This article walks through 20 tips to ensure you lead productive Zoom meetings that make the best use of each participant’s time.
Highlights Include:
- Use the Waiting Room Feature
- Small Talk
- Use a Minimalist Background
- Look into the Actual Camera
- Avoid Side Gossip
- Consider Breakout Rooms
- Skip “Can You See my Screen?”
I recently transitioned to a hybrid work environment where I (and the rest of the team) physically come to the office 3 days a week. I’ve had to re-learn several standard office procedures such as booking conference rooms, using a key card for access, and even how to be fully present for in-person meetings. After 4 years of online meetings, I was kind of blown away at the level of focus I felt during face to face meetings. No more turning off my camera and running to grab a snack or answering a quick call from my husband. No discreet working on a side screen while only half listening during my team meeting. No side slacking or texting colleagues during the meeting. No distractions, no multi-tasking. Just a whole lot of undivided attention. Video calls have their place and certainly aren’t going away at my company or many others. Let’s break down best practices for leading successful Zoom meetings that capture your audience’s attention and achieve the intended objectives.
1. Check that you included the Zoom link
Check check double check to make sure you actually included the Zoom link in your meeting invitation. For some reason, I love to schedule Zoom meetings and forget to add the actual Zoom link. This creates meeting chaos and confusion right off the bat because participants can’t join the meeting. While the fix is generally quick for you as the meeting host, it does require an additional call, email or text message to participants which can delay the start of the meeting and cause frustration. Knowing this is a trend with me, I make a habit of checking my meeting invitations each morning and if a meeting is missing the link, I make the update as soon as possible so that attendees have ample time to see the update.
2. Include a clear meeting agenda in the description of the meeting invitation
Including the agenda lets attendees know, in advance, that you plan to run an efficient meeting that makes the best use of everyone’s time. At the start of each meeting, clearly state the purpose of the virtual get together (because some people will be running from one meeting to the next), review the agenda and if the meeting is with external participants, confirm that the scheduled time blocks still works. Be a leader, be organized and let attendees know what to expect. Having a clear agenda is important whether the meeting is with all internal company participants or a hybrid. Equally important is sticking to your agenda as much as possible.
3. Camera on
My recommendation is to always have your camera on to facilitate successful video meetings and this is especially important if you are leading the meeting. If your camera is off, then you are giving others permission to do the same. We all know that camera off typically = limited attention to the meeting.
4. Include your profile picture in your Zoom display
While “camera on” is the recommendation for as much of the meeting as possible, there will be times when you need to turn off your camera. Having your profile picture and name in your camera-off display is a way to remind the rest of the group that there is a real human behind the black box they see on their screen.
5. Use the Waiting Room feature
I was recently part of a sales team for a software company where Account Executives used the Waiting Room feature. This accomplished 3 things: 1) it allowed internal team members to do a quick check in before prospective customers joined 2) ensured no unwanted persons joined the meetings and 3) eliminated overly long and potentially redundant small talk with external participants. With the Waiting Room enabled, the Account Executive can wait until all (or most) external participants are assembled and then let them all in together. This is helpful if there are people who typically dial-in a couple minutes early. If the meeting was on a Monday, the host could ask one big “How was your weekend?” question to the group rather than having that conversation 3 times as each participant joins. To activate this setting: Sign in to the Zoom Web Portal. From the Navigation Menu, click Settings > click the Meetings tab > Under Security, click the Waiting Room toggle to enable or disable it.
6. Use 1-2 minutes to show your human side first
I recently had two interviews…one in-person at the company’s office and the other, virtual. In both scenarios, the interviewers (whom I had never met) literally jumped right into full interview mode without so much as a “how is your day going?” question. As a “feeler,” this caught me off guard and led to cold, rather robotic interviews. The interviewers were purely interested in my skills and experience vs. anything to do with me as a person. This was a bit of a red flag for me as I want to work somewhere where the hiring manager appears to care about me as a whole person. I know the topic of small talk can be polarizing and some despise it but, try and use that first minute to do a quick human check in with your attendees. It is equally important to avoid excessive chatting not related to the agenda so that you are respectful of each other’s time. It’s a balance.
7. Effective meetings start and end on time, always
This is a basic rule of effective virtual meetings whether the meeting is with smaller groups or larger teams. Respect your meeting participants and be ready to go with 1-minute of small talk and your agenda right on time. If you are the meeting host of a 10:00am meeting, you should be starting the meeting by 9:57am to account for any glitches or lags. Should you have forgotten the meeting link, this at least gives you a few minutes to send an email to participants. If you are using the Waiting Room, start letting participants in right on time. As you move through your agenda, be mindful of remaining time left and make adjustments on the fly as needed. Even if you haven’t completed your agenda, it is important to acknowledge that you are coming up on time and will need to wrap up the conversation, schedule a potential next meeting and capture any next steps or action items.
8. Avoid side Slacking or sending text messages during the meeting
No side messaging with other meeting participants if the intent is gossip for just chit chat. Other attendees usually pick up on the shared smirks, facial expressions and non-verbal cues being exchanged by two or more participants. They may start to think: “Are they talking about me? Am I boring? Would they never consider working with me?”
9. Use a professional background
In the early days of the pandemic when we were all new to regular Zoom meetings, it was fun studying a person’s visible background to decode their interests and personality. Family pictures, books, plants, sports memorabilia, beautifully styled shelves were all so interesting and these background items often became topics of conversation. Do your part as the host to minimize distractions and keep meeting participants focused. A blurred background is my favorite especially if you aren’t typically in the same location. Other options include having a naturally plain background (think sole shelf with a plant or two) or a simple, professional virtual background. There is no need for laser beans or Star Wars characters lurking behind you. I feel like I have seen it all at this point.
10. Speak and look into the actual camera
If you are using multiple monitors your eye contact should be with the camera (whether speaking or listening) as much as possible otherwise you can appear distracted. Strong body language especially your eye contact helps build connection with participants and encourages them to remain present.
11. Eliminate background noise
Zoom does a good job blocking out most background noise including barking dogs and crying children. Set the professional tone and try to be in as quiet of a space as possible. Minimizing distractions for you and the other participants is the name of the game.
12. Mute your microphone when not speaking
This is pretty standard in the world of Zoom etiquette as it further reduces background noise and keeps the attention on the active speaker. If there is a lot of back and forth, by all means you can stay off mute but the general rule is to mute when not speaking.
13. Don’t host a call in your car
My husband recently got dinged during a job interview for taking an interview (call only) in his car so this one hits close to home. If you are driving in your car, your focus should be safe vehicle operation vs. trying to use Zoom to host a meeting. I get it – sometimes stuff comes up and this is unavoidable but I would err on the side of rescheduling vs. proceeding with a car meeting. You want to set the tone that you are focused and making the best use of everyone’s time and that is typically not possible while also driving.
14. Consider using Breakout Rooms
If you are hosting large Zoom meetings, consider using the Breakout Rooms feature to encourage discussion in smaller groups. This is a great way to encourage participation if the meeting is with a fully remote team. If there are multiple leaders on the call, disperse them across the Breakout Rooms so that they can facilitate / observe the smaller group discussion. Click here to learn how to enable meeting Breakout Rooms.
15. Skip asking “Can you see my screen?”
Zoom has a screen share preview that shows you which screen / tab you are about to share so have confidence that the group CAN see your screen. It’s just one of those questions that has become annoying. If someone is not able to see the right screen, they will generally speak up and let you know. When I do a screen share, I will often share content from a second monitor. While I will have to look at that second monitor from time to time, I am mindful to keep my eye contact with the camera screen as much as possible. This is no different than if you were using Power Point during a physical meeting. You would want to connect with the audience as much as possible vs. just looking at your slides.
16. Embrace silence even if small technical issues arise
Don’t feel like you have to acknowledge slowness or other technical issues by narrating everything that is (obviously) happening as well as your troubleshooting. Screen sharing tends to slow down transitions and that is just fine. Silence can be golden for all. Don’t feel like you need to fill the void by explaining what everyone knows is happening.
17. Use the Chat feature
Engage via chat to ask questions, offer encouraging words to a speaker, respectively disagree with a point or ask for clarification. Emoji reactions can be fun and appropriate based on your audience and subject matter.
18. Include scheduled breaks
If the meeting is over an hour, give participants a short break and include the time of scheduled breaks in your agenda. This again can help team members remain focused during the actual meeting time. Keep the break short (15-minutes or less) and re-start the meeting exactly when you said you would.
19. Schedule meetings at a time that works for all participants
This may seem intuitive but pay close attention to calendar blocks or overly early / late meeting times. Should Friday afternoons ever really be an option? I would argue no.
20. Encourage participants to use the “Raise your Hand” feature
As a rule follower who appreciates a sense of order, I love that I can raise my hand and immediately let the host or active speaker know I’d like to comment at the right time. It eliminates talking over one another.
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