Virtual meetings, once reserved for accommodating working professionals in different geographical locales and time zones, are now commonplace, thanks in large part to the global pandemic. But one phenomenon that arose from virtual meetings that no one was expecting was this… our pets are now an integral part of those meetings, and our clients, colleagues and customers are here for it.
Let’s reflect on the evolution of the virtual meeting to confirm my point, shall we? Initially, when it became apparent that the workplace was shifting to a more virtual model, great lengths were taken to ensure that our “professionalism” remained intact, at least visually. Virtual backgrounds with our company’s logo emblazoned prominently gave the appearance of working from an office location but, many of us were working from makeshift offices at our kitchen and dining room tables. But as time progressed, reality began to chip away at the facade and slowly but surely, the lines were blurred between our professional and personal lives. Professional mullets were created where we looked 9 to 5 from the waist up but were rocking our favorite pair of shorts, sweats, or yoga pants below. Heels and dress shoes gave way to Crocs or your favorite slides and that’s when our pets decided they too would be a part of our meetings.
For some of us cat owners, it started with the nonchalant walk across our laps, in front of the computer screen. The next thing you know, the meeting takes a quick detour, where folks are asking, “Was that your cat? What’s their name? What kind of cat is that?” Before long, the meeting participants are connecting over their love of cats and not the proposal that they’ve been working on for months. It’s a welcome respite and an opportunity to connect on a personal level, which even the most introverted of us will admit we miss. This distraction provided an often-needed moment of connection and once our kitty cat realized he was a hit, there was no stopping him. He would continue to make guest appearances and, after a while, he’s the official mascot of your weekly huddle calls.
Dogs took an entirely different approach. My dog is a 70-pound Yellow Lab named Jane Austen (yes, she’s named after THE Jane Austen) and while she is named for a Regen-cy lady, she is no such thing. Austen made her appearance on a Zoom call in the most spectacularly obnoxious way possible. After discreetly letting her in from being out in the backyard, I inadvertently left my slippers on the floor beneath my desk and she quickly came to retrieve them and then got a case of the zoomies in the middle of the room, all the while holding my favorite (and expensive) slippers in her mouth, dodging my grasp, and ignoring my command to “drop it.” Meanwhile, I could hear my colleagues laughing in the background because in that moment, I forgot I was in a meeting, and they could hear the melee. After retrieving my slippers, I returned to the meeting out of breath and one of my colleagues remarked, “She’s a Regency lady in name only, huh Crishana?” I burst into laughter and said, “Her secret’s out,” and we spent the next few minutes talking about the various shenanigans our dogs have been involved in recently. We quickly got back on task but those few minutes of levity allowed us to reset, get a bit more energized and finish our meeting strong.
Once our pets gained an in, they continued to exert their influence. My colleagues have shared how their pets would protest loudly if meetings went too long and extended into their mealtimes. Barking, whining, and knocking their owner’s hands off the keyboard are just a few of the tactics used to try to cut a meeting short. My favorite tactic shared with me by one of my friends was her cat Eliza laying across her keyboard and refusing to get off the keyboard until she heard the pop of the seal of her cat food tin being opened. Some might say this was annoying, but I’d call it effective time management.
Just like the young children who interrupted their father during a live telecast for the BBC and gave a peek behind the curtain of remote work, our pets are also part of the narrative. Those of our col-leagues who are not parents but have fur (not hooman) babies are just as inclined to have those interruptions.
A lot has changed in our lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic but one positive that came from it was a better understanding of what remote work is and what it is not. No longer do we need to ex-plain to explain to anyone that our desks are our offices, that these offices are in our kitchens and that our children and pets will insinuate themselves in and out of our video calls. And I think I can speak for all of us when I say, I am here for it.
