Listen carefully when other people are talking. Perform a quick sound test to confirm that you can hear. Before the meeting, let everyone know what the ground rules will be. This will guide the behavior of all participants and help the meeting run smoothly.
The ground rules can be anything from everyone muting their microphones after the initial greeting to logging in early for a quick start. If you're invited to a meeting without an agenda, it's a good virtual meeting etiquette to decline and ask for one. Being forced to go to meetings without a plan is like someone stealing your chair. Time is the most precious resource in a digital workplace.
If you let people steal it from you, then you're just as guilty as they are. Ask for an agenda and any previous reading or previous work you can do to get ready. Check out our virtual meeting agenda template here. When you enter a small meeting (between two and five people), announce when you join.
It can be awkward to hear the sound of “someone just joined” followed by silence. When you go up to the meeting, introduce yourself and say hello, just make sure you don't interrupt someone in the middle of the sentence. Don't feel confined to your chair. Take breaks between sessions for a short walk or stand up and stretch.
And, if you're not on video during a session that arrives in the middle of the afternoon, don't be afraid to stand up. The activity, even something as small as standing or walking in a place, can wake you up and bring you back to focus on the content in question. Even with smartphones getting smarter at a rapid pace, laptop screens are still superior for properly viewing and listening to virtual meetings. Some video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, allow you to blur the background, while others allow you to change it completely with a virtual background.
Before your next virtual conference, make sure you're ready to attend with some tips and tricks to increase your focus and make the most of your time. It doesn't matter if you're in a virtual meeting or in person, always be respectful of the people around you and try to have a positive attitude. Brainstorming is a great way for virtual teams to capture new ideas and explore possible solutions to problems. For a great virtual meeting, you can also use this time to address team issues and make a list of next steps before the next meetings.
Sitting and looking at a screen at a virtual event isn't as stimulating as being surrounded by other attendees in hotel ballrooms or large meeting facilities. This makes organizing and participating in virtual meetings convenient for anyone, regardless of their level of work. Now that you have the best practices to attend, you can make the most of your next virtual conference. Effective virtual meetings need to work as a team to help those who aren't comfortable with technology adapt and understand what's needed.
At this point, you have already worked out some kind of schedule to separate work time and family time, so stick to that schedule during your virtual conference. To help keep your meetings productive and professional, follow these seven simple rules and etiquette tips for virtual meetings. With the increase in virtual conferences, there are more opportunities to attend conferences than perhaps ever before, and to network and learn from a wider range of people. As the world continues to settle into a remote work lifestyle, virtual connection is the new normal for the vast majority of companies.
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