Virtual meeting etiquette has become essential for respect, forming good impressions, and enhancing productivity for teams working across different time zones. Whether it is client meetings or team brainstorming sessions, virtual meeting etiquette allows you to create real opportunities for collaboration and progress.
Gearing up
The first step of virtual meeting etiquette begins the moment you accept the meeting request. Virtual meetings require the same respect and time dedication as in-person meetings. Think of the virtual meeting as a performance: the unprepared meeting will show and perform terribly, unlike the well-prepared meeting, which will shine. Start by using as much time as you need, arriving early, and dressing as well as you can.
How to Test Your Tech
The best way to start a video conference meeting practice is to hold video conference meetings for the first week leading up to the meeting, meaning start them 7 days before. Start video conference meetings at least 20 minutes before. Check video, Audio, and internet speed, and maintain a noise-free policy. Test calls to check for echo or pixelation before meeting, and make sure to avoid awkward silence breaks—only empty tabs and mic. Finally, adjust your laptop to be at your eye level.
Time is money, so we all need to be considerate of other people’s time. If there is a technical glitch, it is easy to lose a client’s trust. If you are giving a sales presentation and there is a long pause, the potential client might stop listening. Having the right technology allows your audience to focus on the bigger ideas you are trying to present.
Dressing and Grooming for the Camera
You should be dressed in business casual attire from the waist up. You can even wear sweatpants underneath. Use a comb to fix your hair and do your makeup so you can look your best under the window light. Unless you wear a very low-cut shirt, try to wear one that is not too low. Patterns can look funny on the screen; make sure to wear a solid-color shirt.
Your polished look can help you get your point across. It is a way to show you care and can help you to be taken more seriously. If you look sloppy and do not care about your appearance, it may turn people off to your ideas.
Preparing Your Space
Remove everything in the background that distracts people from your message. Having a laundry pile or a messy desk can be very distracting. Choose a background that won’t be distracting. Close any doors if family might walk in. Put your phone on silent.
Your choice of background indicates the level of etiquette you are demonstrating during a virtual meeting. Is your choice of background professional enough? Having a neat background creates a distraction-free space. People are likely to feel comfortable leaving the meeting and sharing their thoughts, especially if your microphone picks up voices easily.
Punctuality and tone set the mood for the rest of the attendees.
In virtual meetings, having a neutral background is important. In a physical meeting, being late is disruptive. Logging in to the meeting five minutes earlier is a good idea to give yourself some time to talk to others and go through some documents. Besides, it gives you a chance to set your microphone and check all of the participants.
If time allows, it is recommended that you speak to other participants. When the background of a meeting is made of multiple pixels, seeing a person can create a better connection. When other attendees see you being active in the meeting, it reduces the chance that someone will be absent or have spare time to send the agenda.
Respecting other attendees in the meeting is important. Being present in the meeting reduces the risk of conflict while keeping the number of attendees the same.
Speaking Clearly and Muting Strategically
It’s best to stay muted and speak only when addressing the whole group. Recording unmuting comments (ex, “I’m unmuting now”) prevents mis-speaking, so, for example, you shouldn’t speak while you’re unmuting. When you speak, speak clearly and be deliberate. I recommend speaking 10% slower than you normally do to allow for small delays.
Using these tips will help you manage your meetings. It is known that in a larger group (10 people), there tends to be significant overlap in noise. By silencing your microphone and using clear cues, you can keep the flow of the meeting. This will also help your team show they are being respectful and will help alleviate the redundancy of “Can you repeat that?” from you.
Nonverbal Communication
When you want to show that you are interested in something, you can lean forward a little, and to show that you are still interested in what someone is saying, you can keep nodding while they are speaking. You should try to keep your “eye contact” by addressing the speaker through the lens of the camera. You can use hand gestures to illustrate your point, but avoid playing with your hair or fiddling with your desk.
Using these techniques will help the team and not only seem but really be engaged in the meeting. I hope you are not out there being emotionally flat while you are not engaged, because it could seem like you are out there, and these cues are what truly show viewing interest. Plus, it will help the whole team participate and show them that it’s worth using all of these cues. It will also be the best for team bonding and idea exchange.
Taking Care of Questions and Feedback
I’ll pause after I explain something and ask for questions like ‘What?’ I’m going to ask you to use the comments section to take notes, or you can use the hand-raising function to ask questions. If there is a disagreement, form it constructively by saying, “What if we think about it this way?”
These methods take virtual meeting etiquette from simple rules to actual relational tools that defuse defensiveness and boost creativity, changing conflict into cooperation.
Dealing with Problems: Home Disruptions, Technical Issues, and More
Even the most organized people will run into problems. Virtual meeting etiquette will help you address problems effectively and keep the meeting on track.
Dealing with Distractions
Dogs barking? Kids crying? Distracting the meeting for a second while you unmute to explain, and of course, it is obvious you are focusing and are not going to give any more explanations about it. If it is still going on, you can quietly leave the meeting and come back, but you will need to use the meeting chat to communicate, as that is the only way to return.
Using virtual meeting etiquette when dealing with things like this shows that you are being human. It ‘realigns’ things to a more normal state, and it will help people who actually have responsibilities to take care of kids.
Staying Calm
If your video freezes, you can explain to the group in chat, “My video is lagging, please be patient with me.” If you need to, you can turn your video back on, and always have a second device in case something goes wrong.
When things like this happen, virtual meeting etiquette will shine. Composure shows that you are not stressed, and the meeting is going more smoothly, as all the problems can be ignored and the group can focus on the most important thing to help everyone: time.
Cultural Nuances in Global Virtual Meetings
When meeting with global teams, each culture’s virtual meeting etiquette may differ. To prevent meetings outside standard business hours, use World Time Buddy to research each team’s time zone. When discussing international meetings, speak clearly, avoid colloquialisms, and check for understanding by asking the participants to summarize what was said.
In cultures that use indirect communication, like feedback, in most of Western Europe, Japan, and other cultures that use direct communication, and in most other cultures that use direct communication, Germany, and to a lesser extent the USA, meetings will be more direct and business-like. In virtual meetings, participants need to be flexible and adaptable, and those with more experience should help the less experienced by asking what each participant prefers.
When meeting with teams from other cultures, these learned behaviors will help alleviate cultural faux pas. Instead of creating tension and frustration, participants will be more trusting of one another and therefore able to further develop the potential of their business relationships. Excellent opportunities arise from trusting relationships.
Post-meeting Follow-Through: Sealing the Deal
When the meeting is over, thank you for adhering to the virtual meeting etiquette. If you decide to formalize one of the meeting’s objectives or to develop a practical, actionable, realistic, and do-it-now (or within the timeframe of the meeting) plan (PRD), please email me a detailed summary of the meeting objectives and goals within one hour. If you do this, you will comply with the cultural norms of virtual meeting etiquette and demonstrate professionalism.
Cultural meeting etiquette and professionalism enhance habit formation. Committing to the etiquette will enhance the team’s potential by communicating its value to each member.
Begin with a few: choose three tips this week, and record what happens. You may notice more focused conversations, better partnerships, and less “that meeting should have been an email” remorse.
Ultimately, not treating virtual meeting etiquette as a checklist is a better approach. With this mindset, remote work stops feeling like a sacrifice – it becomes an advantage.
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