Online meetings, virtual meetings, Zoom calls, virtual conferences—these have become the norm in our lives. When it comes to the professional setting, time matters a lot. That’s why making sure that your internet connection, audio and/or video settings are working properly sends a sign of professionalism.
In Microsoft Teams, here’s how you do it.
A lot of people think that hopping on a call or any meeting (whether that’s in-person or online) is enough. What people don’t realize is that real professionals spend a few minutes preparing for the meeting.
Reviewing the agenda, taking a look at the previous notes and action items, and, in virtual meetings, testing their technology.
Testing your setup before any call is a great practice.
This is even more important if you constantly switch from multiple devices and equipment. For example, you use a laptop, desktop, and your phone to conduct calls. Then you also have your wireless and wired earphones. All-in-all, those are very different configurations.
Imagine this scenario. You have a scheduled call at 9:30 AM. You joined on the call on your phone and stepped away from your desk. You might think your wireless headphones will connect automatically to your phone, but since you used them last on your desktop, that’s where it connected. And now, 15 seconds into the call and audio is still coming from your desktop computer. You scramble to fix the connection. And now, right after fixing it, you explain what happened. A few minutes in and you still haven’t started talking about your agenda.
Take the time to test your internet and audio levels before every meeting. It’ll save you and the people you’re meeting with a lot of time.
