Video Meeting Checklist

 

Remote work can sometimes feel isolating for some team members. To improve communication and keep business running as usual, video meetings have been on the rise. If it isn’t already part of your working from home routine, there’s a chance you may have to conduct a meeting with your co-workers via a video conference call in the future.

 

While you might know how to set up video calling for a meeting, it’s also important to be aware of how to practice proper video conferencing etiquette.

Our video meeting checklist will help you get to grips with video meetings.

 

Test your hardware and internet connection beforehand

One of the most important things to do before you start or join a video meeting is to make sure everything is in working order. That can include anything from your microphone, speakers, and headphones, to your internet connectivity. Not testing these things beforehand can lead to a poor-quality call and can sometimes appear unprofessional.

Fortunately, there are several online internet speed tests you can use to assess your internet connection. If you’re experiencing low-quality bandwidth speeds, using the video conferencing tools in Microsoft Teams may help. Microsoft Teams requires less bandwidth then Skype for business and if Teams encounters low bandwidth it will readjust bandwidth usage to adapt to available bandwidth.

 

Choose a quiet location

When getting set up for a meeting choose an environment with as little background noise as possible. Your microphone can pick up external noise so there’s a chance your voice will be drowned out if you decide to attend the meeting while having the tv on in the background or if you’re sitting next to a window near a busy road.

While working from home you may find that some of these noises can be hard to escape. That’s why Microsoft Teams have devised a noise suppression feature. Microsoft’s AI-powered noise suppression feature works by automatically cancelling out noise from the background. If you and your Team are finding it difficult to hear each other during the meeting, you might want to consider switching to Microsoft Teams and applying this feature.

 

 

Mute yourself when you’re not speaking

If it’s not your turn to speak it’s a good idea to keep your microphone on mute. While you may be keeping quiet your microphone can pick up sounds of your movement, typing or any background noise, which can be distracting to others and potentially even cause annoyance. Muting your microphone is as easy as clicking a button and can be undone when it’s your turn to speak again.

 

 

Wear work-appropriate clothing

While working from home does mean you’re not obligated to dress up in your usual work attire it is good to keep that level of professionalism when attending a video meeting.

Dressing as if you were in the office for a virtual meeting shows respect and professionalism to your peers and prospective clients. With this in mind, it’s important to note your surroundings. You can look professional but if your background consists of messy laundry or dirty dishes that can have a negative effect on your appearance. Taking a moment to arrange your camera angle so you have a tidy environment will lessen distractions for others. If you want to remove distractions completely then you can always apply the background effects that some video conferencing tools provide. Microsoft Teams users can apply intelligent, background-blur technology to help keep the focus on them.

 

 

Avoid talking over each other

Interrupting the speaker can impact the flow of the meeting and may be seen as rude. If you wish to raise a point or ask a question, it’s a good idea to make use of your video conferencing app’s chat function. This way is less intrusive and allows you and all your colleagues to submit questions throughout the meeting without audibly interrupting anyone who is speaking.

If your meeting format is less likely to make use of the chat feature, Microsoft Teams has a raise hands feature. The raise hands feature allows you to notify the host and other participants that you have something to add to the on-going conversation.

 

 

Stay in control of your meeting

Organising a video meeting can be overwhelming. Laying out specific roles to all participants gives the meeting much more structure and allows you to control what occurs within that time. Microsoft Teams provides organisers with the ability to define roles for the participants. When defining these roles organisers can choose if a participant can present, mute attendees, and start/stop recordings, just to name a few.

 

Video conferencing can be much more straightforward if you and your team have the right tools for the job. At Walvis Technologies we have helped many businesses make the important move to Microsoft Teams.

With our expertise, we make the switch as straightforward as possible and are there to support your company through any teething problems once it's installed. If you think Microsoft Teams might be the right tool for you while your team works from home then get in contact with us. 

Don't just take our word for it, take a look at our process on our Microsoft 365 page and follow our social media for the latest Microsoft updates and features 

 

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