Big Brother on Teams: The Day My Screen Stopped Being Mine

A Personal Story

During the COVID lockdowns, working from home became the new normal for millions of people. For some, it meant flexibility, comfort, and freedom. For me, it became something entirely different.

What I remember most clearly is the moment my manager told me I had to stay connected on Microsoft Teams all day. Not for collaboration, not for scheduled check-ins, but so she could see my screen while she worked on her own tasks.

Her words still echo in my mind:

“You just keep working on your tasks, and I’ll do my own work, but I’ll be watching your screen.”

I froze. At first, I laughed nervously, thinking maybe she was joking. But she wasn’t.

From that day on, my screen was no longer mine. Every click, every pause, every hesitation, I felt them being observed. Instead of feeling like a professional trusted to do my job, I felt like a child under surveillance, tethered to an invisible leash.

The physical distance of remote work was supposed to create space for trust. Instead, it magnified mistrust. Instead of adapting together to a global crisis, I felt policed in my own living room.

The Emotional Impact

At first, I tried to rationalize it. “It’s just the pandemic. It won’t last long. Maybe this is her way of managing the stress too.” But the longer it went on, the more it wore me down.

I felt exposed, as though my privacy had been stripped away. The home that was supposed to be my safe space had turned into a monitored office.

I felt anxious, constantly aware of being watched, my creativity shrinking under the pressure.

I felt angry, because in one of the most difficult times in modern working life, what I needed was support and empathy, and what I got instead was suspicion.

But underneath it all, there was sadness. A quiet disappointment in realizing that all the effort I had given over the years was only valued if it could be checked and tracked.

Have you ever felt more like you were being watched than being supported at work?

A Larger Issue Beyond Me

As I later discovered, my experience wasn’t unique. Many workers during COVID faced the rise of digital surveillance: programs that tracked keystrokes, logged mouse movements, or even monitored through webcams.

On paper, these tools were described as ways to “boost productivity.” In reality, they often created a climate of fear and resentment. Instead of building stronger teams, they signaled mistrust. Instead of increasing motivation, they drained it.

Work stopped being about results. It became about control. And when control replaces trust, everyone loses.

Lessons Learned

Looking back now, I see that period as more than frustration. It was a turning point in how I think about work.

I realized that trust is not optional, it’s the foundation of any healthy team. Micromanagement doesn’t bring out the best in people; it breaks them down. It pushes them into survival mode, where energy is spent not on doing good work, but on avoiding mistakes under constant watch.

I also learned the importance of boundaries, even in remote work. Just because we can be online and available all the time doesn’t mean we should. Without boundaries, work swallows everything else, our focus, our confidence, even our sense of self.

Most of all, I discovered something about myself. My work is strongest not when I’m being observed, but when I’m being trusted. Respect fuels productivity far more than supervision ever could.

Final Reflection

Remote work was meant to teach us new ways of balancing life and collaboration. And in many places, it did. But my own experience revealed the darker side of what happens when trust is replaced by surveillance.

If you’ve ever felt that your worth was measured not by what you achieved, but by how closely someone could monitor you, then you know the sting of working under watch.

The real lesson is simple: people don’t need to be monitored to do their best work, they need to be trusted.

If you had been in my place, with your screen under constant watch, how would you have reacted?

Written by Menta - because sometimes trust matters more than any deadline.