In a world where herds of employees have been transformed into remote workers, knowing how to be a successful online meeting participant is important. Especially if you crave for success as a digital freelancer.
In a world where freelancers made up 35% of US workforce in 2016 (Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2016/10/06/new-survey-freelance-economy-shows-rapid-growth/#4b533e847c3f) , knowing how to behave during online meetings is a matter of life and death.
So, in this article I have taken down the most important best practices for online meeting participants, with the hope to help digital nomads, freelancers and remote workers to make the most of their participation to video and audio conferences.
1 Be active. Like in real-life meetings, during online meetings you shall be active and give your contribution, no matter how important it is. Wallflowers have been never welcomed; on the contrary, being able to add value to meetings has been always the first step to success.
2 Respect good manners. That politeness always wins on rudeness goes without saying, doesn’t it? But what are the rules of etiquette in a digital world? They are quite similar to those of real-life meetings. So, give the other participants respect by arriving on time, paying attention to speakers, avoiding butting in, waiting your turn to speak, and respecting the dress code. Nothing so different from the old, traditional meetings around a table, after all.
3 Prepare yourself before. Study the topic before and prepare some questions. Prepare your answers to the possible questions that some other participants could ask you.
4 Check and know how to use your technology. Virtual meetings rely on a more or less complicated technology. Before entering a conference, check that everything is fine with your cam, computer, laptop, headsets, microphone and conferencing tool. Don’t look clumsy; illiteracy on the tech matter is not much appreciated today.
5 Be an active listener. Pay attention to speakers, and try to retain what they say. This will help you to come up with some few questions or a contribution later. If not, you will have fulfilled your obligations as participant to the meeting at least.
6 Invite other participants to contribute. If it occurs that you end up leading a meeting for any reason, don’t panic. A good strategy is to invite other participants to contribute by asking them their opinions on the topic of the moment.
7. Ask questions. When in doubt, ask questions. Often the meeting leader can’t wait for that, as questions break monotony and make meetings lively and productive.
8. Make a revision after the meeting. It is always useful to check your behavior after the meeting in order to understand what work for you and what does not.
In conclusion, being a good participant to an online meeting requires the same dedication of real meetings. The rules are similar, except for those few rules expressly connected with technology.
If you are interested in on-line meeting strategies, you are going to find many other resources on R-HUB`s blog at http://www.rhubcom.com You can also enjoy a free period of 30 days when you can test your ability as online meeting leader by hosting some web video conferences through R-HUB web video conferencing servers.