Along with those who consider working remotely due to an unforeseen reason, there are millions of people who permanently work from home. It may include freelancers, CEOs, consultants, trainers, and many other types of people from diverse industries.
It is unquestionably true that COVID-19 has left serious repercussions on the entire world where it has given new dynamics to how people use to work. If you are not one of those who always work from home and want to conduct a virtual meeting for the first time then don’t worry at all, here is a simple and easy to understand guide that can help you get it done, flawlessly.
According to the majority of industry experts, one should consider both the technical aspects as well as the practical aspects of conducting a successful and effective virtual meeting. Let us now dive into these aspects one by one and get to know about all that you need to consider.
Technical Aspects of a Virtual Meeting
Before you move on to conducting your virtual meeting in an ad-hoc manner, it is much better to first consider the following key technical aspects that are essential for ensuring a brilliant virtual meeting.
Connectivity
Connectivity is the first most important technical aspect to consider. Just imagine when a YouTube video keeps on buffering due to poor internet connection. Therefore, you must make sure to have a high-speed internet connection so that your video streams well.
Moreover, you should also have enough physical storage space on your computer. It will allow you to use the best software for video streaming which may take greater space on your computer’s hard disk. And last but not least, update your computer’s hardware drivers. It will help you to make sure that all of the hardware is up and running as needed.
Video and Lighting
Video and lighting are the second most important technical aspect to consider for a good virtual meeting. You must have adequate light in your surroundings while taking care of avoiding any light fixture to come in direct contact to your camera which can distract others in your video stream.
Along with that, make sure that you are using a high-quality camera. If it’s a laptop then you should have a good-quality camera but mostly it is at the top center of the lip which doesn’t fit in a better angle with the object. To present your video in an adequate and straight angle you should position the lid right above your eye contact. You can alternatively use a higher bench or chair as well to compensate for it.
Background
Your background is one of the most important technical elements regarding your virtual meeting. Usually, people tend to choose a neat and clean place where they can have a less cluttered background but that’s just one case because privacy is also important and not everyone is likely to share their home background.
Don’t worry, you can make use of today’s modern-day backgrounds that work pretty well with Zoom. You can easily get these online and there are tons of options to choose from such as hello backgrounds that offer home backgrounds, private offices, shared workspaces, meeting rooms, public spaces, Skylines, and much more.
Audio
Don’t forget that your virtual meeting participants are not just watching you but listening to you as well. Therefore, audio is also important as much as your video. In most of the cases, people tend to use the built-in mics installed in their laptops which is quite acceptable.
Always make sure to test your computer’s mic before going into a virtual meeting. It is much better to troubleshoot any issues before the meeting rather creating a huge inconvenience in the middle of the meeting. You can prefer to choose high-quality headgear or headphone as well for your meeting.
Live Vs Recorded
Sometimes all of the participants can’t join the meeting at the same time or even there might be a case of an emergency where one or more participants would like to record their statements and provide you in a recorded format.
Therefore, you should also have the right resources or software or application that can help you to make all of the recorded material a part of your live virtual meeting. It happens seldom but you should prepare yourself.
Practical Aspects of a Virtual Meeting
Next to technical aspects. There are a few but very important practical aspects as well to consider for a virtual meeting. By keeping the following key practical aspects, you are all set to conduct a flawless virtual meeting.
Concrete Objectives
Every meeting or discussion follows a set of aims and objectives or agenda. Therefore, it is imperative to understand that you should have done your homework well which will ensure that all of the participants already have an idea about what they are about to talk upon. It will allow others as well to get themselves prepared and contribute their best while participating in the meeting.
Clarity
Next to making clear and concise objectives and sharing them with the participants, you should also make sure that all of them have clearly understood and are on the same page without any queries or concerns.
You can always ask them if you have missed on something important or if there is something else that can be added to the set of objectives. It will help you a lot in optimizing the meeting to yield a concrete ending.
Rehearsal
Rehearsal is an important practical aspect. Not only in live virtual meetings but countless people practice it even before going into a routine office meeting. It’s always better to practice your role in advance and eliminate all those errors and issues that might disturb others.
Time Management
Managing the time effectively is like a win-win situation for each of the participants. Getting things ready in advance, rehearsing your role, mixing and matching the objectives or agenda, and setting up all of the technical aspects as required, altogether contributes to better time management.
Budget
Last but not least, sometimes budget also appears to be a key practical aspect of a virtual meeting. You might have to troubleshoot some hardware and software issues which will incur a cost. So, make sure that you have enough budget to perfectly set up your virtual meeting.
