10 great habits for meeting virtually

Like it or not, we now work in a world of virtual meetings and home working.

This new reality we live in is relatively new, and there are many habits we should beware of when meeting with others virtually.

In this article, I’m going to outline ten great habits to make your next virtual meeting room seem like your meeting face to face.

Video Tips:

1) When you have something important to say, look into the camera.  This will give that critical eye to eye contact, which is always missed when meeting virtually.

2) Screen position: Your screen should be level with you so that your not looking down or up at the camera.  This can give the wrong impression.

3) Ideally, you should have a light source in front of you.  If you have your back to a window, the camera will attempt to compensate, and you will appear dark on camera.

If you can’t move into a position where the light source is in front of you, or get a lamp and turn it on during meetings.

4) Look at everyone in the meeting.  Zoom support up to 49 people and Teams has just increased their headcount on the screen to 9.  Be aware of the room and look for reactions when you speak

Audio Tips:

5)  Make sure there is no hiss, pop or echo from your microphone.  A quality audio connection is crucial during a meeting.

6) Background noises, typing or rustling of paper at your desk can be distracting.  Attempt to consider what noise you might be making that the mic is picking up.

7)   If you are not speaking, put yourself on mute.

Quality of Connection:

8) If you have slow internet at home, ask your family to stop streaming if you have an important meeting.  There’s nothing worse than a slow quality connection when someone has something important to say.

9) Close down all applications you might have open in the background on your desktop – this can save bandwidth.  Reboot your system as some applications can hang and hog up resources if left unattended.  A reboot fixes most of these problems.

10) If possible, use a hardwired connection into your router.  Wifi is convenient, but blackspots and mobile phones can chew up the bandwidth over home wifi.   A hardwired connection can give you a stable connection.

Technology plays a more prominent role for us every day, simple things like having the right microphone and camera can make a considerable improvement.  If you would like advice about the technology being used in your business, get in touch with us today.