This is what he wants people to know the next time their child makes a video-call cameo.
For parents working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, video calls can be a source of stress. Embarrassing interruptions from your kiddo(s) could happen at any moment–no matter how well you had planned to keep them occupied.
To address these worries, and those of anyone else doing their job remotely, Aaron Mahl, VP and consultant at Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a higher-education, enrollment-management service, has been starting his video calls with a special message. “I’ve begun to share a slide at the beginning of virtual meetings that forbid apologizing for things like kids interrupting, dogs barking, spouses/partners/kids walking by on camera behind you, and background noises, due to the reality that your home is not just a home, but multiple workplaces and a K-12 institution,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
In a comment, he shared a photo of the slide, which contained five bullet points. Some things he prohibited people from doing included apologizing if their child’s rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on their stringed instrument is “loud enough for all to hear” and if they clocked out “for a few minutes because so much is going on.”
It’s no surprise why he’s so understanding and considerate of others working from home; he is a dad in the same boat. “Just this past week, it was my daughter walking into my office on camera right at the beginning of an important online presentation–and not leaving until I gave her a piece of white paper so she could do her art project. So yes, it was a very important interruption,” he wrote. And those examples he mentioned on his slide? He hilariously revealed those were all things that actually happened to him over the span of three days!
As noted in his post, Aaron believes the “humanizing of colleagues” has been a silver lining of the pandemic. “Because of these new realities, I’m seeing and experiencing genuine care and compassion from people I’ve never met face-to-face,” he wrote. “We’re truly having a shared experience.”
His simple gesture is a wonderful way of paying it forward.
We applaud Aaron for finding a thoughtful solution to ease people’s concerns about video calls from home. Because of coronavirus lockdown, everyone has had to make major adjustments to their lifestyle. Kudos to him for acknowledging that interruptions happen, and when they do, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
Career
This is what he wants people to know the next time their child makes a video-call cameo.
Every work video call during coronavirus lockdown should start like this.
