Meeting Room Guidelines
Virtual Meetings can be made very effective and easy, if we follow some very simple guidelines. Here are some guidelines that we recommend:
- Test your equipment and your connection speed before the call
- Put on your video as far as possible. That is the idea of a virtual meeting. If you just want audio, we may as well do a phone call.
- Don’t hit mute, unless you have unwanted noise in the background (which should not be there, in the first place!)
- Dedicate space. Find a dedicated space where you cannot be interrupted by children, spouses or other distractions. You will be able to spend your allotted meeting time more effectively.
- Check your angles. Ensure that the lighting is appropriate and in front of you. A little bit of depth behind you always helps. So don’t get too close to the wall behind you. And keep the camera at eye level, to avoid having the camera looking up your nose!
- Work from home, but dress for work. You will work better if you get dressed for it. Also, people on the other end of your call will take you more seriously.
Small details can make a big difference: Here’s a quick list of little details that will improve your virtual meetings: Use headphones. When possible, use an external microphone if you have one. Don’t have Venetian blinds behind you (the light moving in and out of them wreaks havoc on the other person’s display). Close competing applications on your screen, and throughout your house. Mute your computer and phone alerts for texts, emails and other notices that might go off during the meeting. And whilst sitting and swirling in an office chair may be cool generally, it definitely is not cool in a virtual meeting!