Video conferencing is an indispensable tool for any business. Just like with any other tool, however, it’s only as useful as you make it. To maximize the potential of your video conferencing system, here are some video conferencing tips on how you can steer clear of common conferencing pitfalls.
Video conferencing tips #1: Plan ahead
Utilizing your video conferencing to its fullest means that you will need to catch missteps before they happen, which means you need to plan ahead to make everything run smoothly. You can start with the environment in which the video conference will take place. You need to secure an area with little as little background noise as possible. You also need a space that has good lighting so that the people on the other end of the video conference can see your face – one of the biggest benefits of video conferencing.
It can be valuable to do a test run for the meeting space to make sure that everything is going to run smoothly in the environment so that your meeting can be productive and no one is distracted.
For the video conferencing newbies out there, you will need to think of one other very important thing when planning your meeting, which is how you are dressed. If you go too bright and flashy, it can be distracting on camera. If you go too dark, however; you could just look like a disembodied head–so plan accordingly! Also, pay special attention to addressing the camera during the meeting as well as speaking directly into the microphone so that all of your incredible ideas can be heard loud and clear!
#2: Be on time
One of the many benefits of video conferencing is that it saves time, which also saves money and increases productivity. Don’t be the one to hold up the meeting by logging in late. Make sure you log in on time and are ready to go!
#3: Don’t wing it
This could easier fit in under the banner of “plan ahead”, but it’s so important that it deserves its own section. Video conferencing meetings can have different objectives–from brain storming, to strategy, to new product development. Defining your role within the meeting ahead of time is one of the most important things you can do in order to get the most from it. With that in mind you should always ask yourself these questions:
What is your role?
What is the desired outcome?
Who else will be in the video conference?
What will you do during the meeting?
Answering these questions ahead of time will help you better prepare for your role and at the same time increase the efficiency of the meetings. In other words, it will make the meeting time well spent!
#4: Use the technology right
Interactive video conferencing technology has come a long way, and using the technology to its fullest adds a lot of value to your video conference. From the Blue Jeans camera for video conferencing, to screen sharing, to recording the meeting for future use, there are simply endless ways to use video conferencing to enhance your experience.
What you need to do is identify the features that will best serve the purposes of your business and familiarize yourself with them. There’s no rule that says you have to use every feature available. The point is to use only those features that help your meetings to be more effective.
#5: An online meeting it’s not
This is a mistake made by a lot of people, which is to treat an interactive video conference the same as an in-person meeting. The dynamics of video conferencing mean that you have to make adjustments. For example, video conferencing allows you to have meetings with people halfway around the world and that means they are in a different time zone. Depending on the time of day in the location of each participant, their energy level could be different. You will need to remember this in order to accommodate each participant.
There are also more distractions when you are using interactive video conferencing. Each person is in their own environment rather than all in one room together. This could mean they are more distracted than they could be in a traditional meeting setting and this needs to be accounted for as well.
Also remember that in person meetings are rarely recorded, but video conferencing is very easy to record. This means that you should act at all times on a video conference as if you are being recorded, because you might just be!
#6: The most important rule: Be flexible
Video conferencing is a useful tool of the modern age. It presents so many advantages to businesses both large and small that it should be used by every company. So the most important of our video conferencing tips is to be flexible and open to the latest video conferencing features and guidelines. With just a few adjustments, you will probably start to wonder how you ever lived without it!
