We've all been using Zoom or some other videoconferencing program for the past year now.  And we tend to think that everyone knows everything they need to about video meetings.

 

But…well, it hasn't really worked that way.  (It hasn't been that long, in fact, since the

, has it?)

 

Even if you have a team experienced in your video conference program (for brevity we'll just say Zoom, but you know what I mean), there are still ground rules to be established.  Things that equate to the norms of in-person  meetings.

 

So think about what your ground rules are - and let your meeting attendees know in enough time to prepare if necessary.  Here are some things to consider:

 

  1. Do you expect everyone to be on-camera?  Sometimes it's unavoidable - for example, someone is driving during a meeting (let's hope you don't hear an accident during the call! ).  Sometimes someone's bandwidth just won't support it.  Sometimes, though, people aren't that interested in the meeting and are off doing something else while their camera is off.  It's also disconcerting to be in a meeting where you're on video and half the team isn't.  So…set expectations (whatever they are) in advance of the meeting.
  2. How about muting?  It seem obvious that if there's a lot of noise at one person's location they should mute when they're talking, same as a phone conference, but sometimes people are oblivious.  Maybe you just want everyone to get used to being on mute when they're not talking, especially if they're calling from somewhere other than the office.
  3. Backgrounds?  You can mandate them - send your attendees a link to figure out how to set a stock background BEFORE your meeting; you can allow them; or you can disallow them.  They're really handy when people are working at home.
  4. Filters?  For business meetings, generally filters aren't a good idea - unless you have a 'filters on' day. That can be fun and give everyone a break once in a while.  (How much did we all love that lawyer video I mentioned earlier?)
  5. Recording?  do you want to record the meeting?  It's kind of nice to let people know ahead of time if you'll be recording in case they want to set their background (or put on makeup or a nice shirt or whatever).
  6. Chat?  Some teams love it, some can't handle it.  If you're going to use chat extensively, rather than just the occasional "I just put the link in the chat", you'll want to have your attendees know how to access it and how to pull it into a separate window if your program supports that.
  7. What are the rules for screen sharing during the meeting?  (And does everyone know how to do that?)  I usually let screen sharing open for anyone during my meetings, but that doesn't work when I'm teaching or presenting a webinar.  Generally you can control permissions one person at a time, so know what you'll be doing (and how to do it) before the meeting.

 

Zoom has tutorials on everything, so just point your attendees here (and if you need info, it's a great site to bookmark).

 

So, give it some thought, figure it out, and let your team members know what to expect.  And give that kitten filter a whirl!