When Covid drove us all inside and we couldn’t visit the office daily, video meeting/conferencing technology stepped up and made it easier for us to work from home and continue to do business. The quality and features of the various products improved greatly in a short period and video quickly became as common as the telephone for communication.

What hasn’t happened in a lot of organizations though is the creation of guideline documents or videos to govern the use of video. If your organization is one of the few that has, I applaud you. For those that haven’t however, you’re missing an opportunity and opening the door to poor communication habits. Creating guidelines for everyone in an organization to follow is not difficult and will help improve morale by clearly defining expectations.

Whether you’re an organization looking to create your first set of guidelines or just want to make a better impression in your meetings, the following steps will help you make your video meetings much more professional and enjoyable.

Be prepared!

Read the agenda.

Understanding what the meeting is about and who will be attending, can serve to guide you in the rest of your preparation.

Choose your device.

Video conferencing and collaboration software applications generally will support a variety of devices; desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile. Choose the device you join with carefully. If it’s a quick catch-up meeting, your mobile device might work just fine but if you’re going to be reviewing a document or someone is screen sharing, a desktop or laptop would be more appropriate. A good rule of thumb to follow is to always join with the device that has the largest screen available.

Be on time.

Video meetings are generally uncomfortable for a lot of participants, especially when first meeting someone or if you’re new to an organization. When you meet someone in person, you can use the environment around you to help with small talk but in a video meeting, there’s not much to see. You need to rely solely on your conversational skills. Regardless of how anxiety-inducing you find video meetings, don’t be late joining the meeting.

Check your camera and microphone.

Nothing delays a meeting or frustrates participants more than waiting on a technical issue. They can be difficult to diagnose and are completely avoidable if you just take a few minutes before the meeting to make sure the software you’re going to be using to join with has access to what it needs. One of the best ways to confirm access is to use the same software and have a test call with a friend or colleague.

Turn on the lights.

Video meetings make it more difficult to use nonverbal communication methods, there’s a small field of view and reading body language can be much more difficult. Don’t make it harder by sitting in a dark room, it’s not professional and can easily be interpreted as disrespectful.

Tidy up.

Check your surroundings carefully and remove anything that could be distracting or be seen as unprofessional. You’ll never know if that deal of a lifetime fell through because you failed to close or because your unfolded laundry was on the unmade bed behind you.

Find a quiet space.

It’s difficult enough to hear everyone in a video meeting, don’t contribute to the difficulty by sitting beside an open window during construction season or joining in a coffee shop.

Join with your camera on.

It’s a video meeting, turn on your camera when you join. If it was intended to be audio only, it would be a phone call.

Behaviour during a meeting.

Look at the camera.

When you talk to someone in person, you generally look at their face. With video meetings, the camera is above the video feeds. If you don’t look at the camera, it gives the impression that you’re looking down while talking to them.

In the same respect, make sure that the video meeting is displayed on the same screen as your meeting. If you use multiple screens, looking off to the side at a secondary monitor can give the impression that you’re not paying attention. Keep the meeting displayed on the screen your camera is on.

Turn off your microphone when appropriate.

If you’re in a meeting where you won’t be talking much, turn off the microphone when you’re not speaking. This will make sure that when you fidget, and a lot of people do, you won’t be sharing the noise with all the participants.

Dress appropriately.

Working from home, it’s easy to forget that you’re in your pyjamas or an old T-shirt. Dress the same way you would if you were in the office.

Don’t eat while on camera.

Unless the meeting is a lunchtime meeting, eating on camera is very distracting. Drinking on the other hand is perfectly acceptable provided that you don’t slurp. I know the tea or coffee in your cup might be hot but as someone who sees ASMR videos as cringe-worthy rather than comforting, you’ll lose me if you make any eating or drinking noises during the meeting. Please just don’t do it.

Speak clearly.

When you speak, speak at a conversation level as if you were sitting across the table from the participants. Your microphone will pick up your voice the best at this volume. Additionally, don’t put your hand in front of your mouth. It will muffle your voice making it difficult for you to be understood and will just look and sound unprofessional.

Turn off your mobile device.

It’s just good manners to make sure your mobile device is off while you’re in a meeting.

Take notes.

One of the odd differences between physical meetings and virtual meetings is that people who take great notes in a physical meeting room will often completely forget to do it during a video meeting.

Follow up.

This is a post-meeting activity but you need to make note of discussion points and action items during the meeting to ensure you don’t miss anything in your follow-up.

Final thoughts.

Video meetings are part of our lives and won’t be going away any time soon. They’re very convenient and make it a lot easier for us to work from home rather than go into the office but the limitations make it much more difficult to communicate, especially in a nonverbal way. Taking the time to prepare for the meeting and making sure you follow a few simple rules can greatly enhance the experience for everyone involved.

If you need help setting up guidelines or want recommendations on the best video meeting software for your organization, feel free to contact me, I’ll be happy to help.