By John Okeke
While digital meeting tools like Zoom have been gaining momentum organically during the past decade, the practice of virtual meetings has skyrocketed in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, Zoom’s CEO Eric Yuan reported in April of 2020 that daily active users had increased from 10 million to over 200 million in just three months.
As millions around the world began staying home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, Zoom has since become popular with organizations, schools, media outlets, churches, and more.
Digital meeting tools are being used for everything from a one-on-one hangout to team strategy sessions to large-scale events. And, the practice doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, as the number of users will no doubt increase in 2021 and beyond.
However , social media was awashed recently with the news of indecent exposures by some of the regional parliamentarians during a high level regional virtual meeting held early this year due to covid-19 restrictions.
During the meeting it was reported that some regional lawmakers were seen dressed in underwears and the other smoked with flagrant impunity.
The behaviours of some of these regional lawmakers during the virtual meeting attracted condemnations from the public who viewed that the actions of the parliamentarians during the meeting was wrong as some were seen cooking , smoking and other indecent exposure.
This is disturbing as the calibre of persons involved in the meeting are expected to conduct themselve decently.
To avoid the repeat of this kind in any virtual meeting of the parliamantarians , an expert , Adam York proffered solutions on what not to do during a zoom meeting .
According to him, don’t set the scene for distractions during virtual meeting .
He said,” your surroundings say a lot about you, so it’s essential to make sure that they say the right things for your audience. Before you log on to your Zoom meeting, make sure you have chosen a clean backdrop in your space that doesn’t distract viewers from your communication.”
He cautioned that proffessionalism should not be replaced with comfort adding that people engaging in a zoom meeting should ensure that they dress properly before the commencement of the meeting.
“When you’re at home, you’re in your comfort zone. However, it’s important to always keep your audience in mind when it comes to a Zoom meeting. A best practice for your appearance and attire is to pretend you’re still meeting in person. Ask yourself questions like, “What would I wear if this was an in-person meeting? Or “How would I sit or communicate if we were in person?” All in all, you’ll never go wrong with dressing for success and setting up your space at a desk or table, just as you would if your meeting was at an office or coffee shop.”
He continued,” dont zoom and drive during virtual meeting .It should go without saying, however, it’s never a good idea to take a Zoom meeting while driving. Not only are there numerous issues that come along with distracted driving, but some employers could even be liable if a worker has an accident while driving distracted on a Zoom meeting.
Dont forget to eat before hand.
We’ve all seen it—and possibly done it ourselves—but it’s definitely best to avoid eating during your Zoom meeting. Unless the meeting is intentionally designated as a lunch-and-learn or lunch meeting, try to eat before you log in.”
“Dont put a private message in a zoom chat. There will likely be moments when you want or need to share a private comment or thoughts to a specific team member who’s also a part of the Zoom meeting. If that case arises, make sure not to share those comments in the Zoom chat feature where everyone may see them,” the expert added.
