With people moving quickly to virtual meetings and presentations, it is good to keep in mind what is acceptable and not. Much of this is very similar to what we would expect if we were to be in person. Here are some points to remember.
- Be on time. Make it a point to start entering the meeting 10 minutes prior in case there are any technical difficulties.
- Pay attention to background sounds. Putting yourself on mute until it is your turn in comment may be a way to avoid adding unnecessary extra noise to the meeting.
- Use video when possible, unless there are too many people in the meeting. If there are too many attendees, the speaker may want you to cut off your video to avoid slowing down the wi-fi.
- Avoid multi-tasking. Others do realize that you are not making “eye contact” and prioritizing something else.
- If you are the organizer, stop and ask if anyone has any questions. This will allow you to gage the others attention.
- Only invite people who absolutely need to be at a meeting. This will help minimize wasted time.
- Introduce people who don’t know each other if they haven’t met before.
