So what should you do? The best, least intrusive method is to use your video conferencing appвЂ™s chat function, if it has one. Plus, it can be disruptive to constantly have to stop the flow of the meeting to answer questions as they come up. You could try interrupting or talking over someone so you can ask your question. But it can be hard to get everyoneвЂ™s attention during the meeting to ask your question. Use the chat function to ask questionsД¬hances are youвЂ™ll have questions about the content presented or discussed during your meeting. When background noise is unavoidable, or if your work requires privacy, it may be worth it to use a white noise machine to help drown out excess background noises and muffle your own private conversations. But if you work from home and have kids or pets it can be hard to find a quiet room to attend your video conference call meeting. ItвЂ™s important to find a quiet space for your video calls so that you can hear your meeting and so that youвЂ™re not being disruptive to others while your mic has to be on. Not everyone can just hop on a call, so be mindful of that while deciding whether or not to have a video conference meeting.ДЇind a quiet, private space or use a white noise machine Video conference calls can be difficult to coordinate (especially as the number of participants increases) and time-consuming. Generally speaking, longer conversations and remote training sessions are the best uses for video calls.Д¬oronavirus symptoms: Answers to your COVID-19 questions If it can be handled via Slack or an email, then use those methods. Make sure that the topic of discussion is appropriate for a video conference. Not every work issue needs to be hashed out via video calls. Know when to video conference and when to Slack Both Skype and Microsoft Teams offer a вЂњbackground blurвЂќ feature that allows you to blur your actual background and places the focus of your video on you.

For example, Zoom allows its users to add a fun virtual background to their video instead of just showing the contents of their messy rooms. If you donвЂ™t have the time (or the inclination) to alter the room itself, you can still hide the appearance of your chosen space via background features offered in some video conferencing clients.

Or maybe you found a quiet place in which you could attend your meeting but the room itself might be distractingly messy or have walls with not-so-bland decor. The recommended speed for a call that large would be 8Mbps/512kbps.ДЄ screenshot shows the virtual background feature in the Zoom video conferencing interface. For example, according to Skype: the minimum required download/upload speed for a video call involving seven or more people would be 4Mbps/128kbps. Fortunately, there are a number of quick online internet speed tests you can use to check your internet connection.ДЇor video calling apps like Skype, the required speeds for video calls depends on the complexity of the video call itself. One of the most important things to do before joining a call or hosting one is making sure that your hardware works (microphone, speakers, headphones) and that your internet speeds are fast enough to support a decent level of quality for a video call. Nothing causes a video conference call to come to a screeching, awkward halt quite like slow internet speeds, connectivity issues, or malfunctioning hardware.

Test your hardware and internet connection beforehand

That said, weвЂ™ve come up with a quick guide to the doвЂ™s and donвЂ™ts of video conferencing etiquette, to help you attend or conduct your meetings as smoothly as possible.story. MORE: Best tech for working from home during coronavirus pandemic

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