Very well written and it really highlights the problem with bad managers:
“... requiring workers to appear on camera all day long is horrible management. It says, “I don’t trust you to work if you don’t feel my eyes on you all day long.” But even more than that, it says, “I’m a terrible manager and don’t have the skills to know whether you’re doing your job.” ”<p>There are other less intrusive ways for a manager to keep track (or spy) the team. A common chat session, slack or whichever software, where people organize daily tasks, ask for help, delegate tickets and report progress. Someone participating in the chat, or keeping a log of the discussions (DPGR warning here) can see what everyone else is doing ;-)
It doesn’t have to be bad. It’s about intent from the boss.<p>But for the first few months of working from home, out team had a constant conference meeting. One could just unmute and call out: “has anyone check that latest mail? Ill take care of it”. And we where all aligned. It worked very very well.
There was also a lot of bantering and chatting going on, like you would have in an office.
There is another possible reason the manager feels it is necessary to have everyone on camera so that they can watch you work.<p>It is possible that it has become obvious that the manager's position is not needed and that the employees are doing their work without the manager just fine.<p>So they feel it is necessary to do this to justify their position.