Virtual Meeting Etiquette for Successful Video Conferencing

virtual meeting etiquette

When in-person meetings aren’t possible, video calls are the next best thing.

While there is no substitute for an introductory handshake, virtual meetings keep nonverbal communication in the mix. This allows the host and participants to have a more personal experience, even if they aren’t physically in the same place.

This is one of the reasons that at The KR Group we use video meetings with our employees and customers. As IT consultants, we also help businesses implement the technology to hold video meetings themselves.

We’ve talked about the cost to implement video devices as well as all the collaboration tools required for a remote workforce, but one topic we find ourselves frequently talking about is the best practices for hosting and participating in virtual meetings.

Some of our guidelines for virtual meeting etiquette include:

  1. Be aware of your surroundings
  2. The mute button is your friend
  3. Remember what you learned about public speaking

Like any meeting, once you participate in a virtual meeting, you’ll figure out the expectations and how to be successful as either a participant or a host. These three tips should give you a strong foundation to work off of, though.

Virtual meeting tip #1: Be aware of your surroundings

Appearances continue to be just as important in a virtual meeting as a physical one.

Being able to pick up on nonverbal cues is great for creating first impressions or reading people’s reactions to the information you’re sharing. However, this ability also means you should put thought into what you and your workspace look like.

While we won’t get too specific about a dress code, most business leaders agree you shouldn’t be in your pajamas while on a sales call. Since you’re in your home, you also need to consider the appearance of the background where you’re working.

When you walk into a conference room, you assess the room set up, the lighting, and where others are sitting, and whomever you’re calling is doing the same over video.

Do be aware of the lighting

You’ll want to check your lighting before starting a video call.

You don’t want the room you’re in to be too dark. On the other hand, if there is light coming in from a window or a glare from an overhead light, it can be just as detrimental to video clarity.

Don’t ignore your background

You’ll also want to think about what the other callers have to look at (besides you speaking). You wouldn’t have wrappers or the plate from yesterday’s lunch in your conference room, and you shouldn’t treat your virtual meeting space any differently.

With an audio-only call, the other people might not be able to tell if you’re in your bedroom or the laundry room folding laundry. With video, the other callers can see where you are and what you’re doing, though.

Make sure the space you’re conducting the video call is clean and professional.

Do consider your camera’s position

In a physical meeting, you would take into account where everyone was sitting in the room and where you should sit.  

During a virtual meeting, you don’t have much of a choice as to where to sit, but you do need to pay attention to your camera’s position.

You don’t want to sit too far or too close from it, and you should also have it at an angle that makes you feel comfortable with how you appear on the screen.

Do clean up your desktop before sharing content

Sharing content is a great tool for video conferences. By sharing your screen, the participants can see documents or webpages you want to reference.

While you can control which screen you share, if you need to navigate between windows, make sure you only have webpages or documents related to the conference opened and ready to share. You don’t want to accidentally show everyone what is in your Amazon shopping cart.

You should also check your notification setting for Outlook, instant messaging applications, or any program that might give you an impromptu notification so they don’t show up while you’re presenting content. You can prevent these notifications by choosing the “work offline” mode within the application or closing it out completely. 

Do minimize distractions

If you’ve ever had someone mistakenly walk into the middle of a meeting, you know how the interruption can distract you and the others in the room. Having someone or even a pet make an appearance in the background of a video call can be just as distracting.

We know it’s hard to completely control every distraction (such as kids staying at home while you’re working remotely). However, doing your best to minimize the distractions you can control (messy background, on-screen notifications, bad lighting, etc.) will help your meeting go smoothly.

Our next tip will help you with the distractions you can’t control.

Virtual meeting tip #2: The mute button is your friend.

When you can’t control background noise, you can rely on the mute button to get rid of it for you.

The mute button is especially considerate when you’re on a video conference call and your background noise will distract everyone else from listening to the presenter.

How heavily you use the mute button will depend on what type of video call you’re on.

Do consider muting during conversational meetings

Typically, one-on-one or small group meetings flow more like a conversation. If you’re frequently talking during the conversation, then it doesn’t make sense to toggle between muted and unmuted.

However, if you find your background noise is still loud, you can tell the person (or people) you’re on the call with that you’re going to mute and just listen.

Do mute during group video calls 

With a group video call, you should always keep yourself on mute unless you’re presenting or have a question.

Since multiple people are trying to listen to the presenter it’s important to mitigate the overall background noise and distractions of other people on the call. You can do your part by staying on mute unless you need to speak.

While the mute button is a useful tool to prevent the other callers from hearing your background noise, remember you’re still sharing video.

That means if you yell at your kids while on mute, the other attendees might not be able to hear what you said, but they can still see your actions and possibly read your lips.

Virtual meeting tip #3: Remember what you learned about public speaking

Even though your meetings are now taking place at your home on a computer screen, you still need to remember all the public speaking lessons you’ve learned.

In some ways, these lessons are more important during a virtual meeting because other callers only have their screens to look at.

Some public speaking lessons you should remember include:

Do keep strong eye contact

Eye contact continues to be important in virtual meetings, but now, you’ll need to look into the camera to portray the same attentiveness.

However, you wouldn’t spend a whole meeting looking directly into one person’s eyes, and you shouldn’t look at the camera the entire time you’re on the video call either.

Varied eye movement, such as looking down at the video or content being shared, keeps eye contact natural in a virtual meeting.

Don’t join a meeting unprepared

Remember how your teachers would tell you to practice a speech before giving it to the entire class? The same concept applies to a virtual presentation.

If you’re going to be sharing content or using virtual whiteboard features, make sure you know how to use the features and practice before the meeting. Since you’re using video, the other people on the call can see if you’re struggling to use technology.

Being prepared also means anticipating you might need a drink while you’re talking and having a glass of water nearby or finishing your snack before starting the meeting.

Do remember to be an active listener

By using video, the person on the other side of the call can see how closely you’re paying attention. Even if you’re on mute, they can see if you’re nodding your head or looking toward the camera.

However, the other person (or people) only have a small window to judge if you’re listening or not. So, while you might be looking at their video on an external monitor, if your webcam is positioned elsewhere, it could give the impression you’re focused on something other than the conversation.

Other ways to show the other presenter you’re an active listener is to not check your phone during the conversation and avoid multitasking by working in other windows.

Conducting successful virtual meetings

While virtual meetings do feel different than in-person meetings, they require the same attentiveness.

To have the most successful (and least distracting) virtual meetings, be aware of your surroundings, rely on the mute button, and remember what you learned about public speaking.

By keeping these suggestions in mind, you can make virtual meetings your go-to when in-person meetings aren’t possible.

For other tips on how to collaborate remotely, check out our article “4 Remote Cisco Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams.”

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