Template: Remote Meeting Etiquette
Add Zoom links to every meeting. Get in the habit of adding a zoom invite to every single meeting you create whether you think you’ll need it or not. It’s uncomfortable and tiring for a remote employee to frequently have to make the “Can you add a zoom link?” ask prior to the meeting (having to set this up last second can also take valuable time away from the meeting itself.) Find out more about maintaining your calendar and schedule here: Remote Scheduling.
Keep yourself on mute. Whenever you aren’t speaking, please try to remember to mute yourself. Everyone’s collective background noise can be super distracting so best practice is to keep your audio off until you have something to add. Don’t worry about starting a sentence while still muted … we’ve all been there before.
Show yourself! Whenever possible, make sure to always turn your zoom video on. It’s nice to be able to see each other and have the luxury of picking up on visual cues.
Keep your hands off the keyboard. It can be distracting and disrespectful to whoever is speaking if everyone else on the call is typing and clearly unengaged. If you have to type, ensure that you’re muted and not distracting the rest of the group from the conversation.
Remain engaged! Estimates have found that you can lose up to 40 percent of your productivity by multitasking. Distractions are easier to come by when you’re not in the same room. Try to close out unnecessary tabs and do your part to remain entirely engaged in the conversation. That being said — working from home comes with external distractors that are outside of our control. Don’t apologize for having to step away from the screen to check in on your kid whose home from school, check your Wifi connection etc. We’re all on the same page here.
Start off with a little chit chat! What we often miss out on while working remotely are the moments before and after meetings with our colleagues. Don’t lose sight of that while conducting virtual meetings. Try to set aside 5 or so minutes at the beginning and end of each meeting to talk about anything other than work. This can come in the form of a quick icebreaker game or just a general conversation starter. Working remotely can be isolating, utilize this card Remote Work Health & Well-being for ideas on how to maintain balance.