Whether it’s a conference call at work or a video chat with friends, virtual meetings are a part of our daily routines now more than ever before. And, as more and more business are transitioning employees to full-time work from home, virtual meetings are likely here to stay.
There’s definitely a learning curve when it comes to virtual meetings, and with them brings their own challenges. Did you accidentally double mute yourself on the meeting app and your phone? Are so many people talking at once you can’t understand anyone? Did your computer freeze up or your internet cut out?
It can be difficult to navigate these roadblocks that we have not had to face before. Today, I want to share with you my top 6 tips for hosting and attending virtual meetings so that you can rock your next one!
1. Don’t use your laptop/computer speakers. Do get a headset and a mic.
The dreaded echo. You know the one I’m talking about – when someone (including yourself) is speaking, and you hear it the same thing about 2 seconds later coming through your speakers or headset. It’s annoying. It’s distracting. But, it can totally be avoided with a simple hardware change.
When you choose to use your laptop speakers and mic as your primary audio, and you don’t mute yourself on the call, it can cause an echo for everyone else listening in. The mic on your laptop can’t differentiate what noise is coming into it. If you are using your laptop speakers as your audio output, the mic is going to pick that noise up as if you are speaking on the call, and it plays it back for everyone as if you were speaking. This is what causes the echo.
If you are that person that is still using your laptop speakers and mic as your primary audio, please do yourself and teammates a favor and get a headset with a mic. Most laptops nowadays still have a headset jack of some kind, and you can get earbuds with a mic for under $20 at Walmart or Amazon. Your teammates will appreciate you for it, and you’ll stop wasting precious meeting time from people asking “Does anyone else here that echo?”
2. Don’t leave yourself unmuted. Do mute yourself when you aren’t speaking.
If there are more than 3 people in a meeting, it’s a good idea to mute yourself when you aren’t speaking. Many web conferencing platforms are starting to have “push to talk” feature, which is a great option if you are one of those people who constantly forgets to mute or unmute yourself.
The opposite of this is also true! Don’t forget to unmute yourself when you’re talking. It’s not a bad idea to ask “Can everyone here me?” as needed. It’s better to get confirmation upfront rather than wonder why no one is responding to you.
3. Don’t call into a meeting in a busy/loud place. Do find a quiet area to call into your meeting.
Working from home definitely has its benefits, but it can also have its challenges, especially if you find yourself stuck at home with other noisy people (kids, spouses, partners, roommates, siblings, etc.). While external noise can already been distracting to some, it is even more distracting while on a conference call.
Now I’m not saying you can’t work around your kids or spouse, nor am I saying you shouldn’t work from your backyard or a public space. However, try to be courteous to your teammates. Chances are, if you can hear your child singing Disney songs or the birds chirping as you sit in your backyard, everyone else on the call can hear it too.
The next time you call into a meeting, try to find a quiet room or corner to call into the meeting from. Or, if that situation is not possible, be extremely mindful of muting yourself when you are not speaking. Your fellow meeting-attendees will appreciate the silence on your end.
4. Don’t always leave your camera off. Do use your video at appropriate times.
It can be so easy to leave your camera off while working from home during conference calls. Maybe you’re still in your pajamas. Maybe your background is a mess. There are a million and one reasons why you wouldn’t want you camera on, and they aren’t necessarily bad.
However, if you have not seen most of your coworkers in person and primarily communicate with them through conference call, it can be really nice to have your camera on every once in a while. By using virtual meetings rather than in-person, the connection to seeing your coworkers has dropped significantly, which can decrease the overall dynamic between you and your team.
Having meetings with your video on can really help increase team moral and connect you to your other coworkers. The next time you host a meeting, especially if it’s a 1 on 1, suggest to the attendees that you would like to have the camera on. You’d be surprised what a difference it makes!
5. Don’t wait to join at the last minute. Do hop on a few minutes early.
Just like you wouldn’t want to wait until the last minute to join a meeting in person, joining virtual meetings a few minutes early can make such a difference in the overall call.
First and foremost, calling in early ensures that you will have enough time to deal with any technical difficulties that might come up. Calling in early also can give you the chance to test your audio. Many web conferencing services have audio-test features built into them, but you can always check the old fashioned way and just make small-talk with anyone else that is in the meeting already. If they respond to you asking “How’s your day going?”, then you know your audio is working!
6. Don’t assume everyone knows you by the sound of your voice. Do announce yourself before you speak.
When you’re in a meeting in person, you don’t usually need to announce yourself before you start speaking because everyone can see you. However, when you’re on a conference call, and especially if you aren’t using video, it can be really difficult to tell who is speaking just by the sound of their voice.
Many web conferencing services have panels that show the meeting participants, and they sometimes also have an icon next to people’s names to show when they are speaking or if they are muted. However, it is still a good practice to announce yourself before you speak. Many times, the meeting presenters won’t see the full panel of participants, or they might not be able to tell who is talking. You could also be a very large meeting with many participants, where it can be really difficult to keep track of who is talking and who is not.
It only takes a few seconds to preface what you’re about to say with “Hi, this is _______ speaking.” Try announcing yourself before the 1st few times you speak in your next meeting. It can really help out whoever is taking meeting minutes, and it will make you stand out in those 15+ people meetings!
Virtual meetings come with their own set of problems, but these 6 tips can help you make the most of your virtual meetings without all the logistical and technical snags!
Let me know if you try any of these tips at your next virtual meeting. I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
What’s been your biggest challenge in hosting and attending virtual meetings?
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