4 video meeting rules that should follow us back to the office. 2020 changed work-possibly forever. Millions of people started working remotely for the first time, and they learned it’s not quite the same as working in an office. So many lessons were learned from online meetings to improve the in-person ones.
Say “go ahead” when you overlap with someone
Lag, the gap between when you start talking and when everyone else can hear you, is somewhat inevitable in video calls.
- When two people start talking at the same time, one person gets to keep talking-the other person doesn’t.
Have fewer meetings
Remote companies tend to have fewer meetings.
- Meetings can eat up a lot of time, and it’s worth considering whether that time is well invested-or if you could accomplish the same thing without a meeting
- That’s as true in the office as it is over video chat
Schedule time for socializing
Offices can also be alienating and could also use some humanity
- A few minutes of scheduled socializing is a good way to fit a little bit of humanity into a virtual work environment
- Allow space for informal conversation, and encourage people to show up a few minutes early
Accept multitasking
Most meetings don’t require full attention.
- Managers need to believe that their employees are working on something relevant, not browsing Facebook, and to trust that they are capable of knowing when they need to pay attention
- Companies heading back to the office would benefit from continuing to trust their employees like they do when everyone’s remote
