Zoom Meetings: 10 Do's & Don'ts.
Zoom meetings have become commonplace in our work and everyday lives. However, there is zoom do's and don'ts to consider before virtually checking in with your colleagues and clients. A recent survey found that nearly 1 in 4 executives has fired employees for messing up video or audio conference calls. With that in mind, here's a list of our top 10 tips for zoom etiquette, as well as some extra tips on avoiding zoom burnout.
1. Keep Zoom Meetings Private
Keeping zoom meetings private, either by setting a password or simply by not sharing the link publicly, is important to maintaining security in business settings involving sensitive information. It's also important to prevent zoombombing.
2. Don't Invite Everyone
A zoom meeting with ten or fifteen people is far more chaotic than a zoom meeting with three. Not to mention, the more people in a zoom meeting, the more likely it is that there'll be technical issues. Before inviting the whole office to a zoom meeting, ask yourself if everyone you're inviting is necessary to the meeting and going to contribute to it.
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3. Try Not To Be Late
Apart from politeness, the other reason not to be late to a zoom meeting is the possibility of technical issues. A couple of minor technical problems can quickly result in the session starting ten to fifteen minutes later than expected. Better to be five minutes early, which gives you the wriggle room to fix any issues before the meeting begins.
4. Introduce People
If people in your zoom meeting don't know each other, it's good zoom etiquette to go round and introduce yourselves. A good way of doing this is to say your name, pronouns and what your position is. Optional but popular is to do a zoom icebreaker like "What's one good thing that happened to you today?" or check in with how everyone's feeling.
5. One at a Time
As well as being rude, speaking over someone can quickly lead to a frustrating experience for people on the zoom call, so it's important to speak one at a time and not interrupt each other. Keep other conversations off zoom or in zoom chat. Another good way to prevent talking over each other is to...
6. Mute Your Microphone When Not Speaking
Muting your microphone when not speaking means that others don't have to listen to background noise or feedback coming from your mic. As mentioned above, it also makes it easier not to interrupt unintentionally.
7. Keep Your Video On (With Exceptions)
Much communication is non-verbal, so it is often considered good zoom meeting etiquette to keep your video on during meetings. However, there are situations where keeping your video on can be annoying, painful or even impossible:
- Bad connections: Video uses up a lot more bandwidth than audio alone. So if anyone in your zoom meeting is having trouble with their connection or you have a large zoom meeting, it might be better for everyone to keep their video off when they're not talking.
- Neurodiverse attendees: Being constantly on screen is distracting or distressing for some neurodiverse people, especially those who dislike eye contact. As you may not know whether any of your attendees are neurodiverse, giving everyone the option of having their video off is best practice.
- Multitasking: While we're just about to explain why multitasking is lousy zoom meeting etiquette, it may be necessary if people in your zoom meeting need to go away and look things up or do other tasks in the background that might be distracting.
For all these reasons, it's better to give people the option to keep their video off if they want to.
8. Don't Multitask
Unless you have work-related tasks that you are asked to do during a zoom meeting (or other necessary multitasking), you should try not to multitask. It's rude, but it also stops you from practising active listening and taking in everything you're hearing.
9. Limit Distractions
Distractions can make the already difficult situation of a zoom meeting even worse. Therefore, it's vital to take zoom calls somewhere quiet, with no distractions such as children or pets if possible. While it's hilarious on YouTube, having your dog come into your room and jump up on you during a zoom presentation is not as funny in real life. Likewise, food is a no-no. However, there are exceptions to these rules, such as needing to look after children or eating due to a hectic schedule or medical reasons.
10. The Host Should Be Last Out
The host should be the last person to leave the meeting as much of an etiquette rule as a zoom etiquette rule. This is so that no one is cut off before they want to go and so that people can ask the host questions privately if they need to.
Extra Tips To Avoid Zoom Burnout
Unfortunately, zoom burnout is a real thing, but there are easy ways to prevent it. Here are two things to think about:
Do You Really Need a Zoom Meeting?
Before you schedule a zoom meeting, ask yourself, do you need a zoom meeting? Can the issue you're meeting to discuss be figured out via email? Or even a quick old fashioned phone call? If so, spare your colleagues and solve the problem outside zoom because overscheduling zoom meetings is one of the major causes of zoom burnout.
Keep Zoom Meetings to an Hour or Less
Long zoom meetings can be mentally and emotionally taxing and are another cause of zoom burnout. One hour is a good maximum length to aim for.
In conclusion, zoom meetings can become a well-oiled part of your work schedule if you keep to this list of zoom etiquette tips. The do's and don't of zoom meetings needn't be rocket science if you make sure to be considerate of others and take a few simple steps during meetings.