Virtual meeting etiquette

Work from home is the new normal and its going to be this way mostly for most of the professionals for couple of years or more. How this pandemic is forcing us to accept this new digital era where everything is online from office meetings to schooling, trainings and coaching, to celebrating birthdays and events and so on. This pandemic has taught us the new way of communication through Zoom meetings, Skype calls, Google meet and now the new Jio meet that has opened their doors for the professionals who are still adjusting to work from home environment. Since past 4 months there are high chances that you must have attended number of meetings or events online.

So what has changed when we talk about etiquette part of it? When during normal times the companies and organisations used to follow guidelines and protocols for their employees when it came to following the etiquette during the meetings at their offices. The employees had to strictly adhere to those guidelines. With changing times everything changes. It’s a complete switch from board room or a class room to presenting online on the digital platforms. While there are many similarities between presenting in person or online, however we need to consider the work from home a bit seriously.

From setting up a dedicated space to your appearance, etiquette and mannerisms everything counts. We can’t ignore the fact that when working from home we have ample distractions which shifts our focus from these little details that can hamper our professional image and the impression we create. So let’s see what are the etiquette rules we need to follow to make a great first impression online and create a digital personal brand.

Declutter your working space

First and foremost you need to dedicate a personal working space even if it is a table in the corner of your room. Make it visually appealing by adding a little pot of plant, nicely arranged books or files if you have, a bottle of water and make sure you have good lighting coming from the front of you and not behind as it will drown you out and the attendees can only see your silhouette. No one likes to see a messy space where books and files are piled up, people may judge your productivity and cleanliness. Decluttering also means your pc or laptop must be clutter free. In case if you need to share your screen you don’t want the attendees to see so many open tabs, some files are getting downloaded in the back run, files on your desktops and what not. So be mindful of that as well.

Visuals Matters

Our appearance, grooming, body language, everything matters whether it’s in person meeting or online. There is a saying ‘You cannot not communicate”. You are communicating even if your audio is on mute during the meeting. People can see your unkempt hair, your laid back attitude, your body posture, your attire everything of it. So when ever you have a meeting spend few minutes on your visual appearance and make sure you are camera ready at any given point and you can for sure make a great first impression.

Be well prepared

Before the online meeting starts look into any technical glitches if you may face. Your internet connection, your lights, audio settings, make sure your microphone is connected to the device if you are using any, every little technical issues must be checked. This makes sure that you can have a smooth run through out. Make sure to mute your microphone and unmute when you need to speak, this avoids the interruptions if you have at your end during the meetings.

Personal Distractions

Let the members in your family know about your virtual meeting before hand. Close the door, put out a sign board at the door if needed, put your mobiles on silent, enable the notifications on the device you are using. You need to restrict movements around the place, that means no children, no pets around and no disturbance at all.

Be Mindful

Always login 10 mins early this shows you are well prepared and excited to be part of the meeting. Start off strong, as you know your first impressions are very crucial, greet and welcome everyone present and make sure to smile and have an eye contact. Keep the camera at eye level, look directly onto the camera while speaking not on the screen. Hold on to any questions if you may have for the last segment of the session as this shows you are patient and respect the presenter whom you don’t want to interrupt in between.

Add plenty of interactions, there is no doubt virtual meetings takes a bit more efforts than the in person meetings but we need to show more energy and enthusiasm for us to make sure we make a great digital personal brand and a lasting impression.