The video conference call has become a staple of office collaboration in the remote work environment. There are a number of established players in the industry that all provide the same basic functions. Whether one uses Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Cisco Webex, or something else, the platform is going to have video and audio which can be turned off/muted, some sort of chat feature and typically a hand-raising tool to alert the group that one wishes to chime in.
While these software applications are designed to mimic the experience of an in-person meeting, it’s clear that present technology—advanced though it may be—is by no means a perfect replacement for the real thing. In some cases, video conferencing tools offer features lacking from in-person meetings.
Falling Short of an In-person Experience
The chat feature is a great example. And not the only one. In other areas, video conferencing also can be less effective than in-person interactions. Bad connections, the inability to get the full body language picture, and the presence of various distractions are just some examples.
In short, video conferencing has pros and cons relative to in-person meetings, but in general we can say it’s sufficiently different—in both bad and good ways—to require its own rules of etiquette.
Communicating Rules of Video Conferencing Etiquette
Those who haven’t used video conferencing tools their entire careers might be oblivious to what seem like obvious rules of the road to those digital natives who’ve used such tools for years in both their professional and personal lives. To keep everyone on the same page, companies would be well served to provide some basic training—even a simple FAQ or Q&A document—to help staff understand the expected etiquette for the use of video conferencing tools.
And just because the world has entered the third year of the global pandemic doesn’t mean it’s too late to spend time on video call training. With new variants and renewed shutdowns and restrictions becoming a feature of everyday life, the need for these skills will not diminish anytime soon.
Even after the pandemic subsides, the shift to remote and hybrid work seems to be a permanent fixture, meaning video calls are likely to be a more fundamental part of office life. On top of that, the fact that companies have had over two years to collect examples of how not to behave on video calls could mean the timing is just right for an etiquette reset. In a follow-up post, we’ll discuss some specific etiquette rules for video conference calls.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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