Applications for video communication, such as Zoom or Hangouts, became a work trend, since they facilitate virtual meetings and conferences in companies.
However, cases such as the student ‘Lorena’, who had sex during a virtual class while – unknowingly – her classmates listened to her, public workers ‘grabbed’, insults and even naked employees and being massaged, are some cases where she ‘screwed up’ in the middle of a virtual meeting.
Avoid these situation sand go viral – incorrectly – on the Internet with these tips provided by the Colombian Society of Engineers (SCI):
Appropriate clothing:
Do not go out in pajamas, shorts or underwear, this will affect your image and the level of responsibility you have in front of your tasks, as well as respect for your colleagues and bosses.
Also take care of your grooming and personal appearance.
Know how to request the floor:
“If you are in a work meeting and you have a question about something related to what a colleague is talking about or presenting, do not interrupt it,” advises the Colombian Society of Engineers.
In case you are using Zoom chat, you can help yourself with the option to “raise your hand”, which serves to intervene, comment or ask questions in an agile and effective way.
Also remember to make short and concrete interventions, everyone’s time and attention is at stake.
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Keep your camera on
Do not hide, get ready as if you were going to the office and show that you are more than present during work at home.
Fix your camera to avoid unwanted angles or shots of other parts of your body or space.
According to the Rules of courtesy and behavior of the Colombian Society of Engineers, if the whole team has its cameras on, you should too.
Do not neglect eye contact with the members of the meeting looking directly at your camera.
The importance of meeting virtually
For virtual and face-to-face meetings to be effective, two elements must be taken into account: time and organization.
Comply with the assigned time, “follow the same rule as if you were in your office: arrive at the time you were summoned. Understand that being late for a video call is even more serious, because you don’t have to travel anywhere,” warns the SCI.
Cancel every possible distraction
In both face-to-face and virtual meetings, chatting, talking on the phone or typing on your computer is disrespectful. Dedicate only the time allotted to the meeting.
If you have family, children or friends in your environment, communicate that you will be busy in the virtual meeting.
Additionally, the mute button is indispensable when you are not talking, you can prevent any type of interference for your colleagues.
Beware of screen sharing
“If you are going to share your screen it is important that before doing so you check what applications, web pages or chats you have open and that you turn on the ‘do not disturb’ option on your device. Everything that appears on your screen will be visible to all participants,” warns SCI.
Finally, make sure that the links, IDs or codes that are shared to enter a virtual meeting are for individual use.