Crowdsourced Best Practices Reflect Work From Home Constraints

The shift to remote work and work from home often involves a virtual meeting. Core to that virtual meeting is the video call, which adds a little bit of complexity in meetings. Constellation sees best practices across four phases of the video call - audio visual setup, prepping before the call, actions while on the call, and post call followup:

AV setup

The audio-visual set up often requires participants to find a quiet and well-lit space with good wi-fi connectivity. Here are some tips to ensure a high quality experience:

  1. Put your camera/laptop at eye level
  2. Turn on the camera
  3. Light up your face.
  4. Avoid having light behind you (windows)
  5. Eliminate distracting movements from camera view
  6. Test audio, consider a high quality microphone

Prepping before the call

Given the constraints of space and room environment (i.e. kids, location, soundproofing, etc.), expectations have been relaxed on meeting norms. However, the following best practices can improve the meeting experience:

  1. Set expectations on not apologizing for unexpected distractions
  2. Set norms on voice only vs video only
  3. Don't be late
  4. Wear clothes (appropriate clothes)
  5. Close the office door
  6. WD40 your squeaky chair.

During the call

To improve interaction and engagement, keep the following tips in mind to ensure an enjoyable meeeting:

  1. Mute when not speaking
  2. Look into the camera when speaking and sit still
  3. Don't eat while on the call
  4. Avoid obvious multitasking
  5. Get good at interrupting
  6. Use the chat features and polling
  7. Don't pick up your machine and walk with the camera on
  8. Avoid picking at your face
  9. Smile

Post Call

Post call practices focus on archiving and followup. Gather feedback to improve the next meeting dynamics:

  1. Followup with notes
  2. Distribute or host the recording
  3. Get feedback

Thank You Twitter Brain Trust

Always thankful for the diversity of thought among the Twittersphere. The following folks contributed to the best practices. Thank you!