Business meetings held in virtual settings come with some familiar rules and some different ones. Be sure you follow them to maintain your professional polish—even if you’re secretly wearing shorts.
Even though you’re probably working in a more casual environment these days, when you’re in a remote meeting, don’t forget your professional etiquette. Here are a few rules to brush up on before your next video call:
Don’t get too casual.
Working at home, your instinct might be to dress down. Your appearance should still be professional and reflect the organization you work for. If the people you are meeting with will be in suits, you should dress the same.
Minimize distractions.
If you’re meeting with someone in person, it’s usually considered rude to be looking at your phone or laptop instead of listening to what they’re saying. These distractions don’t go away during remote meetings, and there are additional ones to worry about, too, including background noise or poorly considered visuals. And speaking of technology, take time to ensure your gadgets are working before the meeting, rather than wasting people’s time with testing when the meeting should be getting started.
Be prepared.
It’s bad form to take remote meetings without being prepared for the format or doing your homework in advance. Be proactive and ask ahead of time about expectations if the organizer hasn’t provided upfront information. You want to be as prepared as possible.
Show your human side.
But all of this professional talk has its limits in the COVID-19 era. Build in extra time for heartfelt people-to-people check-ins. Add it to every agenda to ensure enough time and to show how important it is to the participants. And remember to shower others with praise that is due to them.
Source: Ernie Smith for Associations Now