I have a somewhat low-stakes question that has been puzzling me lately. I’m wondering where the line is for interactions between me and my cat on Zoom calls. What is professional and what is not? My team is informal, with no dress code, and we sometimes show off our cats on video chats. My cat definitely visits me more than their cats, though, and climbs up on my shoulder expecting to be held, so is highly visible. Once up on my shoulder, she will sometimes give me a headbutt or two.
Here’s a list of behaviors, from most permissible to least permissible (in my opinion): where is the line?
* Is it okay if my cat jumps into my lap?
* Once my cat jumps on, should I remove her or can I let her remain?
* Is it okay if I am visibly holding my cat on my shoulder?
* What about petting her while she’s on my shoulder? Or petting her when she’s on my lap? Should I be concerned that this movement is visually distracting to others?
* What if she headbutts me? (My cat loves to do this, often)
* Can I occasionally kiss her on the head when she headbutts me? (This is the one I’m most sure the answer to will be “no”.)I will note, this question is only for my immediate team; I have more reservations about interacting with my cat when I have a meeting with other teams at the company who I know less well. I have a feeling if I asked my manager, she would say she doesn’t mind (she has a relaxed management style) but I want to get a feeling of what you think the baseline is in general.
The cat in question is Babka, the black one with the piercing stare. The other cat, Momo, loves her heated blanket and stays there all day; she has appeared on a video call exactly once.
The three guiding principles:
1. Your cat should not be a distraction to other people in the meeting (or, if your team culture is one where pet distractions are welcome, should not be a distraction more often or for a longer time than other people’s pets are).
2. Your interaction with your cat shouldn’t make it look to other people like you aren’t engaged in the meeting.
3. You should calibrate your cat interaction to the level of interaction other people on the call have with their pets — and in particular, people who are perceived as competent and engaged. (In other words, don’t calibrate to the team slacker’s level.)
That means that a lot of the questions you’re asking will be team-specific, but if I had to give general, widely-applicable advice (assuming an office where pets on camera is a thing that happens):
* It’s okay if your cat is in your lap as long as you don’t shift your attention from the meeting to the cat, and as long as her presence there doesn’t prevent you from taking notes if you need to. (In most Zoom meetings, your lap probably won’t be visible anyway.)
* A cat on your shoulder is more distracting than a cat in your lap, and I would not keep her there during a meeting unless it’s an extremely occasional novelty (like annually, not weekly). However, a cat on your shoulder is also awesome.
* Petting a cat who’s on your shoulder or in your lap: Keep her mostly off your shoulder, but if she’s there, petting her will definitely be more of a distraction since that’s movement right by your face. In your lap, people probably won’t see it anyway; just be aware of what movements are showing on camera so those don’t distract people.
* An occasional headbutt is delightful but, yes, distracting. Try to keep it to occasional.
* Do not kiss your cat on the head during meetings. You may, however, do this immediately once you are off camera.
#pet #cat #video #calls #Manager
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