Colleagues,
As we now find face-to-face office meetings giving way to a new era of face-to-screen conferencing, there is a new set of guidelines that we all should consider and heed in a remote working situation. Below, please find some suggestions that you may find helpful and that will keep you comfortable and productive in the remote conferencing environment.
- Use the video option — Let your meeting attendees see you. This is of particular importance if you are the meeting host or you are speaking. Let your meeting attendees see you and confirm who is speaking. Demonstrate that you are an active meeting participant.
- Dress appropriately — When hosting or participating in a ZOOM or video conference from home, it’s a good idea to dress like you would when coming to work. Sweatpants, and pajamas while comfortable, are not professional. Dressing for work may also make you feel a little more normal during these unsettling times.
- Stage your video area — Bear in mind that meeting attendees aren’t just seeing you, they are also seeing whatever the camera is pointed at behind you. Having a completely bare wall or a window with heavy light coming through should be avoided. A background with a bookcase or a credenza with wall hangings above it would be ideal. A background that is “clean,” tasteful and presentable is important.
- Try to look into the camera — If you are speaking to a group, looking into the camera will give the appearance of eye contact. Be aware of this particularly if you have multiple screens. If you are reading a document or presenting material ensure that content is on the same screen as your camera.
- Stay on mute if you are not talking — This is ESSENTIAL meeting etiquette! Background noise can be distracting. If you are not sharing anything at the moment, you should remain on mute until talking or presenting.
- Don’t eat during the meeting — It can be distracting to watch other people eat. Try to hold off on eating if you can, or if not, consider turning off the video and audio until you are finished eating.
- Don’t do other “private” things during a meeting — We’ve heard the stories about people using the bathroom during a video conference, thinking they were muted or off video. Try to remain focused while participating in a meeting, and make certain that your audio and video are both turned off before turning to your next task or attending to private matters.
- Stay focused — Try to stay on task, and prevent meetings form runnig longer than they have to. Keep unnecessary conversation to a minimum. Productivity can be affected when several people are talking at once.
- Make private meetings private — If you share details about how to log into the meeting on a public platform, you might get some unwelcome visitors. Share meeting sign-in details only with those who are required to participate in the meeting.
- Don’t ZOOM and drive — It sounds simple enough, but people do try to multitask in this manner. Enough said!
- The host should be the last one to leave — If the host closes the meeting, the meeting ends. To make sure no one gets cut off or a final point is missed, the host should remain in the meeting until all other participants have closed out.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Thanks,
Clem Campana
Published: Fri, 21 Aug 2020 12:15:17 +0000 by c.campana