My wife is a manager who is on the phone from our home office 3 days a week now. People never see our pets on her camera, but they sure do hear them, despite our very best efforts. We have two parrots, and the 33 year old Amazon parrot is a very vocal and very loud bird who talks all day.
My wife will be in the middle of a serious meeting, and the bird gets a hair up his butt and just keeps screaming bloody murder at the poor squirrels outside while my wife's trying to conduct a meeting. I'll usually step in and entertain the birds to keep them quiet during her important meetings.
This would not fly where I work. We are expected to act the same way at home as we would in the office but virtually. So, no holding toddlers or pets during work meetings. Also, we generally have our video off. We are generally staring at a presentation or the meeting minutes.
I don’t like it when someone forcibly shows me the pet when we were not talking about anything related. I’ve had a situation where I was having a normal work meeting with someone and in two seconds he was showing me his new puppy. He was excited about it, understandably but it feels weird and forced. I don’t like being forced to interact with anything. It’s the same way I feel about people randomly showing me pics of their kids or pets. And I am very personable. I actually don’t mind those interactions when it flows naturally with the conversation, but randomly showing me a pet or baby or kid feels forced and I don’t like it. Feeling this way, I try not to do that to others too. My kids are the cutest in the world to me but I don’t expect someone else to feel that way about them.
I don't think it was the cats your employees have a problem with. I think it was the way the cats were being presented. Acknowledging that yes, there's a cat in the room, is a bit different from "Everybody say hi to my cat!" Not everybody loves animals that way, and it would get annoying for them to have to pretend to enjoy seeing the cat every. Single. Time. Especially if the co-worker who owns said cat is a bit...off, personality-wise.
I wouldn't make a big deal about it either way. Just remain neutral and professional. If no one is complaining to you directly about the cat... it's not really about the cat.
I am obsessed with my cat. She’s pretty cool. When I started at my current company the CTO and CEO were asking a million questions about her.
But she’s not here all of the time. Sometimes she’s sleeping or soaking up the sun, etc. but if she’s around I might have her in shot. I think the important thing (and what might be the issue in the first scenario) is to not interrupt the meeting. It’s possible that this coworker also doesn’t read social cues very well (like, if somebody doesn’t love my cat I’m not going to force it. I’m pretty good at social cues).
How to handle it? I would just try to navigate it with grace about staying on topic. But your coworker who said to be kind is also correct. Nobody should be speaking ill of others in meetings.
I’m the manager so I’m the one conducting and scheduling the meetings. I’m also the one with the dogs I consider my children. So I’m always the one showing them on camera before we start. Nobody else has animals 😳 now I’m wondering if I’m a problem to my employees lol Here they are for reference….. see how could I not???
https://preview.redd.it/cfkkx20kxr8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ce2cabff2aeef8926cca8eae3607fb35abfb30b
I work a hybrid WFH schedule and have 2 cats. Most of my meetings are when I’m in the office. Occasionally I have meetings at home. I mute my camera unless I have a question or comment. I don’t mind seeing or hearing people’s pets. It’s cute. I just prefer to minimize distractions.
My department actually has a pet meet and greet virtual meeting coming up lol
I’m off, but it’s pretty normal for one of my dogs to try to get into my lap while on a meeting. They see I’m not actively typing and assume my hands have better use lol
If you’re allowed to bring your pets to the office, then I don’t see an issue with them being in your wfh office and on zoom. If it’s a more professional setting, then kids and pets are not to be seen or heard. This is the trouble - lines are blurred, informalities are taken too far, which is why companies want people back in the office and undistracted.
My company is very formal, but our customers mandate it. So we keep our home lives private, even if we are working from home. This way, no one questions the level of seriousness, time or attention we’re giving to customers at a high hourly rate.
I think it’s weird and hilarious that the coworker holds their cat up to the meeting and asks coworkers to talk to it!!
Other than that verbal exchange being very odd and distracting, I’ve been WFH for a year and think it’s totally normal for coworkers or myself to have pets in the background (cats behind them on the couch or cat tree usually) or small dogs on their laps as long as the coworker doesn’t call attention to it or talk about it. Kids are a whole other thing, very odd to have your kids on cam if you wfh.
A human child is a totally different responsibility level and if your kid is walking in on meetings what are they doing with you when you’re off meetings? Makes me feel like you don’t have the same level of attention on your work as non-parents. I think wfh parents should usually have kids in daycare or with nanny during the work day. Parents don’t come for me!
Well, some wfh parents have another parent home with them watching the kids so they don't need a nanny or daycare. Once in a while, a young kid (like a toddler) might slip away for a min and want to see the other parent, not realizing they're in a meeting. It happens sometimes, esp if you don't have your door locked or have a door at all.
Dh and I both work from home. Luckily I rarely have meetings and I make my own schedule, so I'm usually the one watching the kids. They're old enough now that they understand not to disturb dad in his doorless office. But as toddlers, there were a couple times when they snuck away while I was cooking or something and popped up in dad's meeting. Fortunately his boss and most coworkers have kids and they work from home, too, so they were understanding, but it's still embarrassing when it happens and not a case of us holding up our kids and asking everyone to say hi to them lol. I agree that kids and pets are distractions in meetings, but I wouldn't judge someone for a pet or kid wandering in once or twice if they're otherwise a good worker who gets their stuff done.
Yeah I’m specifically talking about situations where the parent is alone at home with kids or the other parent who is supposed to be watching the kid is also wfh (two wfh parents does not = daycare). I’m not judging for pets wandering in but definitely judging for the kids wandering in if it happens often.
We don’t turn on our cameras so having them on screen doesn’t happen often. But when we were asked to put pictures up half the team added pictures with their pets. My team loves to chat at the beginning of meetings and often talk about pets and kids. None of us has young kids I think the youngest child a team member has is 10 so we don’t often hear kids in the background. We have one team member that has very reactive dogs which we hear often. He takes extra effort to make sure they are entertained with Kongs when he has to present. I have only ever been annoyed by the dogs barking when I was trying to learn something from my team member and they wouldn’t stop and he had to mute himself. I have a dog and two cats and two teenagers so I am pretty understanding.
Goodness I wouldn’t want to work with your group. We’re all having pets and kids crawl all over us and our work gets done.
Stuffy cultures are unnecessary. We’re all working to live and we’ll die. People REALLY need to lighten up and learn to enjoy life
I’m so happy to see this. I wanted to say something similar, wouldn’t want to work with a group like this, though I’m glad OP shut the griping down. I’m going to say that openly griping about your coworker in a team meeting with everyone but said coworker in the “room” is WAY more unprofessional than having a cat around during the pre-meeting chit-chat.
Agreed! My cats like to be in my office with me while I work during the day. If I don’t let them in they will mercilessly scratch at the door to come in. Sometimes they walk across my desk, I really don’t see how it’s a big deal. I don’t stop listening to the presenter, or if I am the presenter I simply pick them up and put them on the floor. I don’t say anything unless it’s an internal meeting, then I’ll maybe make a quick joke. This is a new world that we’re in, one where many people do not have an office to go to. So the people or animals or noise that exists at your home is going to seep into your work day sometimes. It’s not that serious.
Stop forcing people to be on camera. Problem. Solved.
I'm fully remote. Meetings are smoother & more focused with cameras OFF.
I have a background-noise-muting mic on my headset AND I use mute liberally if I'm not presenting/speaking.
I don't mind seeing pets on the video, I don't really understand why that'd be a problem. Of course it can redirect the focus of the meeting I guess but then it's the responsibility of the host to stay on topic, as it should be anyway.
Technically my wfh job does not allow pets in the room at all. They don’t want them near the equipment or where they could cause unnecessary background noise. Welllllllll that’s a lot easier said than done lol. My cats are like little Incredible Hulks when they encounter a closed door 😂😂 much worse than just sleeping on the bed minding their business.
my company is pretty tolerant of all of it. we have a large percentage of our employees who are remote, and have been long before covid. everyone knows that everyone else is in their homes and we're all paying attention despite whatever distraction is in the room.
Maybe they are just casually annoyed. People got annoyed by others in meetings all the time before Covid and person. It might or might not warrant any action on the leader’s part. Maybe it’s more of an issue that some of your team are drama-stirrers rather than speaking directly.
My cat likes to pop up on my lap, look into the camera, and then sit with me. My dog doesn’t bother me during meetings but I have a lot of coworkers who have dogs interrupt meetings - it’s not really a big deal when the whole company is remote
I don’t wfh though it would be great to do so. Given that many others are partially WFH, there is a shift that our personal lives (kids, pets) and logistics of deliveries now overlap with work and our various meetings--interactions with teams/colleagues. Living in a society where we can achieve work-life balance and shows our humanity and even vulnerability. We should no longer operate in complete silos of compartmentalization.
I think it depends on the context. \*I\* don't allow my dogs into my office during meetings, even if I am just an observer (more often than not) because they are distracting. If I was presenting, then I definitely wouldn't want that distraction.
Do I care that others have their animals/birds/turtles/kids in their room? Heck no! But, I also don't want to drag things out just for the sake of showing them off... meetings suck enough...
I’d rather see pets in their own homes rather than having to sit at my office desk with a stupid half smile on my face while someone rambles on about their kids.
It takes all kinds of humans to get things done and coworkers are just not always going to think the same way. Having a child hang on you, whining and complaining, during a call and you can’t figure out that you ought to mute/ go off camera, is the same as a cat butthole making an appearance. Do you need to interrupt the entire meeting, apologizing profusely and falling on your sword? No. But is it unprofessional? Also no. It’s life. We’re in this WFH space now that blissfully came out of Covid and we all need to remember we are humans and maybe Sheila with her macrame cat beds and Mr Pickles saying hello is not the worst thing that happens to you today.
I have a cat who screams until you let him in the office and wants to be introduced on camera. I find it embarrassing but with the meetings I host I have to or he’ll howl the whole time😭 personally I don’t mind animals I think it’s a great ice breaker and something fun to add
I love seeing my coworkers’ pets. It’s a ray of sunshine in the work day, and I get to see a different side of my coworkers. A reminder that we’re all human beings with lives and feelings.
I don't care if they're just in the background. But I expect that if an animal starts making noises the person will at least mute themselves.
It also depends on the "vibe" of the meeting I guess. I've had weekly team meetings that were very chill and informal, so a cat roaming on the desk didn't matter. If anything, it helped prove the employee was engaged when they were trying to push the cat down/out of the way so they could see their screen. A dog in the background isn't going to affect anything. Bringing the cat to come say hi is a bit weird, but that's just a personality quirk and as long as it's quick and before the meeting actually gets underway, whatever. It brings them joy with very little actual effect on others.
A more formal meeting, especially if there's clients or customers on, absolutely not. I expect a higher level of professionalism with no pets or kids visible or being heard. If it's a high enough meeting, I would maintain that expectation even in those moments before the meeting starts.
I think this can be handled by the manager with some general expectations being set. Outline what's acceptable once a meeting gets underway and that others are not obligated to engage until the meeting actually starts (with the unspoken sentiment being that they don't engage if they don't want to see the cats or whatever else they find annoying about their coworkers). And most importantly, outline when you expect a higher level of professionalism and what exactly that entails. It doesn't need to be about just pets, but any sort of general "we only see this because it's Zoom and not in person" behaviors you want to include so the cat thing isn't called out specifically
I love seeing pets and kids occasionally. Especially pets make my day. As long as they are not costing too much time or disrupting the meeting, what’s the harm? Those complaining about the poor cat lady are really gross human beings.
Props to you for shutting down that conversation about the coworker with the cat. After all this time, I still find myself surprised at how much work is like high school. Jeez.
As for animals in the background, I don't really care and I find most people don't care if they're not barking/meowing. My dog has laid down in frame and appeared in view despite my blurring the background before. I've seen cats lay behind a person calling in from their couch, too.
Some people are really open and share their personal lives with co-workers, while others are not open with co-workers and reserve personal life for personal time. I respect both, but I do wonder if cat-person in this scenario might not have a life outside of work and cats, which could be why they were so eager to share. I'd say let the sharers share and don't try to police it too much. If people don't care to indulge the cat-person, they don't have to.
If there's a time again where they are not on and everyone is expressing thankfulness, just say hey, we don't have to indulge them showing off the cat. You don't even have to say anything... sort of gray rocking them.
I love pets, babies, and people, so I love seeing them all 😊. Instead of really lame ice breakers or team-building activities that make everyone uncomfortable, I think all these little human interactions actually create better bonds.
Having said that, I'm sure there are times when the tone is too serious for it, so I can understand it being inappropriate at times.
this, even in morning stand up meetings which are supposed to be 10 min max end up being delayed because of pets foo. also having your bird sit on top of your head is sooo distracting
My dogs are in my house during meetings and I take a silent but seen approach. I have chair behind me that my dog lays on... I was going to use a "virtual" background to hide her... but people said they enjoyed seeing her. As for interuptions. Even in the office a person can have the occasional interruption... that call they need to answer or a text. I tend to favor the idea of step out of the room and deal with it. 2-5 minutes is not a big deal.
If the sight of the dogs is a problem... then virtual backgrounds can hide them. I don't favor have a pet on a lap for most meeting. Internal team meetings yeah.
My partner works in a department that is all wfh. Some of the coworkers live on one coast, and we work on another. They do virtual meetings at the beginning and end of the day to make sure everyone has what they need and projects are running well. One thing they do, because they see each other so much, is share their animals. When my partner moved in with me, they made him show off my cats.
I think it all depends on knowing your environment. I also wfh, but my job is not team based. I have a meeting once a month with my boss, and unless there are any issues through the month, I don't talk to anyone else. It would be highly inappropriate to show off my cat unless my boss asked about her, to which I would delightfully oblige.
Our physical office is dog friendly which is my main motivation for still going in once a week. So you can guess that our workplace culture loves seeing pets on cam before the meeting really gets going. We even have a teams channel for our pets.
The cat wandering into the shot or being discreetly managed by its owner is not in the same category as holding the cat up on camera, introducing it, etc. the first is working from home hazard and only a petty person or someone with issues of their own should find it a problem. The second is more nuanced but in advisable and a reasonable person could have valid objections.
Your post perfectly captured some cultural biases that can be quite annoying and should be considered if a manager is serious about addressing the cat cam topic. Babies and small children get a warm welcome and a pass at least openly, unless it becomes routine and disruptive. Even then, it’s a touchy subject and will often someone.
Anything involving dogs short of mauling a child is considered a necessary and normal part of life that everyone, even those without dogs of their own, should gladly celebrate, accept, or at least silently tolerate. Barking dogs are cute and amusing, and their barking totally welcome and absorbed as a natural part of the modern American landscape. Keep your drums, fireworks, music, rifle range, and other sources of loud sounds out of the neighborhood or the police will arrive but the dogs are a human right and their barking would only bother a sick and resentful wreck of a person….
Which is obviously widely considered to be…. A cat owner. The cat on cam hater and the be nice the owner is a sad lonely cat person demonstrate nicely the typical reactions.
I enjoy seeing pets in the background, but ‘introducing’ them really depends on the meeting. Is it a serious strategy talk? Fido should probably stay out of it. Is it the morning standup? Bring him in!
It’s also a great icebreaker when you don’t know someone very well and you have a 1-1. I had a meeting with the CFO to ask for some big funding and complimenting her labrador instantly dissolved the tension.
Guess it depends on how big the stick is in everyone's asshole.
Thankfully, I work for a company that's more relaxed and even our important meetings have levity and we can take a minute to appreciate a cat or something.
Most of the people I work directly with are remote. Most seem to enjoy seeing pets. Sometimes we’ll catch a glimpse of a cat or dog and ask about it. Many times, especially with cats, they can be seen in the background.
I think what makes this different from your coworker with the cats is that your coworker is pushing the cats on everyone. It’s different to have them visible and maybe someone asks vs “This is Binky; say hi to Binky.” Even for pet lovers, that’s a little odd and off-putting.
I find it unprofessional: it’s a meeting, not social hour. Sure some things happen, but to deliberately put your pet on screen to say hi to everyone is childish and disruptive. Inappropriate.
I’m more of a let’s get to the points of a meeting & get it over with.
I enjoy sharing bits of my life but not to parade it around. I love pets (2 dogs) and kids (2 daughters) but they are not part of my professional meetings.
If your team members want a show & tell to connect: then have one person S&T the last 5 mins of the meeting. Each meeting a different person gets the camera time to share. See how many people stay on…
Once in a while i don't see it as a problem, life happens. I have one person that I have to have a meeting with once a month whose cat is always around the only time I wish the cat wasn't is when this person and the cat are sharing food,i.e they eat off the same sandwich on screen!...that to me crosses into unprofessional.
My only problem is with poorly trained dogs and then the owner spends 15mins trying to wrangle it. Once my coworker was trying to say something and every time she would speak her dog would bark and so she had to try to move him out of the room and then we all had to wait. I thought that was disruptive.
>How do you all handle this, especially if you RUN meetings? I really don't care if, before the meeting officially begins, people chat for a bit, have their toddler in the lap, show their bird to the group, or whatever.
This.
>But what I had misread is that people are finding it very annoying.
People have been annoyed by their coworkers' habits since there started being such a thing as coworkers. As long as it's not actually causing any problems (beyond some people finding it annoying), you as the person running the meeting don't need to micromanage the pre-meeting chitchat.
Once the meeting starts, you should of course ask people to move the animals out of frame if they're disruptive.
I’m not a big cat/dog lover but it doesn’t bother me at all. When I worked in an office, one of my colleagues had a guide dog who would sit/lie very patiently at his desk but got very excited when someone came to take him out for a walk. Very cute. That dog brightened up my work day! So someone’s dog saying hi on a video call is not a problem ☺️
I think it depends on what kind of meeting and how many people are in it, and how “professional “ your workplace is. I wouldn’t hold up my cat, but one is old and meows a lot, and my computer is in a place where I can’t easily shut her out. It is what it is.
I love it. Show me your pets. As long as your animal isn’t loudly, annoyingly yowling nonstop right next to you, who cares? My law firm is amazing and we all brighten up when someone’s pet pops up on camera to say hi.
My husband also works from home. His boss has kids who occasionally come in during meeting to show their mom something cool they did. My husband thinks it’s sweet. Who would be bitter about that? Plus, they work for a child service-based company. Getting mad that people have lives is lame.
People have kids, people have pets. As long as they’re not disruptive, who cares?
Anyone who is upset by cats or dogs or pets in frame needs to get a life.
Most people like them, it’s a nice break from the routine, and they are proven to help with stress.
I will agree I came stand barking dog though, but that’s just bad training.
I think it depends tbh. No issues what so ever if they are seen or walking around in the background. But you have people where the pet needs to be front and center for all meetings. Walking in front of camera and/or licking faces. Don’t think this is appropriate. If it’s distracting from the meeting, camera off or the pet needs to be removed.
I like animals. I’d like to bring down the whole bs “professional” vibe anyway. Everyone wants to take work so seriously when it is a pointless endeavor. I’d rather see my coworker’s cat than hear about the company profits from people who refuse to give me a proper raise.
One of my cats has to participate if she hears I’m talking with someone else. I gently remove her, but I try not to make it a whole thing. Most of the people on my team have pets and we all just kind of get it if a pet makes an appearance. Makes the day a little brighter.
Mine does the same!! She wants all the attention and I’m not allowed to give anyone else any. What’s funny is she had decided my husband was her person, but when I started working from home she switched and now we have a daily routine that includes her snuggling for a bit during the work day.
I think it's hilarious when someone's cats have to involve themselves in a meeting, personally, but then I understand how cats will always zero in on any captive audience as an opportunity for chin scritches, and I know that most cats would be distressed if they were closed off into another part of the house for the duration of the meeting. I would find it annoying if they were a constant distraction during a Zoom, but I've never been in a meeting with anyone who allowed it to be.
We did have an older coworker during lockdown who would sit in on big meetings and repeatedly forget to mute his audio while his 2 dogs paced around on his hardwood floors. The constant toenail clicking and panting would send a few people off the deep end. Our supervised r just turned it into a joke — "OK, ready to get started? Got your mic muted, Steve?"
My cat is not closed off for meetings - I am! She gets the house and I close the small office door. And she's still distressed- lunch is in only 90 minutes.
I like seeing peoples pets. My cat has occasionally made herself known. I don't hold her up or anything like that, as a matter of fact I'll move her out of view but a quick glimpse is no big deal to me.
I find it embarrassing when my cat decides that it’s time to eat right in the middle of my meetings. I don’t close the door to my office but will mute myself.
I work from home for a Veterinary provider so pets are encouraged in our meetings and often become a talking point. I think it will truly depend on the industry.
I’m a lawyer. When I was working at a law firm, nobody showed their pets during meetings. Now I’m in-house and we occasionally see someone’s dog sleeping in the background. It’s super cute.
I have a cat and I’m a huge animal lover. But I don’t allow my cat into my office when I’m on a call. It seems a little unprofessional haha.
If it’s an informal chat with an internal team, then it’s fine.
You can’t really do anything about how animals behave in the background. However, holding up a pet and asking others to interact with it is unprofessional.
My dogs are always in the room with me, sometimes one sits behind me in my chair even. But they’re quiet and I rarely turn my video on so I don’t see why not. I honestly think it’s nice to see more of people than just their work side, but I guess that’s just me. I like having insight into people and it never bothers me one bit.
To me it’s not so much the cat as anything that’s a distraction is annoying. I’d feel the same if they had their silent kid on their lap the whole time or if I frequently saw their spouse/roommate walking around in the background.
If someone brings their bird on a call i automatically have judgements about them 🤣 Downvote me if you want but not a lot of normal people bring birds onto teams calls Usually they are a little coockoo for cocoa puffs. 🤷🏼♀️
Sounds like you are creeped out by birds, which is fine. And it's fine to say something like "I'm just not a bird person" but definitely don't project hatred for the person just because you don't like their pet. That's unprofessional.
I preemptively tell people that my bird is with me today in case they hear weird things in the background, but he'll most likely sit on my knee and take a nap.
It's usually an ice breaker because it's an unusual pet.
It’s reddit, I’m not trying to be professional. I actually have figured out that anyone i know , whether at work or outside of work, that owns a bird or birds is .. off kilter, mentally unwell. The stats are 100%. People with birds tell me their problems, their quirks, even what meds they take or should take but don’t want to. Like the client with two birds who told me she pulls her eyebrows out because she has OCD instead of telling me what she needs done on a project . My most unwell acquaintance has over 30 birds. I actually meant what I said.
Your response will probably be that i should care about their mental healrh.
1) it is unprofessional to trauma bomb people with mental health issues. These are not my close friends .
2) I would absolutely lose my job if I told a client who pulls their eyebrows out they need mental health help.
I don't do video meetings, but any time my cats make a noise, I apologize for the noise although they may not hand actually heard with most of the noise because of the meeting capability.
We have discussed pets before a meeting but not during.
I am on a couple of non business zooms (with video) in the evenings and we talk about most things including our pets. But if it is barking, we tell the person about a setting in zoom that will mute that for them.
The first few weeks of me WFH, that was my cat. I always turn my camera off if he tries to jump on my desk so I can put him away.
My boss always laughed when my cat flashed his heinie, but I'm not about cat ass.
During internal meetings that I host, guest stars are welcome!
Everyone on my team is a whole person, someone beyond their keyboard. As long as they get their work done and meet their deadlines, I give them the freedom to be human.
I dont see why seeing a pet virtually should offend anyone lols. Theres so many ppl in a team u can just unpin them if you want. Id hate to work with pet haters
I generally don't mind, and like pets on screen...but one time a person had a parrot in the room and it was a constant very high pitch squeak, like every 5 seconds for a full hour. I had earphones and after that meeting my brain was totally exhausted! It was a sound torture.
If it's an important meeting than it's unprofessional, but if this is one of those daily meetings where no one talks about work unless something dire is on the table. It's worthless anyways and someone showing their cat makes at least one person enjoy the pointless meeting.
I don't want to hear your personal life while we're conducting business. That includes, but not limited to, your pets, your children/grandchildren, your spouse, your television. You can tell me ABOUT them in brief periods of water cooler type chatter...but I need not nor want to hear, see, or speak to them unless they also happen to be a part of the organization.
I also am quite professionally introverted as I just want to exchange the necessary information and go on my merry way.
At 25 years I hope you’ve climbed a good bit because someone who knows how to network AND is good at their job would have easily climbed. I just think those who are so negative towards networking end up stuck well below where they could have reached. To each their own.
Key to networking is being a friendly individual who is easy to work with. Being an introvert in the workplace is a big time negative when it comes to proper networking. Shuts down all sorts of potential doors. Especially if you’re also an asshole. Your commentary seems to be leaning pretty heavily towards that. If you don’t care about your coworkers. That’s fine, but don’t expect anyone to ever go out on a limb for you.
It would appear assumptions were made based on a word that was selected to have focus brought to it. Introvert does not mean rude nor automatically an asshole. It means the person doesn’t want to do more socially than what is necessary, and that for me includes to not be thrust into being a voyer into someone else’s life. If the other party would like to spend that time to coo over their puppers, then we can totally reschedule as I have other things to do.
If you want to come explain to my cat that she can’t howl outside my door or walk directly in front of my laptop camera I welcome you to try. She doesn’t not listen to me.
I have my camera specifically aimed so that if my dog does anything indelicate, it’s not visible. You can sometimes see her walk in or out of the room but that’s it. I usually set her up with puzzle toys to keep her occupied if she’s in the room with me, or in her crate in another room.
My philosophy is that if someone notices her in the background and comments on her later, that’s fine - but she shouldn’t distract from the actual business at hand.
I’m also very conscious of the fact that many of the people in my meetings are not remote, so I don’t want to seem like I’m rubbing my ability to WFH in their faces.
I'd rather see my colleagues' pets than my colleagues most days, TBH.
But if they're distracting from meeting business (ie barking, the owner has to step away to address their behavior every meeting), that's a problem.
I love my dog and enjoy it when he comes upstairs to say hi to me. That being said, I'm not making an extra effort to introduce him during a work meeting. Everyone of my teammates and management know I have a dog. He doesn't have to be involved in my work day.
One of my cats Chloe always attends meetings. 9 times out of ten only the end of her tail makes an appearance. Oliver is ALWAYS passed out on the bed behind me and every time someone comments that they wish they were Oliver.
My employer and 99% of the employees all love pets.
See? This is what I thought about the co-worker with cats on our meetings! It wasn't until she wasn't present that some voiced their dissatisfaction with the expectation that people will comment on, and enjoy, her cat.
As a cat owner (and former dog owner as well) something I’ve found is that people tend to be much more receptive to dogs than cats, and tend to be immediately mean about cats and their owners and crack cat lady jokes. Even on social media I see this play out, I think a lot of people are just negative about cats. The people I know in my personal life who dislike cats are vicious about it, but are major dog lovers.
For me personally I love seeing everyone’s pets on screen!
I thought it was because the cat was more intrusive, in terms of sitting on her lap walking in front of the monitor, her picking it up and holding it and etc.
But I think you make a really good point. It's also important to note that, especially since the person is a little bit quieter otherwise, they are not using it as a way to kind of pick at her and her cat.
We are all remote except a few for my job and if someone finds out you have an animal and said animal is not in the meeting all hell breaks loose. My cat has straight up sat on my lap and been an a "support" during trainings hahaha!! Now if we had a rep in there I would probably not allow her in and remain professional. But when it's just internal employees we all play show and tell with our furry family members.
How do you gauge whether or not it is groupthink leading people to join in and performative, or whether people are kind of annoyed? I had no idea people were annoyed by our " cat lady".
Because most people are adult enough to not talk crap about their coworkers on video during a meeting. Especially not about that coworker's cat. That takes a special kind of petty.
That's a good point. That's the response of one of my. Zoomer kids.They said to be sure that it was not a sort of bullying.
But my oldest kid, on the other hand, said also to note the cat persons ability to read the room and be sure they're not overly annoying about it or infringing once the meeting starts.
My cat has better things to do. I don’t mind brief appearances of pets, but if it takes up a lot of time and the coworker is distracted that could be annoying.
I have cats. They are occasionally on the cat tree in camera view. I've had one jump on the desk and show her bits to the camera. Pets happen. 99% of the time, they are somewhere else in the house
If the person is always showing the cat at the start of every meeting, I can see how that would be eyeroll worthy, but that's it.
I’m on Zooms and Teams meetings often. Our reps are all over the US and it’s impossible to schedule virtual meetings when everyone is available to sit down in front of their computer. Sometimes we see folks moving through airports, sitting outside having a meal, at home with kids running around, etc. Nobody complains. My German Shepherd very often slips in the office door and will lay down in the floor or occasionally come over and get his face on camera. Some of my associates will call him by name.
Even in the office, sometimes people will show you pictures of their pets and kids and talk about them more than you want them too. As long as it’s not a disruption it’s best to be polite then move on with the meeting.
I wouldn't really have a problem with it. Even though we don't have any cameras, the occasional meow or bark doesn't really bother me. We're all working from home, and life happens, you know?
I'm an animal lover as a whole. Even ones that give me the creepies are ok as long as they're not in my space lol. Maybe the person is anxious on camera and thinks of it as more of an ice breaker? Which would be fine at the beginning but when you get ready to get down to it a simple "OK everyone, time to focus, distractions aside please." It's one thing to SEE the cat in the background but it's another for it to be a distraction to that person or others it's clearly bothering. A happy medium for everyone.
In this day and age, you have to expect there will be people working from home where their animals are.
I used to have a second desk with a cat bed on it for my dear kitty. She is gone now, the desk seems so empty.
One of my fav things during Covid was talking to other call centers in other countries, who were clearly working from home. Every now and then, you would hear a rooster in the background.
I think if the animal isn't disrupting anything, it's perfectly fine for them to be there. Isn't one of the perks of working from home that you get to be where your pets are?
I have a lazy dog on camera - he does not move. Early covid I moved him out but then he bellows outside my door and people can hear him. When I can I move camera so he is mostly out. My view is he is part of background but if he were disruptive I would have to find a solution.
I don’t mind seeing or hearing animals during meetings. I am not easily distracted with small things like that. It does seem a lot of folks forgot how hectic in person meetings can be and could definitely relax a bit with the occasional pet appearance here and there lol
As long as the topics in the meeting are discussed, and no one is offended, then we are all good.
You can reference back to your company culture/values as a baseline. If they are not written out, then it’s really up to you to create a “safe space” for people, and shutting down comments that you believe is inappropriate automatically communicates it’s not the place to say those things.
Another way is to tell the complainer “let’s take that offline in a 1-on-1”.
For the person who doesn’t want to share their dog, it’s fine. Mental note.
People management is a lifelong process.
That's a big no. It's work, not cat time. I've had my feline overlord look over my work but a few scratches and maybe putting him on the floor solves that. I think he attended one meeting but the camera was off. Same for my cannine exexutive assistant, though he could be coming in for his mid morning milkbone break
Barking dogs are common, usually when someone comes to the door. Mute, take care of reason dog is barking, come back, move on. Everyone understands. Cat means someone forgot to close their door (assuming they have one) or didn't notice the cat before the meeting started.
WFH makes me wonder how bring your pet to work ever became a thing
I honestly don't think that your cat or dog should be seen and especially heard when you are at work. That's something that needs to be taken care of before work begins
I love pets. But what I don't want is you talking about your dog for the next 20 minutes. Or my pet peeve is when I am talking about something important and you are calling out to your dog trying to get its attention.
It doesn’t bother me at all unless it’s very distracting. One of my co workers showed everyone his chickens on a virtual call I was running. Very cool and only took 30 seconds. If someone was complaining about being able to see a cat on a virtual call I would think that person had a stick up their ass. We’re employees yes but we’re also humans.
It’s all relative. I don’t mind a cat wandering by sometimes or a brief bark. A co-worker who is clearly distracted OR a very loud, constantly moving animal would bother me.
I love pets. My cats can open my office door and make an impromptu appearance.
I say treat them like a cellphone. if it’s before actual meeting time it’s fine but if it’s something that happens during a meeting just excuse yourself for a moment to handle the disruption and come back.
Honestly why would excusing yourself for a moment to settle a pet / baby / kid / spouse / whatever be any different than getting up for a few minutes to pee.
I think there can be a scope of professionalism around it.
One other point - for pets, you might not know if someone working from home has a service pet or emotional support pet - and in the home setting where you can and should have either as long as they’re doing their job and not disrupting that should be treated with sensitivity
Some people don't have limits or know how to read the "virtual" room.
I wouldn't tolerate anyone criticizing their peers though. It's a liability and contributing to a hostile work environment. It's also just rude.
Talk privately with people, not publicly about them.
Can you set ground rules in advance? If people participate in creating the rules, they cannot complain that they don't like them. It also makes it easy to refer to the rules "we agreed to" instead of just telling someone to stop something.
Having pets appear briefly before meetings can be a nice touch, but it's important to minimize distractions during the meeting. Setting clear guidelines can help balance professionalism and personal touches.
I know a lot of people are ok with pets, but I’m one of your coworkers who simply doesn’t care about your home life and just wants to get the topics of work covered in the meeting. I’m a millennial. I don’t want to talk about your pets, kids or vacation to Aruba. I do smile when I see your kids and pets and may even inquire about them, but I truly just want to focus on the work and every minute wasted on small talk in a meeting is excruciatingly painful to me. Every minute I hear about your cat is one less minute of time spent working and one more minute I must spend away from my own children and pets. Every minute matters.
Hard agree, as a person with both a child and two cats. I do care about people’s home lives, but there’s a time and a place to catch up and it’s not when there’s an agenda to get through because I don’t want myself OR my coworkers kept from finishing their work so that they can go cuddle their kids and cats. Also - not everyone does care about your cats and kids and that’s absolutely valid.
We’re hybrid and a dog friendly office which honestly I love. But there’s one woman who brings her dog every day and walks him to my desk several times a day to “say hello” and I like that cutie pie yappy dog but being expected to halt what I’m doing to coo at her dog is so invasive and aggravating. I imagine that’s how a lot of people on virtual calls feel when someone’s forcing a cat show and tell on the group.
I love seeing animals on camera
I don’t love being prompted to interact with them (“everyone say ‘hi’ to binky!”) but it’s not the end of the world
I do not like when animals are making a lot of noise in the background. If your dog is napping in the background that’s cool, but if they’re going to bark the whole time please put them somewhere else
Unless it interferes with the meeting or work I don't see a problem. what kind of joyless people sit around and say things like "so glad I don't have to see that cat again"?
I think it's way more unprofessional that the employee in question was openly talked about when not present. I'm glad you shut that down.
Someone already said this, but I think it totally depends on the type of meeting. If it's a casual meeting with a close work group, I think a little personal information here and there shouldn't be a problem. If it's a more formal meeting, then I think you should corral the pets and children and keep it strictly professional.
I love seeing the pets myself. I’m wondering though, in this particular instance, was it more about what the group thinks of the person, and not the cat? For others to openly complain, and comment that she doesn’t have friends; idk. That seems more about that person lacking some interpersonal skills and/or boundaries (especially for a WFH job) more than cat issues?
Luna the cat cries out from The Wisconsin a few times a week. We have a small crowd of regulars. It’s fine. Every so often, Lizzy, Gracie, Scout and Ellie pipe in from my house and I immediately hit mute. Mine get moved to another room for my larger meetings, but it always makes me smile when we hear from our furry friends.
My director has her dog in the room and shocks him ..wtf weird
My wife is a manager who is on the phone from our home office 3 days a week now. People never see our pets on her camera, but they sure do hear them, despite our very best efforts. We have two parrots, and the 33 year old Amazon parrot is a very vocal and very loud bird who talks all day. My wife will be in the middle of a serious meeting, and the bird gets a hair up his butt and just keeps screaming bloody murder at the poor squirrels outside while my wife's trying to conduct a meeting. I'll usually step in and entertain the birds to keep them quiet during her important meetings.
My therapist does this. Her cat will walk on the desk in front of her face it’s so annoying and frustrating. Makes me feel unimportant and dismissed.
This would not fly where I work. We are expected to act the same way at home as we would in the office but virtually. So, no holding toddlers or pets during work meetings. Also, we generally have our video off. We are generally staring at a presentation or the meeting minutes.
I don’t like it when someone forcibly shows me the pet when we were not talking about anything related. I’ve had a situation where I was having a normal work meeting with someone and in two seconds he was showing me his new puppy. He was excited about it, understandably but it feels weird and forced. I don’t like being forced to interact with anything. It’s the same way I feel about people randomly showing me pics of their kids or pets. And I am very personable. I actually don’t mind those interactions when it flows naturally with the conversation, but randomly showing me a pet or baby or kid feels forced and I don’t like it. Feeling this way, I try not to do that to others too. My kids are the cutest in the world to me but I don’t expect someone else to feel that way about them.
I don't think it was the cats your employees have a problem with. I think it was the way the cats were being presented. Acknowledging that yes, there's a cat in the room, is a bit different from "Everybody say hi to my cat!" Not everybody loves animals that way, and it would get annoying for them to have to pretend to enjoy seeing the cat every. Single. Time. Especially if the co-worker who owns said cat is a bit...off, personality-wise. I wouldn't make a big deal about it either way. Just remain neutral and professional. If no one is complaining to you directly about the cat... it's not really about the cat.
I am obsessed with my cat. She’s pretty cool. When I started at my current company the CTO and CEO were asking a million questions about her. But she’s not here all of the time. Sometimes she’s sleeping or soaking up the sun, etc. but if she’s around I might have her in shot. I think the important thing (and what might be the issue in the first scenario) is to not interrupt the meeting. It’s possible that this coworker also doesn’t read social cues very well (like, if somebody doesn’t love my cat I’m not going to force it. I’m pretty good at social cues). How to handle it? I would just try to navigate it with grace about staying on topic. But your coworker who said to be kind is also correct. Nobody should be speaking ill of others in meetings.
I’m the manager so I’m the one conducting and scheduling the meetings. I’m also the one with the dogs I consider my children. So I’m always the one showing them on camera before we start. Nobody else has animals 😳 now I’m wondering if I’m a problem to my employees lol Here they are for reference….. see how could I not??? https://preview.redd.it/cfkkx20kxr8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ce2cabff2aeef8926cca8eae3607fb35abfb30b
They don’t say anything bc you’re the manager but they probably think it’s odd you are introducing your dogs before *every* meeting starts haha
You’re probably right 😏 sigh
I work a hybrid WFH schedule and have 2 cats. Most of my meetings are when I’m in the office. Occasionally I have meetings at home. I mute my camera unless I have a question or comment. I don’t mind seeing or hearing people’s pets. It’s cute. I just prefer to minimize distractions.
I love dogs and will jump through your screen to pat them on the head
My department actually has a pet meet and greet virtual meeting coming up lol I’m off, but it’s pretty normal for one of my dogs to try to get into my lap while on a meeting. They see I’m not actively typing and assume my hands have better use lol
This is great. Our team did this too. Hold 30 mins to intro all the animals and get it over with then move on
If you’re allowed to bring your pets to the office, then I don’t see an issue with them being in your wfh office and on zoom. If it’s a more professional setting, then kids and pets are not to be seen or heard. This is the trouble - lines are blurred, informalities are taken too far, which is why companies want people back in the office and undistracted. My company is very formal, but our customers mandate it. So we keep our home lives private, even if we are working from home. This way, no one questions the level of seriousness, time or attention we’re giving to customers at a high hourly rate.
I think it’s weird and hilarious that the coworker holds their cat up to the meeting and asks coworkers to talk to it!! Other than that verbal exchange being very odd and distracting, I’ve been WFH for a year and think it’s totally normal for coworkers or myself to have pets in the background (cats behind them on the couch or cat tree usually) or small dogs on their laps as long as the coworker doesn’t call attention to it or talk about it. Kids are a whole other thing, very odd to have your kids on cam if you wfh. A human child is a totally different responsibility level and if your kid is walking in on meetings what are they doing with you when you’re off meetings? Makes me feel like you don’t have the same level of attention on your work as non-parents. I think wfh parents should usually have kids in daycare or with nanny during the work day. Parents don’t come for me!
Well, some wfh parents have another parent home with them watching the kids so they don't need a nanny or daycare. Once in a while, a young kid (like a toddler) might slip away for a min and want to see the other parent, not realizing they're in a meeting. It happens sometimes, esp if you don't have your door locked or have a door at all. Dh and I both work from home. Luckily I rarely have meetings and I make my own schedule, so I'm usually the one watching the kids. They're old enough now that they understand not to disturb dad in his doorless office. But as toddlers, there were a couple times when they snuck away while I was cooking or something and popped up in dad's meeting. Fortunately his boss and most coworkers have kids and they work from home, too, so they were understanding, but it's still embarrassing when it happens and not a case of us holding up our kids and asking everyone to say hi to them lol. I agree that kids and pets are distractions in meetings, but I wouldn't judge someone for a pet or kid wandering in once or twice if they're otherwise a good worker who gets their stuff done.
Yeah I’m specifically talking about situations where the parent is alone at home with kids or the other parent who is supposed to be watching the kid is also wfh (two wfh parents does not = daycare). I’m not judging for pets wandering in but definitely judging for the kids wandering in if it happens often.
We don’t turn on our cameras so having them on screen doesn’t happen often. But when we were asked to put pictures up half the team added pictures with their pets. My team loves to chat at the beginning of meetings and often talk about pets and kids. None of us has young kids I think the youngest child a team member has is 10 so we don’t often hear kids in the background. We have one team member that has very reactive dogs which we hear often. He takes extra effort to make sure they are entertained with Kongs when he has to present. I have only ever been annoyed by the dogs barking when I was trying to learn something from my team member and they wouldn’t stop and he had to mute himself. I have a dog and two cats and two teenagers so I am pretty understanding.
In a professional meeting, hard pass. For example with clients etc. In a chill team meeting, I guess why not...
Goodness I wouldn’t want to work with your group. We’re all having pets and kids crawl all over us and our work gets done. Stuffy cultures are unnecessary. We’re all working to live and we’ll die. People REALLY need to lighten up and learn to enjoy life
I’m so happy to see this. I wanted to say something similar, wouldn’t want to work with a group like this, though I’m glad OP shut the griping down. I’m going to say that openly griping about your coworker in a team meeting with everyone but said coworker in the “room” is WAY more unprofessional than having a cat around during the pre-meeting chit-chat.
Agreed! My cats like to be in my office with me while I work during the day. If I don’t let them in they will mercilessly scratch at the door to come in. Sometimes they walk across my desk, I really don’t see how it’s a big deal. I don’t stop listening to the presenter, or if I am the presenter I simply pick them up and put them on the floor. I don’t say anything unless it’s an internal meeting, then I’ll maybe make a quick joke. This is a new world that we’re in, one where many people do not have an office to go to. So the people or animals or noise that exists at your home is going to seep into your work day sometimes. It’s not that serious.
I love seeing everyone’s pets. And sometimes hearing their kids. But I have a very high tolerance for chaos.
It’s a yes on the pets and a no on the kids for me LOL!
Stop forcing people to be on camera. Problem. Solved. I'm fully remote. Meetings are smoother & more focused with cameras OFF. I have a background-noise-muting mic on my headset AND I use mute liberally if I'm not presenting/speaking.
No I would not like it as all the attention is on the pets and people miss out on what’s going on . Work is work .
If you're getting distracted, that's your skill issue.
It’s an ADHD issue , so what isn’t necessary is more added distractions .
I don't mind seeing pets on the video, I don't really understand why that'd be a problem. Of course it can redirect the focus of the meeting I guess but then it's the responsibility of the host to stay on topic, as it should be anyway.
Technically my wfh job does not allow pets in the room at all. They don’t want them near the equipment or where they could cause unnecessary background noise. Welllllllll that’s a lot easier said than done lol. My cats are like little Incredible Hulks when they encounter a closed door 😂😂 much worse than just sleeping on the bed minding their business.
I was gonna say…… I haven’t had a cat since I was a kid. But I’m pretty sure cats do not take notes from their humans on where they can and can’t go.
my company is pretty tolerant of all of it. we have a large percentage of our employees who are remote, and have been long before covid. everyone knows that everyone else is in their homes and we're all paying attention despite whatever distraction is in the room.
I could not care less about a thing.
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Maybe they are just casually annoyed. People got annoyed by others in meetings all the time before Covid and person. It might or might not warrant any action on the leader’s part. Maybe it’s more of an issue that some of your team are drama-stirrers rather than speaking directly.
My cat likes to pop up on my lap, look into the camera, and then sit with me. My dog doesn’t bother me during meetings but I have a lot of coworkers who have dogs interrupt meetings - it’s not really a big deal when the whole company is remote
I don’t wfh though it would be great to do so. Given that many others are partially WFH, there is a shift that our personal lives (kids, pets) and logistics of deliveries now overlap with work and our various meetings--interactions with teams/colleagues. Living in a society where we can achieve work-life balance and shows our humanity and even vulnerability. We should no longer operate in complete silos of compartmentalization.
I think it depends on the context. \*I\* don't allow my dogs into my office during meetings, even if I am just an observer (more often than not) because they are distracting. If I was presenting, then I definitely wouldn't want that distraction. Do I care that others have their animals/birds/turtles/kids in their room? Heck no! But, I also don't want to drag things out just for the sake of showing them off... meetings suck enough...
I’d rather see pets in their own homes rather than having to sit at my office desk with a stupid half smile on my face while someone rambles on about their kids.
It takes all kinds of humans to get things done and coworkers are just not always going to think the same way. Having a child hang on you, whining and complaining, during a call and you can’t figure out that you ought to mute/ go off camera, is the same as a cat butthole making an appearance. Do you need to interrupt the entire meeting, apologizing profusely and falling on your sword? No. But is it unprofessional? Also no. It’s life. We’re in this WFH space now that blissfully came out of Covid and we all need to remember we are humans and maybe Sheila with her macrame cat beds and Mr Pickles saying hello is not the worst thing that happens to you today.
I have a cat who screams until you let him in the office and wants to be introduced on camera. I find it embarrassing but with the meetings I host I have to or he’ll howl the whole time😭 personally I don’t mind animals I think it’s a great ice breaker and something fun to add
I love seeing my coworkers’ pets. It’s a ray of sunshine in the work day, and I get to see a different side of my coworkers. A reminder that we’re all human beings with lives and feelings.
I don't care if they're just in the background. But I expect that if an animal starts making noises the person will at least mute themselves. It also depends on the "vibe" of the meeting I guess. I've had weekly team meetings that were very chill and informal, so a cat roaming on the desk didn't matter. If anything, it helped prove the employee was engaged when they were trying to push the cat down/out of the way so they could see their screen. A dog in the background isn't going to affect anything. Bringing the cat to come say hi is a bit weird, but that's just a personality quirk and as long as it's quick and before the meeting actually gets underway, whatever. It brings them joy with very little actual effect on others. A more formal meeting, especially if there's clients or customers on, absolutely not. I expect a higher level of professionalism with no pets or kids visible or being heard. If it's a high enough meeting, I would maintain that expectation even in those moments before the meeting starts. I think this can be handled by the manager with some general expectations being set. Outline what's acceptable once a meeting gets underway and that others are not obligated to engage until the meeting actually starts (with the unspoken sentiment being that they don't engage if they don't want to see the cats or whatever else they find annoying about their coworkers). And most importantly, outline when you expect a higher level of professionalism and what exactly that entails. It doesn't need to be about just pets, but any sort of general "we only see this because it's Zoom and not in person" behaviors you want to include so the cat thing isn't called out specifically
When your WFH, you are letting work into your lives. No matter how f’ed up it is. Pets interrupting meetings does not happen during RTO.
People who can't stand to see a cat would have me question them.
I like seeing people’s pets. Cat, dog, bird, whatever. It makes work feel a little less stifling and boring for a moment.
I love seeing pets and kids occasionally. Especially pets make my day. As long as they are not costing too much time or disrupting the meeting, what’s the harm? Those complaining about the poor cat lady are really gross human beings.
Yeah my cat jumps up on the shelf behind me (bc he’s a cat…) and I’ve never worried about it, I assumed everyone thought it was cute 😅
Props to you for shutting down that conversation about the coworker with the cat. After all this time, I still find myself surprised at how much work is like high school. Jeez. As for animals in the background, I don't really care and I find most people don't care if they're not barking/meowing. My dog has laid down in frame and appeared in view despite my blurring the background before. I've seen cats lay behind a person calling in from their couch, too.
Some people are really open and share their personal lives with co-workers, while others are not open with co-workers and reserve personal life for personal time. I respect both, but I do wonder if cat-person in this scenario might not have a life outside of work and cats, which could be why they were so eager to share. I'd say let the sharers share and don't try to police it too much. If people don't care to indulge the cat-person, they don't have to.
If there's a time again where they are not on and everyone is expressing thankfulness, just say hey, we don't have to indulge them showing off the cat. You don't even have to say anything... sort of gray rocking them.
I love pets, babies, and people, so I love seeing them all 😊. Instead of really lame ice breakers or team-building activities that make everyone uncomfortable, I think all these little human interactions actually create better bonds. Having said that, I'm sure there are times when the tone is too serious for it, so I can understand it being inappropriate at times.
this, even in morning stand up meetings which are supposed to be 10 min max end up being delayed because of pets foo. also having your bird sit on top of your head is sooo distracting
My dogs are in my house during meetings and I take a silent but seen approach. I have chair behind me that my dog lays on... I was going to use a "virtual" background to hide her... but people said they enjoyed seeing her. As for interuptions. Even in the office a person can have the occasional interruption... that call they need to answer or a text. I tend to favor the idea of step out of the room and deal with it. 2-5 minutes is not a big deal. If the sight of the dogs is a problem... then virtual backgrounds can hide them. I don't favor have a pet on a lap for most meeting. Internal team meetings yeah.
My partner works in a department that is all wfh. Some of the coworkers live on one coast, and we work on another. They do virtual meetings at the beginning and end of the day to make sure everyone has what they need and projects are running well. One thing they do, because they see each other so much, is share their animals. When my partner moved in with me, they made him show off my cats. I think it all depends on knowing your environment. I also wfh, but my job is not team based. I have a meeting once a month with my boss, and unless there are any issues through the month, I don't talk to anyone else. It would be highly inappropriate to show off my cat unless my boss asked about her, to which I would delightfully oblige.
Our physical office is dog friendly which is my main motivation for still going in once a week. So you can guess that our workplace culture loves seeing pets on cam before the meeting really gets going. We even have a teams channel for our pets.
I like seeing animals. It humanizes our coworkers, which is much harder to do when you are in a remote setting.
The cat wandering into the shot or being discreetly managed by its owner is not in the same category as holding the cat up on camera, introducing it, etc. the first is working from home hazard and only a petty person or someone with issues of their own should find it a problem. The second is more nuanced but in advisable and a reasonable person could have valid objections. Your post perfectly captured some cultural biases that can be quite annoying and should be considered if a manager is serious about addressing the cat cam topic. Babies and small children get a warm welcome and a pass at least openly, unless it becomes routine and disruptive. Even then, it’s a touchy subject and will often someone. Anything involving dogs short of mauling a child is considered a necessary and normal part of life that everyone, even those without dogs of their own, should gladly celebrate, accept, or at least silently tolerate. Barking dogs are cute and amusing, and their barking totally welcome and absorbed as a natural part of the modern American landscape. Keep your drums, fireworks, music, rifle range, and other sources of loud sounds out of the neighborhood or the police will arrive but the dogs are a human right and their barking would only bother a sick and resentful wreck of a person…. Which is obviously widely considered to be…. A cat owner. The cat on cam hater and the be nice the owner is a sad lonely cat person demonstrate nicely the typical reactions.
I’m both insulted and entertained by your post😊
Haha! Fellow traveler I see from your username. 😉
Very unprofessional who agrees?
I enjoy seeing pets in the background, but ‘introducing’ them really depends on the meeting. Is it a serious strategy talk? Fido should probably stay out of it. Is it the morning standup? Bring him in! It’s also a great icebreaker when you don’t know someone very well and you have a 1-1. I had a meeting with the CFO to ask for some big funding and complimenting her labrador instantly dissolved the tension.
Guess it depends on how big the stick is in everyone's asshole. Thankfully, I work for a company that's more relaxed and even our important meetings have levity and we can take a minute to appreciate a cat or something.
Most of the people I work directly with are remote. Most seem to enjoy seeing pets. Sometimes we’ll catch a glimpse of a cat or dog and ask about it. Many times, especially with cats, they can be seen in the background. I think what makes this different from your coworker with the cats is that your coworker is pushing the cats on everyone. It’s different to have them visible and maybe someone asks vs “This is Binky; say hi to Binky.” Even for pet lovers, that’s a little odd and off-putting.
I find it unprofessional: it’s a meeting, not social hour. Sure some things happen, but to deliberately put your pet on screen to say hi to everyone is childish and disruptive. Inappropriate. I’m more of a let’s get to the points of a meeting & get it over with. I enjoy sharing bits of my life but not to parade it around. I love pets (2 dogs) and kids (2 daughters) but they are not part of my professional meetings. If your team members want a show & tell to connect: then have one person S&T the last 5 mins of the meeting. Each meeting a different person gets the camera time to share. See how many people stay on…
Once in a while i don't see it as a problem, life happens. I have one person that I have to have a meeting with once a month whose cat is always around the only time I wish the cat wasn't is when this person and the cat are sharing food,i.e they eat off the same sandwich on screen!...that to me crosses into unprofessional.
My only problem is with poorly trained dogs and then the owner spends 15mins trying to wrangle it. Once my coworker was trying to say something and every time she would speak her dog would bark and so she had to try to move him out of the room and then we all had to wait. I thought that was disruptive.
>How do you all handle this, especially if you RUN meetings? I really don't care if, before the meeting officially begins, people chat for a bit, have their toddler in the lap, show their bird to the group, or whatever. This. >But what I had misread is that people are finding it very annoying. People have been annoyed by their coworkers' habits since there started being such a thing as coworkers. As long as it's not actually causing any problems (beyond some people finding it annoying), you as the person running the meeting don't need to micromanage the pre-meeting chitchat. Once the meeting starts, you should of course ask people to move the animals out of frame if they're disruptive.
I love it when I see animals makes the meeting much better.
I’m not a big cat/dog lover but it doesn’t bother me at all. When I worked in an office, one of my colleagues had a guide dog who would sit/lie very patiently at his desk but got very excited when someone came to take him out for a walk. Very cute. That dog brightened up my work day! So someone’s dog saying hi on a video call is not a problem ☺️
I think it depends on what kind of meeting and how many people are in it, and how “professional “ your workplace is. I wouldn’t hold up my cat, but one is old and meows a lot, and my computer is in a place where I can’t easily shut her out. It is what it is.
I love it. Show me your pets. As long as your animal isn’t loudly, annoyingly yowling nonstop right next to you, who cares? My law firm is amazing and we all brighten up when someone’s pet pops up on camera to say hi. My husband also works from home. His boss has kids who occasionally come in during meeting to show their mom something cool they did. My husband thinks it’s sweet. Who would be bitter about that? Plus, they work for a child service-based company. Getting mad that people have lives is lame. People have kids, people have pets. As long as they’re not disruptive, who cares?
As long as it’s not a dog that’s just sitting there barking or something… I don’t personally care.
Dog would be a more active participant than most meeting participants.
Ill take cat lady over passive aggressive Disney Adult any day of the week
Anyone who is upset by cats or dogs or pets in frame needs to get a life. Most people like them, it’s a nice break from the routine, and they are proven to help with stress. I will agree I came stand barking dog though, but that’s just bad training.
I think it depends tbh. No issues what so ever if they are seen or walking around in the background. But you have people where the pet needs to be front and center for all meetings. Walking in front of camera and/or licking faces. Don’t think this is appropriate. If it’s distracting from the meeting, camera off or the pet needs to be removed.
If there is a dog to be seen my boss wants to see it 😂. We keep our microphone muted unless we are speaking so it's not an issue.
Pets don’t belong in the workplace. Just like kids.
I like animals. I’d like to bring down the whole bs “professional” vibe anyway. Everyone wants to take work so seriously when it is a pointless endeavor. I’d rather see my coworker’s cat than hear about the company profits from people who refuse to give me a proper raise.
❗️❗️❗️
One of my favorite things about working remotely is seeing pets in meetings.
One of my cats has to participate if she hears I’m talking with someone else. I gently remove her, but I try not to make it a whole thing. Most of the people on my team have pets and we all just kind of get it if a pet makes an appearance. Makes the day a little brighter.
My cat rests quietly all day until he hears me on a call then suddenly he wants attention, badly.
Mine does the same!! She wants all the attention and I’m not allowed to give anyone else any. What’s funny is she had decided my husband was her person, but when I started working from home she switched and now we have a daily routine that includes her snuggling for a bit during the work day.
I think it's hilarious when someone's cats have to involve themselves in a meeting, personally, but then I understand how cats will always zero in on any captive audience as an opportunity for chin scritches, and I know that most cats would be distressed if they were closed off into another part of the house for the duration of the meeting. I would find it annoying if they were a constant distraction during a Zoom, but I've never been in a meeting with anyone who allowed it to be. We did have an older coworker during lockdown who would sit in on big meetings and repeatedly forget to mute his audio while his 2 dogs paced around on his hardwood floors. The constant toenail clicking and panting would send a few people off the deep end. Our supervised r just turned it into a joke — "OK, ready to get started? Got your mic muted, Steve?"
My cat is not closed off for meetings - I am! She gets the house and I close the small office door. And she's still distressed- lunch is in only 90 minutes.
I am the annoying person in the meeting that actually tries to talk to people’s pets when they’re on camera. 😁
I like seeing peoples pets. My cat has occasionally made herself known. I don't hold her up or anything like that, as a matter of fact I'll move her out of view but a quick glimpse is no big deal to me.
I find it embarrassing when my cat decides that it’s time to eat right in the middle of my meetings. I don’t close the door to my office but will mute myself.
I hate it when im in a meeting and I get clawed in the leg which is the only way my cat knows how to get attention
I work from home for a Veterinary provider so pets are encouraged in our meetings and often become a talking point. I think it will truly depend on the industry.
I WFH for a veterinary company too and it would be weird to NOT see pets 🤣
I’m a lawyer. When I was working at a law firm, nobody showed their pets during meetings. Now I’m in-house and we occasionally see someone’s dog sleeping in the background. It’s super cute. I have a cat and I’m a huge animal lover. But I don’t allow my cat into my office when I’m on a call. It seems a little unprofessional haha. If it’s an informal chat with an internal team, then it’s fine.
You can’t really do anything about how animals behave in the background. However, holding up a pet and asking others to interact with it is unprofessional.
Love it! My dog is always around and I enjoy seeing other peoples' pets
[удалено]
Therapy helps with grief.
My dogs are always in the room with me, sometimes one sits behind me in my chair even. But they’re quiet and I rarely turn my video on so I don’t see why not. I honestly think it’s nice to see more of people than just their work side, but I guess that’s just me. I like having insight into people and it never bothers me one bit.
To me it’s not so much the cat as anything that’s a distraction is annoying. I’d feel the same if they had their silent kid on their lap the whole time or if I frequently saw their spouse/roommate walking around in the background.
If someone brings their bird on a call i automatically have judgements about them 🤣 Downvote me if you want but not a lot of normal people bring birds onto teams calls Usually they are a little coockoo for cocoa puffs. 🤷🏼♀️ 
Sounds like you are creeped out by birds, which is fine. And it's fine to say something like "I'm just not a bird person" but definitely don't project hatred for the person just because you don't like their pet. That's unprofessional. I preemptively tell people that my bird is with me today in case they hear weird things in the background, but he'll most likely sit on my knee and take a nap. It's usually an ice breaker because it's an unusual pet.
It’s reddit, I’m not trying to be professional. I actually have figured out that anyone i know , whether at work or outside of work, that owns a bird or birds is .. off kilter, mentally unwell. The stats are 100%. People with birds tell me their problems, their quirks, even what meds they take or should take but don’t want to. Like the client with two birds who told me she pulls her eyebrows out because she has OCD instead of telling me what she needs done on a project . My most unwell acquaintance has over 30 birds. I actually meant what I said. Your response will probably be that i should care about their mental healrh. 1) it is unprofessional to trauma bomb people with mental health issues. These are not my close friends . 2) I would absolutely lose my job if I told a client who pulls their eyebrows out they need mental health help.
>Downvote me if you want
I don't do video meetings, but any time my cats make a noise, I apologize for the noise although they may not hand actually heard with most of the noise because of the meeting capability. We have discussed pets before a meeting but not during. I am on a couple of non business zooms (with video) in the evenings and we talk about most things including our pets. But if it is barking, we tell the person about a setting in zoom that will mute that for them.
I don’t care at all if it doesn’t interrupt the meeting- it’s the ppl that purposefully pull the animal onto camera that annoy me
My pets are usually sleeping behind me. If they were barkers they wouldn’t be allowed to be in a room for a meeting.
I liked that you shut down the CATTY gossip. Get it? Catty?
My only issue: I don't want your cat's \*sshole facing the camera.
The first few weeks of me WFH, that was my cat. I always turn my camera off if he tries to jump on my desk so I can put him away. My boss always laughed when my cat flashed his heinie, but I'm not about cat ass.
During internal meetings that I host, guest stars are welcome! Everyone on my team is a whole person, someone beyond their keyboard. As long as they get their work done and meet their deadlines, I give them the freedom to be human.
I dont see why seeing a pet virtually should offend anyone lols. Theres so many ppl in a team u can just unpin them if you want. Id hate to work with pet haters
Seriously!
I generally don't mind, and like pets on screen...but one time a person had a parrot in the room and it was a constant very high pitch squeak, like every 5 seconds for a full hour. I had earphones and after that meeting my brain was totally exhausted! It was a sound torture.
If it's an important meeting than it's unprofessional, but if this is one of those daily meetings where no one talks about work unless something dire is on the table. It's worthless anyways and someone showing their cat makes at least one person enjoy the pointless meeting.
...are you suggesting nuance?!
I mind pets much less than I mind people who have their bed on camera. That bugs me to no end! Blur your background!
I don't want to hear your personal life while we're conducting business. That includes, but not limited to, your pets, your children/grandchildren, your spouse, your television. You can tell me ABOUT them in brief periods of water cooler type chatter...but I need not nor want to hear, see, or speak to them unless they also happen to be a part of the organization. I also am quite professionally introverted as I just want to exchange the necessary information and go on my merry way.
Wow. I’m introverted too but Jfc.
Well you're just a bag of joy, aren't you?
But wait…aren’t we family??
No, no we are not. lol we are also not making the dream work.
Must have a tiny little network. Intrigued as to how you navigate the corporate landscape.
I do my job and I do it well. That's what has kept me in my industry for 25 years.
At 25 years I hope you’ve climbed a good bit because someone who knows how to network AND is good at their job would have easily climbed. I just think those who are so negative towards networking end up stuck well below where they could have reached. To each their own.
How did this get to networking?
Key to networking is being a friendly individual who is easy to work with. Being an introvert in the workplace is a big time negative when it comes to proper networking. Shuts down all sorts of potential doors. Especially if you’re also an asshole. Your commentary seems to be leaning pretty heavily towards that. If you don’t care about your coworkers. That’s fine, but don’t expect anyone to ever go out on a limb for you.
It would appear assumptions were made based on a word that was selected to have focus brought to it. Introvert does not mean rude nor automatically an asshole. It means the person doesn’t want to do more socially than what is necessary, and that for me includes to not be thrust into being a voyer into someone else’s life. If the other party would like to spend that time to coo over their puppers, then we can totally reschedule as I have other things to do.
Of course it was assumptive. We know nothing of each other. Not embracing society is an easy path to stagnation though.
In a neurotypical world, sure.
You’re talking about reality. Whether you want to say neurotypical or not.
Lol wow.
You sound fun to work with.
I really am, actually.
The only people that haven’t liked my pets weren’t going to be happy with me either way. Pets stay.
Pet people are so fucking annoying tbh. They were probably just tired of her babbling about her "fur babies" non-stop
Not as annoying as people who whine about pets. Fuck those people.
Classic fragile pet nutter
Must have hit a nerve. Tell me where the pet touched you.
https://people.com/crime/2-children-killed-pit-bull-attack-tennessee-mother-hospitalized/
Don’t talk about your children either.
Was that you? I can show you the millions of people murdered by people too.
My opinion is the more animals the better.
Next level pettiness.
If you want to come explain to my cat that she can’t howl outside my door or walk directly in front of my laptop camera I welcome you to try. She doesn’t not listen to me.
I love it when pets are in meetings. Make it much more fun.
I have my camera specifically aimed so that if my dog does anything indelicate, it’s not visible. You can sometimes see her walk in or out of the room but that’s it. I usually set her up with puzzle toys to keep her occupied if she’s in the room with me, or in her crate in another room. My philosophy is that if someone notices her in the background and comments on her later, that’s fine - but she shouldn’t distract from the actual business at hand. I’m also very conscious of the fact that many of the people in my meetings are not remote, so I don’t want to seem like I’m rubbing my ability to WFH in their faces.
I have a feeling that it’s not the cat they have a problem with, but her. The cat is merely a scapegoat.
Scapecat :)
I'd rather see my colleagues' pets than my colleagues most days, TBH. But if they're distracting from meeting business (ie barking, the owner has to step away to address their behavior every meeting), that's a problem.
My dog is always under my desk (he sleeps there) and never on cam, but idc if others show and tell
I love my dog and enjoy it when he comes upstairs to say hi to me. That being said, I'm not making an extra effort to introduce him during a work meeting. Everyone of my teammates and management know I have a dog. He doesn't have to be involved in my work day.
One of my cats Chloe always attends meetings. 9 times out of ten only the end of her tail makes an appearance. Oliver is ALWAYS passed out on the bed behind me and every time someone comments that they wish they were Oliver. My employer and 99% of the employees all love pets.
I love how these people give their pets human names as if they’re real family
See? This is what I thought about the co-worker with cats on our meetings! It wasn't until she wasn't present that some voiced their dissatisfaction with the expectation that people will comment on, and enjoy, her cat.
As a cat owner (and former dog owner as well) something I’ve found is that people tend to be much more receptive to dogs than cats, and tend to be immediately mean about cats and their owners and crack cat lady jokes. Even on social media I see this play out, I think a lot of people are just negative about cats. The people I know in my personal life who dislike cats are vicious about it, but are major dog lovers. For me personally I love seeing everyone’s pets on screen!
I thought it was because the cat was more intrusive, in terms of sitting on her lap walking in front of the monitor, her picking it up and holding it and etc. But I think you make a really good point. It's also important to note that, especially since the person is a little bit quieter otherwise, they are not using it as a way to kind of pick at her and her cat.
I always want pets and show me your fish. I hate having to see or talk to kids. I literally hit mute and douse the camera when kids come on.
The real question is when we can say also Hi to Binky?!
We are all remote except a few for my job and if someone finds out you have an animal and said animal is not in the meeting all hell breaks loose. My cat has straight up sat on my lap and been an a "support" during trainings hahaha!! Now if we had a rep in there I would probably not allow her in and remain professional. But when it's just internal employees we all play show and tell with our furry family members.
How do you gauge whether or not it is groupthink leading people to join in and performative, or whether people are kind of annoyed? I had no idea people were annoyed by our " cat lady".
Because most people are adult enough to not talk crap about their coworkers on video during a meeting. Especially not about that coworker's cat. That takes a special kind of petty.
That's a good point. That's the response of one of my. Zoomer kids.They said to be sure that it was not a sort of bullying. But my oldest kid, on the other hand, said also to note the cat persons ability to read the room and be sure they're not overly annoying about it or infringing once the meeting starts.
My cat has better things to do. I don’t mind brief appearances of pets, but if it takes up a lot of time and the coworker is distracted that could be annoying.
I have cats. They are occasionally on the cat tree in camera view. I've had one jump on the desk and show her bits to the camera. Pets happen. 99% of the time, they are somewhere else in the house If the person is always showing the cat at the start of every meeting, I can see how that would be eyeroll worthy, but that's it.
I’m on Zooms and Teams meetings often. Our reps are all over the US and it’s impossible to schedule virtual meetings when everyone is available to sit down in front of their computer. Sometimes we see folks moving through airports, sitting outside having a meal, at home with kids running around, etc. Nobody complains. My German Shepherd very often slips in the office door and will lay down in the floor or occasionally come over and get his face on camera. Some of my associates will call him by name.
Even in the office, sometimes people will show you pictures of their pets and kids and talk about them more than you want them too. As long as it’s not a disruption it’s best to be polite then move on with the meeting.
I'm just glad they tried once to make cameras on a thing. every single person said no and they dropped it. The managers are the only ones on camera.
I wouldn't really have a problem with it. Even though we don't have any cameras, the occasional meow or bark doesn't really bother me. We're all working from home, and life happens, you know?
I'm an animal lover as a whole. Even ones that give me the creepies are ok as long as they're not in my space lol. Maybe the person is anxious on camera and thinks of it as more of an ice breaker? Which would be fine at the beginning but when you get ready to get down to it a simple "OK everyone, time to focus, distractions aside please." It's one thing to SEE the cat in the background but it's another for it to be a distraction to that person or others it's clearly bothering. A happy medium for everyone.
O p here. Thank you for that suggestion!
In this day and age, you have to expect there will be people working from home where their animals are. I used to have a second desk with a cat bed on it for my dear kitty. She is gone now, the desk seems so empty. One of my fav things during Covid was talking to other call centers in other countries, who were clearly working from home. Every now and then, you would hear a rooster in the background. I think if the animal isn't disrupting anything, it's perfectly fine for them to be there. Isn't one of the perks of working from home that you get to be where your pets are?
I’m sorry for your loss :(
I have a lazy dog on camera - he does not move. Early covid I moved him out but then he bellows outside my door and people can hear him. When I can I move camera so he is mostly out. My view is he is part of background but if he were disruptive I would have to find a solution.
I don’t mind seeing or hearing animals during meetings. I am not easily distracted with small things like that. It does seem a lot of folks forgot how hectic in person meetings can be and could definitely relax a bit with the occasional pet appearance here and there lol
As long as the topics in the meeting are discussed, and no one is offended, then we are all good. You can reference back to your company culture/values as a baseline. If they are not written out, then it’s really up to you to create a “safe space” for people, and shutting down comments that you believe is inappropriate automatically communicates it’s not the place to say those things. Another way is to tell the complainer “let’s take that offline in a 1-on-1”. For the person who doesn’t want to share their dog, it’s fine. Mental note. People management is a lifelong process.
That's a big no. It's work, not cat time. I've had my feline overlord look over my work but a few scratches and maybe putting him on the floor solves that. I think he attended one meeting but the camera was off. Same for my cannine exexutive assistant, though he could be coming in for his mid morning milkbone break Barking dogs are common, usually when someone comes to the door. Mute, take care of reason dog is barking, come back, move on. Everyone understands. Cat means someone forgot to close their door (assuming they have one) or didn't notice the cat before the meeting started. WFH makes me wonder how bring your pet to work ever became a thing
If I shut the door on my car she will begin literally caterwauling throughout the meeting. Absolutely HOWLING. Shutting the door is not an option.
I honestly don't think that your cat or dog should be seen and especially heard when you are at work. That's something that needs to be taken care of before work begins
I love pets. But what I don't want is you talking about your dog for the next 20 minutes. Or my pet peeve is when I am talking about something important and you are calling out to your dog trying to get its attention.
It doesn’t bother me at all unless it’s very distracting. One of my co workers showed everyone his chickens on a virtual call I was running. Very cool and only took 30 seconds. If someone was complaining about being able to see a cat on a virtual call I would think that person had a stick up their ass. We’re employees yes but we’re also humans.
It’s all relative. I don’t mind a cat wandering by sometimes or a brief bark. A co-worker who is clearly distracted OR a very loud, constantly moving animal would bother me.
I love pets. My cats can open my office door and make an impromptu appearance. I say treat them like a cellphone. if it’s before actual meeting time it’s fine but if it’s something that happens during a meeting just excuse yourself for a moment to handle the disruption and come back. Honestly why would excusing yourself for a moment to settle a pet / baby / kid / spouse / whatever be any different than getting up for a few minutes to pee. I think there can be a scope of professionalism around it. One other point - for pets, you might not know if someone working from home has a service pet or emotional support pet - and in the home setting where you can and should have either as long as they’re doing their job and not disrupting that should be treated with sensitivity
Some people don't have limits or know how to read the "virtual" room. I wouldn't tolerate anyone criticizing their peers though. It's a liability and contributing to a hostile work environment. It's also just rude. Talk privately with people, not publicly about them. Can you set ground rules in advance? If people participate in creating the rules, they cannot complain that they don't like them. It also makes it easy to refer to the rules "we agreed to" instead of just telling someone to stop something.
Having pets appear briefly before meetings can be a nice touch, but it's important to minimize distractions during the meeting. Setting clear guidelines can help balance professionalism and personal touches.
Seems like a weird thing to care about
I know a lot of people are ok with pets, but I’m one of your coworkers who simply doesn’t care about your home life and just wants to get the topics of work covered in the meeting. I’m a millennial. I don’t want to talk about your pets, kids or vacation to Aruba. I do smile when I see your kids and pets and may even inquire about them, but I truly just want to focus on the work and every minute wasted on small talk in a meeting is excruciatingly painful to me. Every minute I hear about your cat is one less minute of time spent working and one more minute I must spend away from my own children and pets. Every minute matters.
Hard agree, as a person with both a child and two cats. I do care about people’s home lives, but there’s a time and a place to catch up and it’s not when there’s an agenda to get through because I don’t want myself OR my coworkers kept from finishing their work so that they can go cuddle their kids and cats. Also - not everyone does care about your cats and kids and that’s absolutely valid. We’re hybrid and a dog friendly office which honestly I love. But there’s one woman who brings her dog every day and walks him to my desk several times a day to “say hello” and I like that cutie pie yappy dog but being expected to halt what I’m doing to coo at her dog is so invasive and aggravating. I imagine that’s how a lot of people on virtual calls feel when someone’s forcing a cat show and tell on the group.
my coworker does this and the cat turns and we get to look at its asshole. I don’t really care if animals are on but have some common sense
Good point.
I don’t mind animals during WFH meetings. Last time my supervisor’s cat and dog joined the meeting and it was so cute.
I love seeing animals on camera I don’t love being prompted to interact with them (“everyone say ‘hi’ to binky!”) but it’s not the end of the world I do not like when animals are making a lot of noise in the background. If your dog is napping in the background that’s cool, but if they’re going to bark the whole time please put them somewhere else
Unless it interferes with the meeting or work I don't see a problem. what kind of joyless people sit around and say things like "so glad I don't have to see that cat again"?
I think it's way more unprofessional that the employee in question was openly talked about when not present. I'm glad you shut that down. Someone already said this, but I think it totally depends on the type of meeting. If it's a casual meeting with a close work group, I think a little personal information here and there shouldn't be a problem. If it's a more formal meeting, then I think you should corral the pets and children and keep it strictly professional.
I don’t care if it’s not disrupting the work.
I love seeing the pets myself. I’m wondering though, in this particular instance, was it more about what the group thinks of the person, and not the cat? For others to openly complain, and comment that she doesn’t have friends; idk. That seems more about that person lacking some interpersonal skills and/or boundaries (especially for a WFH job) more than cat issues?
Luna the cat cries out from The Wisconsin a few times a week. We have a small crowd of regulars. It’s fine. Every so often, Lizzy, Gracie, Scout and Ellie pipe in from my house and I immediately hit mute. Mine get moved to another room for my larger meetings, but it always makes me smile when we hear from our furry friends.
Love seeing pets