29th Apr 2020 -Quarantine has us WFH and with the blessing of the internet, some companies haven�t stopped working. Online meetings and interaction are most common today these days since the complete shutdown of companies, schools and organizations and the world resumes work from the comfort of our homes.
While online meetings and interactions may be a convenience of the time today, there are certain protocols and rules we can try our best to follow while conducting these meetings for the sake of professionalism and for preventions of disruption of work.
Here are a few tips on how to prepare and be presentable for online meetings for your WFH session:
1. Ensure your internet connectivity and apps well in advance before the meeting. If possible, do a test meeting to check compatibility and quality before the meeting so as to prevent wasting time trying to download and setup for your meeting.
2. Make sure you have all the material and data required for the meeting and keep your important documents handy to prevent searching for in the last moment.
3. You don�t necessarily have to put on a suit for the online meeting, ensure you are looking presentable in semi-formalwear to be visually decent online.
4. It is unprofessional to appear unkempt and untidy or straight-out-of bed for the meeting. Make the effort to at least look tidy and ladies can put on decent amount of makeup for the meeting and men can put on a decent shirt and have tidy hair.
5. Make sure your surroundings are appropriate and/or at least clean as the backdrop behind you can be distracting if not clean.
6. Inform the people in your household to maintain decorum and silence during your meeting. It is inconvenient to have children running around and external noise at the time of the meeting. If there is a in your house or even outside (while maintaining lockdown rules) that you can sit at and conduct the meeting.
7. If you can, make a work corner in your living space for such meetings where the household members can know not to disturb you.
8. During the meeting, avoid any sort of distractions and disturbances for smooth operation of said event. If you are needed urgently, excuse yourself politely and attend to what is required of you and return promptly.
9. It is important to mute your microphone if you feel your surroundings can get loud or inconvenient for the meeting. Switch on the mic when you need to use it.
10. Be clear and responsive during the meeting. As it is, the situation and timings are inconvenient to the current situation. Try to be professional and organized to ensure maximum productivity.
11. Revise the minutes of the meeting with your meeting attendees after the discussion. Unlikely internet issues are common and that may lead to missing out on necessary information. Check with others if you have everything you need.
It is smart to adapt and respond to the current situation rather than seeming unproductive and failure to catch up to what is required of you. Be organized and professional to make better use of your time.