#1: Don’t Wear Your Jammies – and 8 Other Tips for Productive Virtual Meetings

We’re a few weeks into regular virtual meetings, how are they going? Have you learned more about your colleagues than imagined? I have! Some learned more about me too when they heard me tell my dog she is the best good girl ever five times! Oops! Forgot to mute.

When someone wore jammies in a meeting yesterday, I felt compelled to jot a list of recommendations for hosting and attending virtual meetings. Let’s enjoy getting to know our colleagues in a new way without freaking them out!

Here are my top nine tips for hosting and attending virtual meetings. Add yours in the comments, and let’s all help keep our virtual meetings useful and engaging.

1. Don’t wear your jammies. And, if you do, don’t stand up or move around enabling the pants to fall down on camera. You probably don’t have to be in a suit when meeting from home, but at least wear something you would wear to work.

2. As a meeting host, mute all participants and invite them to un-mute themselves to speak. Some people miss the announcement to mute themselves, so the host should simply make it their responsibility to do it. It’s just a push of a button to eliminate the distraction of someone taking another call, a phone ringing, or other household noises (e.g. dogs barking or playing–guilty!).

3. As a participant, stay muted until you want to speak. It’s creepy hearing someone breathing when their mic is too close. Mute yourself. It’s just good practice.

4. Lighting is key. Experiment with different lights to see improves visibility of you on-screen. A general tip is that the light should come from the top. Be careful of having a light pointing at the camera, though, because that blinds other viewers. Just as in real life, people will trust you more when they can see your face and look you in the eyes.

5. Angle your camera at your face, not your head or chest–and not up your nose. Put your laptop on a stand or pile of books to improve the angle.

6. Know that your colleagues will notice your background, especially if you meet frequently. A big pile of laundry or a sloppy pile of files that stands five feet tall might give too much information.

7. Encourage the use of video to boost engagement and connection. It’s a little harder to connect with people online, and seeing faces makes it much more likely.

8. Use the functions of the virtual meeting tool. Some companies and teams have been using these tools for years to work across miles. For example, take advantage of breakout rooms and polls to engage and learn.

9. Check your profile. Update your photo and be sure your name shows up on-screen. If your phone number is all that shows up, people don’t know who is there. Also, if your name is on-screen, you do not need to announce your name when you chime in to contribute. People can ensure their settings show the names of participants.

What else would you add to ensure productive and valuable, but not dull, virtual meetings?