Don't get caught with your pants on!

The Cloud Community team have been brainstorming ways to get more from our virtual meetings, and in our last two newsletters, we’ve shared some of our thoughts with you.

In this third and final part of the series, we share some last tips as well as some ‘no-no’s’ we’ve thought of!

It’s all about the background

For fun meetings or Friday afternoon team huddles, it’s fine to let your hair down a bit and have some fun – that’s the objective of them after all (see part one for more on meeting objectives and outcomes). In these meetings it’s fine to experiment with some fun backgrounds, or rub it in to your colleagues about the latest football results!

But for serious meetings, although funky backgrounds are good for a bit of fun, they can be a bit distracting and even slightly unprofessional. After almost three years of new ways of working, it’s time to leave those backgrounds alone and be yourself!

Reaffirm those outcomes

As the meeting begins to conclude, it’s effective to summarise the key outcomes, actions, owners and any decisions made. You can do this via email after the meeting, or better still in the collaborative spaces of software such as Teams or Google Workspaces.

Don’t get caught with your pants down – or on!

The best rule of thumb to avoid any misperceptions or embarrassing moments is to dress for virtual meetings as you would to go into your office. If it’s a more formal environment, a work shirt should suffice. Even if it’s jeans and tee-shirts, go with that – but avoid PJs or boxers shorts at all costs – as some people have found to their detriment!

To recap

That’s about all we have for you for now on the topic of virtual meetings. Not all of these tips will be for everyone, but they are intended to provide some food for thought on getting the most out of your time, and having some good fun and interactions along the way. It’s by no means meant to be an exhaustive list, and if you’ve got anything to add please let us know or comment on the article on LinkedIn.

You can read part one and part two of the series here.