Sweatpants under the desk: not always a good idea
Image: dpa
Under the desk in jogging pants, chewing in front of the screen with full cheeks or even forgetting to turn off the sound while going to the toilet in an online meeting. That’s not how it works! A little digital etiquette.
Clemens Graf von Hoyos sounds amused when asked about his most underground experience during a video conference. The woman he was talking to had temporarily moved to the not-so-quiet place, apparently placed the mobile phone on the mirror shelf and left the sound on. The background noise was clear. The chairman of the German Knigge Society laughs loudly when he remembers the rushing sound of the flush. Of course, that’s an extreme example, but he’s still surprised that people still have trouble with digital conferences after more than two years of experience. It is easy to make a respectable figure online. Von Hoyos has written a guide on “etiquette in video conferences and video calls” for his Knigge Academy.
Clarification is obviously necessary, agrees Imme Vogelsang. “Some people feel that just because a meeting is happening on the monitor, you can behave very strangely. They are late, leave in the middle, talk to others in between. They see that as less binding. I’m amazed by that.” What surprises the Hamburg expert on good behavior the most? “That some, like students in some lectures, start chewing, drink from the most incredible containers, from stupid office mugs with Bernd the Bread imprint or neon-colored thermos flasks on their necks.” She says, slightly amused: “Run-chewing faces open 24-inch screens, that’s unbelievable. Nobody looks elegant in any way when they chew, and then it’s so big. People don’t think about it.”
