A 'Blissfully Unaware' Employee Accidentally Took A Shower During A Zoom Team Meeting In Front Of His Co-Workers
He had no idea that his camera and mic were on.
PERO studio / Shutterstock Since the pandemic, virtual meetings have become quite standard. With that came a host of tricky moments ranging from awkward technical difficulties to children running around in the background making a ruckus. However, one woman shared a particularly wild story she heard of an employee accidentally flashing his entire team during a virtual meeting.
The employee accidentally took a shower during a Zoom team meeting in front of his co-workers.
Career content creator Liz Miller explained that the incident occurred at her friend's company during their all-sales team meeting. The company is a hybrid work environment, so some employees were taking the call remotely while a group joined from the office.
"The in-office group was a couple of minutes late, and worth noting, the leadership was also in the office. Anyone with hosting privileges was not in the meeting right when it started," Miller explained. "It's like a group of remote employees waiting for the meeting to start."
"A very, very brand new employee was ... blissfully unaware that his camera was on and he was not muted," she said, "and he proceeded to take a shower in front of his entire sales organization."
All of his co-workers and managers unfortunately caught a glimpse of him entirely naked.
"He has to resign, right?" Miller joked. Honestly, who could blame him for not wanting to show his face in that office ever again?
Miller suggested that the major takeaway from that story — other than to always double-check that your camera is off — should be gratitude. Whatever kind of day you're having, it likely isn't anywhere near as bad as someone accidentally showering in front of their entire team and management.
Many employees prefer to have meetings in person compared to virtually.
While most people have become accustomed to doing a lot of work virtually, including meetings, an estimated 47% of Americans still prefer to have in-person meetings over virtual ones. Similarly, it was found that one in four employees (76%) say they get more distracted when on video calls vs. in-person meetings.
Employees admitted to checking emails and texts, multitasking, scrolling on social media, surfing the internet, playing video games, and even completing household chores, all while in a work meeting virtually.
Of course, there's also the argument that many work meetings are deemed unnecessary and distract employees from the actual projects and deadlines that they have to complete.
"Too often, the answer to any work issue is 'let’s meet,'" Cathi Rittelmann, Korn Ferry, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry, a consulting firm, told CNBC. "While collaboration is absolutely what drives innovation and success in today’s global marketplace, it’s time to get creative with how we use our time together."
"Meetings aren’t necessarily bad," Rittelmann added, "but the way we prep and lead them can sometimes derail productivity."
Whichever side of the scale you fall on when it comes to virtual meetings or meetings in general, we can all agree that there needs to be a certain level of professionalism and respect for each other's time and boundaries. Unfortunately, it seems the employee Miller was recounting in her story didn't quite get the memo and unintentionally crossed a line.
Hopefully, his blunder forces us to remember to be extra vigilant when entering virtual meetings so that the lines between personal and professional do not cross. It's a hilarious reminder that we should always double-check our camera and audio settings to avoid any awkward mishaps.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.