A few months ago, flexi hours and working from home were perks offered to few employees, especially here in South Africa. Today, a quick scan of job websites will reveal that most companies are looking for remote workers.

But working from home has caused the corporate façade that some of us have spent years cultivating to slip. Every day we invite our co-workers into our homes and they get to see our at-home personas and the pile of dishes in the sink, especially if our desk is the kitchen table.

If you work for a multinational, you have a glimpse of what’s happening in homes on the other side of the world as well.

Sometimes, the views have been refreshing and at other times, crude or downright hilarious: the fodder of many Youtube videos.

You must have heard about the man who started talking to his cat in the middle of a 68-person conference call without realizing his microphone was on. Did you see the zoom call where one employee said goodbye but forgot to end the call and then stood up and gave his colleagues a close-up of his genitals and butt?

Or the one where a lecturer delivered a talk with his TV on behind him? You probably guessed it… he had tuned into a porn channel before the talk and I guess none of his students bothered to tell him to turn it off.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE AND DURING A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE CEO:

1. Get dressed.

2. Wear pants.

3. Make sure you kids are occupied and fed. Better yet, lock the door if they are old enough.

4. Notify the entire household that you will be in a conference call. There is less chance of someone farting, burping or screaming expletives in the background. Or your spouse running past the screen naked. Yes, that’s happened too.

5. Don’t check your email or phone or flit between screens during a conference call. You might just forget your video is on and pick your nose.

6. Say goodbye, end the call and then get up. It’s just safer, in case you are not wearing pants.

7. Don’t go to the bathroom during a video call. You might become famous for the wrong reason.

8. Mute yourself. Your microphone is sensitive and picks up even the faintest sound, like your mother telling you to “Get your ass downstairs to eat.” Or you munching on chips.

Clearly, when your commute is the distance from your bed to your desk there is a lot that can go wrong. Make sure you are observing the correct conference call etiquette or your colleagues might get more than they bargained for. Albeit unwittingly.

Here are a few reasons why putting pants on before a conference call is important: