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If you're like me, you're spending the better part of the day in Meets - especially if you work from home (which really was made possible by Meet). You probably have seen all sorts of behaviors.
Have colleagues who could do with a friendly reminder? Send them this page!
Did a colleague send you this page? You sure have great colleagues. Enjoy these tips!
You know the basics, of course. Set up great meetings using calendar. Always set an agenda. Know how (recording) ownership works. Do not surprise people when you record Meets. But we need to talk about some annoying habits and how we all can do better in Meets.
Trust issues over at Facebook?
This you when you turn off your camera.
Turn on your camera already!
Turn on your camera already!
We pay to have cameras in our laptops so we can use them. Not turning on your camera is rude and unprofessional, sort of like wearing sunglasses at a dinner table. It puts you at a disadvantage versus other people whose expressions and body language are transmitted. It casts doubt on your self esteem (didn't shower?) or your whereabouts (showering right now?). I have never met our chairman (though one day he'll subscribe to this blog), but I am inspired by him. I am pretty sure the chairman would never turn off his camera.
But everybody does it! No. Most people do not do it. If you're in a camera-shy community, ask everybody to drop their masks and talk like humans, for the sake of having a better meeting. Interaction suffers when we don't see the other person talking. And I have yet to hear a team say "Know what? This is almost as bad as being in the same room with you lot. Let's all turn the cameras back off."
But I work from home! You mean "I am a professional, working from a high-performing home office", right? Tidy up behind you and show them. Or use one of the nice new backgrounds.
But Mark Zuckerberg glues his camera shut! Mark Zuckerberg does plenty of things we do not approve of. Seriously - whoever thinks hackers invade our network and the best use of their time is looking at our tired faces, should probably voice their mistrust to IT security leadership. Nothing says "Digital Upskilling" like post-its glued to cameras.
Use your headset
Use your headset
Always use a headset. You will hear better and others will hear you better - it's a question of respect. Respect tops concerns about your hairdo.
Use the PwC issued headphones (yes, the ones that make you look like a call center agent). They may not sound as great as the ones you use at the airport - to you. They have the best noise cancelling properties and make you sound like a talk show host.
They make everybody sound like a talk show host, except me when I talk about GTD.Noise cancelling is important: Your (home) office is not as quiet as you think it is. There are dogs barking, ambulances passing outside, phone notifications and all sorts of noises going on. You may also create echo without knowing it. If you do use a headset, make sure it has noise cancelling and it is enabled.
Or: use the denoiser
Or: use the denoiser
Meet has recently launched noise cancellation, which filters out everything that is not human speech. Is it time to throw your headset away?
The denoiser cannot make your laptop's microphone sound better than it does. So perhaps experiment - but under no condition go back to dialing in. It's either using the laptop's microphone or any other microphone connected to your computer.
Do not dial in from the office. Phones sound, well, like you're on the phone. Nobody can see you and you can't see anybody. Please use your expensive laptop. If you're in a room with several people, open and turn your laptop so you all fit in the picture and see the others in the Meet. Trust me, it works great. Leaning forward and yelling at the Jabra speaker is quite 2000s.
I've also seen people joining the same call twice - once for others to see they're wearing Airpods and once for others to hear the Airpods. It's the worst. Airpods have a horrible microphone quality and Meet will continually switch to your mouth's video channel. Use your laptop and go dig out your professional headset. Meet has since addressed this and will now unify your multiple personalities, if your cellphone number matches what is in the corporate directory. Please make sure it is.
Mute yourself when you're not speaking. There's a shortcut (CRTL-D) and the headsets have a special button. Practice a bit to avoid panicked fumbling, awkward silences and starting with excuses when you're expected to say something.
Thank you for reading! I didn't have this much fun writing a post since the one about Microsoft Word. The future is humane and global and meeting respectfully is an important skill - one that requires little effort. Here is to a better future!
#meetPublished 2019-10-02 by Holger Matthies.Modified 2021-01-31 by Holger Matthies.Written listening to BT - A song across wires
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