of us to be more vigilant and lenient.

Because the one who laughs one day may become the target of the irony of others the next day ...

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