In a world where social distancing becomes necessary, going virtual for work is the way to go. With the reality that Covid-19 is officially announced as a pandemic, more and more organizations are telling their employees to work remotely. But work still needs to get done, and new tasks still come up every week. Instead of conducting a regular meeting at the office, companies now would need to have online meetings to assign or discuss pending work. These are some of the basic rules to run an online meeting.
1. Choose a reliable platform
First of all, it’s important to choose a platform for everyone attending the meeting to use. Although Skype is a common app to use for video-calls, sometimes workplaces can employ Skype for virtual meetings as well. However, for professional video-calling apps, the usually popular choices are ON24, Zoom, and GoToMeeting. These platforms could usually have many participants in the meeting, and for some, the meetings could even be recorded.
2.Test your PC and connection before the meeting
“Testing, testing one two three” doesn’t work only for microphones. Sometimes, it’s also important to check for online meetings. Set up the call early, and test the connection and video lag before the actual meeting. If the Wi-Fi connections are not fast, then use mobile data for faster Internet connection.
3. Always video-call
Sometimes, there are people who take advantage of online meetings by choosing to go audio. The reason they don’t want to use their video function? “My connection’s not that strong, so I’ll just use a regular call function.” In reality, this reason can make a person seem unprofessional for not following a basic rule in a meeting. Call it traditional, but being there for a meeting will require the face of the attendees to be seen. Online meetings are just as hard as the regular ones as people attending the meetings must give their undivided attention.
4. The mute button is a no-no
Since the meeting attendees should have their attention given through video, their audio should also be heard as well. Some people take the chance to mute their part out of the meetings so they could reply to emails or texts on their phones. This isn’t right because their attention will be divided and the meeting becomes obsolete if one person’s not taking part of it. And so, steer clear of the mute button, and speak when the time comes.
5. Find a quiet space
Imagine attending an online meeting, and people hear from more than one attendee background music from Netflix series or children screaming. They can be distracting and lead the meeting to be counterproductive. Remember, although working remotely does not require going to the office, people still need to designate a proper space to work. Find a quiet room to work in the house, and make sure to tell others in the house to not disturb you during the online meeting.
6. Angle-checking is important
The right angle speaks a million words. When going on online meetings, the angle from a laptop camera would let the meeting participants see people’s face and chin. Adjust the angle to look not too big (and scare people with the low angle!) and check the lighting to look presentable. Again, these are the things to check before the actual meeting begins.
7. Dress for a meeting
Working remotely has given a leeway for dressing up. People can be casual and comfortable so long as work gets done. However, the rules do not apply for online meetings. Some people can even wear blouses and decent shirts, and still look like they’re topless because of the laptop camera angle. Avoid clothes with low necklines, and choose sturdy and formal-looking clothes. Attendees in the online meeting will take these people who dress for meetings more seriously than those who don’t.
8. Check the little details
Some of the smaller details to cover would be using the right earphones. Use your own instead of opting for your child’s sticker-covered headphones. Online meetings call for undivided attention, so close all the other windows, tabs and applications. Give your complete attention throughout the whole meeting. If you’re sitting on an office chair with wheels, do not spin on it unnecessarily during the virtual meeting. The sounds heard through the meeting can be disturbing and counterproductive.