# Workplace Surgery: pets on Zoom meetings

- **Episode:** [120](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/120.md) (2024-08-06)
- **Type:** workplace-surgery
- **Tags:** remote-work, zoom, pets
- **Time:** 31:48–37:11 (start 1908s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/120?t=1908](https://truthliesandwork.com/120?t=1908)

---

[31:48] Leanne Elliott: Yes
[31:49] Al Elliott: This one's a little bit closer to home, I think. So, I own an agency and most of my team work remotely, as I do. We have regular Zoom calls, but one team member always brings along her cat. So for the first 5 minutes, everyone's chatting about the cat and we don't get any real work done. So now subsequently, one of the other team members has started bringing their hamster along too. It is cute, but I'm convinced the pet owners aren't truly concentrating on the meeting. The hamster apparently peed on the last call. I'm guessing peed whilst they're on the call rather than peed on the computer. So his owner disappeared for a few minutes to clean it up. Now, I don't want to be a grumpy old woman, but at the same time, we have tight deadlines and everyone needs to to give their all to the meetings. So should I ban pets in the meetings? If so, how do I do it so it's not too mum-like?
[32:35] Leanne Elliott: No
[32:36] Al Elliott: No, what?
[32:37] Leanne Elliott: No, don't ban pets in the meetings. There's a few things in there. I mean, refer to previous answer about these are how we build the friendships and connections that we want in an organisation. You might have tight deadlines and you want people to give their all. They're still human and they have lives outside work. It's kind of like the carrot, the old carrot and the stick analogy, isn't it? Positive reinforcement is infinitely more effective than negative reinforcement. Oh, I think, you know what, I think just accept that the first 5 minutes is going to be about this. Or as I mentioned with the memes, make a thing of it. Um, you know, you don't want to exclude the people who don't have pets, so bring something interesting to the next meeting. Bring something that represents how your current mood that day, or what did you have for lunch, or— I think there's nothing wrong with spending the first 5 minutes of a meeting just chatting, because that's also what you do in, in face-to-face situations. You don't walk into a meeting room in silence, sit down and not look at each other until the meeting starts
[33:33] Al Elliott: That's true
[33:34] Leanne Elliott: So we're actually creating the virtual, you know, communication and the platforms we have, and we're lucky to have. They're intended to replicate what we do in, in face-to-face. So it's part of that. I understand there's a clearer boundary when that meeting starts because of the technology, but our human behavior isn't isn't that clean-cut. So I'd get over it. Add 5 minutes to your meeting if that's really, really bugging you. Um, it also says as well that perhaps you're getting a little bit frustrated, perhaps a little bit cynical, um, about some of this. I would wonder whether there's things that you can do to actually indulge in these 5 minutes to just help lighten your load, perhaps. Um, yeah, or perhaps there's other issues in terms of team performance that go a bit broader than this that need to be looked at. But if it's surface level, just the question that that you've sent in, get over it and add an extra 5 minutes to your meeting
[34:27] Al Elliott: I think it's quite telling that you say you don't want to appear too mum-like, which suggests to me that you already see yourself as a mum, which is not a great way to be an agency owner, a boss, a manager, or anything like that. You should be there to support them. Um, you could, yeah, if you want to, there could be, there could be some kind of sacrifice— uh, not sacrifice, what's the word? Um, um, when you meet in the middle, what's it called?
[34:46] Leanne Elliott: Compromise?
[34:46] Al Elliott: Compromise is exactly the word. There could be a compromise where you just Just go, right, okay, so we have Fun Mondays. Monday meetings are fun day meetings, and you bring along what you've done at the weekend, or you bring along your pets, or I don't know, a calendar you might have made. I think I might have got a little bit into show and tell
[35:02] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing is though, isn't it, is it's— is it's— I, I see leaders do that, and I see people do that because they're desperately trying to foster these more friendship-based relationships, because they know that builds camaraderie and collaboration and support and And psychological safety. Forcing these things can feel a bit awkward and can actually make people be a bit eye roll. We do the same thing every Friday. Um, so I think the thing is you're in this really lovely position where you've, you've already got that organically, that's happening. So I'd be really, really careful not to squash that. Um, I think it's more a case of, of maybe managing your own expectations. It goes on for 5 minutes and then And then you get started. Um, yeah, I don't know. I think— I don't know, Al, it just makes me feel a bit awkward. It's like, why wouldn't you want to have this, these types of relationships amongst your team? And all right, the man who's, you know, hamster peed, if that happens every meeting, then of course you say something. It happens once, whatever. Maybe I'm just in my August flow, but I'm like, ah, whatever, don't take it so seriously
[36:05] Al Elliott: As Danny said, outcome-based. If your team is doing the do, then fine, fine. And perhaps, perhaps it is, perhaps we're tying all this together because you feel really stressed and this is your way of boasting that you are really important with stress boasting, stress bragging. You, you said, wasn't it? That you're like, oh, well, it's just, you know, I'm so important and busy that I haven't got time for all this kind of, as my father, as my father would say, tomfoolery. Anyway
[36:31] Leanne Elliott: All this humanness. Yes
[36:32] Al Elliott: How dare they have fun at work? How dare they have a life outside? I'm sorry, OP, that sounds like a little bit like I'm having a go at you. I'm not. We're just poking a little bit of fun, but maybe take yourself a tiny bit less seriously and look at the outcomes. All right, it might be a high-stress environment, but this could be the way that they actually, they actually cope with the high stresses, to have fun when they do get together. And the other thing is, perhaps they're crying out for a bit of in-person. If they are all remote and they all do want to share a little something about their lives, perhaps it is time for the occasional in-person meeting
[36:59] Leanne Elliott: Excellent advice, Al
[37:01] Al Elliott: Thank you very much, Hope. I could be a chartered psychologist. Dead easy. Dead easy. Let's go to question number 3. Um, and I think you're gonna sense a tone here. And, and—