MUBASH K, 30, a project manager with a BPO in Mumbai conducts meetings with her colleagues every week. She likes to meet with her team face-to-face. “You can pick up who’s thinking what and get immediate responses. It’s fun and personal. Voice calls make people sound like androids!” she says. Well, face-to-face meetings can be a tough proposition, when the attendees are based in four different parts of the world, with about 20 people to a location. So, Mubash is forced to conduct her meetings the virtual way, via videoconferences (VC).
According to Wikipedia.org , videoconferences use audio and video telecommunication, to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. The meeting could be a conversation between two people in private offices or it could involve several sites with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. You can also share documents, view PPTs etc.
Mubash handles her weekly VCs like a smooth operator. Not so, first time round. She had been communicating with her Australia-based colleague AD, for about eight months over voice calls. “His voice was rather was ‘mousy’. I imagined him to be this small guy who was very meek and sat at the back of the meeting room,” she says. She was in for a bit of a surprise during the first VC with him.
”I saw this fairly tall chap, very active, sitting at the head of the table. It was AD, and he did not fit into my mind’s picture at all!” she adds. Her learning from this experience: Initiate a round of introductions always when you see people face to face, during your VC.
Corporate trainer and Managing Director of International Center For Training Systems, Priya Kumar has some more smart advice for videoconference virgins.
1. Dressing for the job can help boost impressions, especially if you have a client at the receiving end. Crisp-looking business formals can make you look really sharp and professional; it’s one way to add some visual appeal to what the client sees on his screen.
2. Start by introducing yourself.
3. Next, check with your client if the visual and audio is in place. Making sure that you are seen and heard properly is a must.
4. Then introduce the other people with you, and also request introductions of people at the client’s end.
5. Have an agenda sheet with you, and present the agenda. Ask if any more points need to be added from the client’s side and then kickstart your discussion.
6. Keeping your laptop next to you, taking notes, all adds up to that spanking professional image.
7. It’s nice to have a flip chart handy. This is a board that is usually set atop a tripod. Large pads of paper are fixed to the upper edge, on which important points can be written (in bullet points). They are mostly used during presentations.
8. Dash off a supporting e-mail of the discussion within 30 minutes of the videoconference.
9. Feel free to keep coffee, tea or water handy, as you don’t want to disturb the conference with breaks.
Last but not the least, “Impress your client and the boss, by being in control during the entire session,” says Priya.
Smart tips
- Smoking during a videoconference is an absolute no-no.
- Try and avoid toilet breaks too. Relieve yourself before or after.
- Look into the camera while talking, some people tend to look away and that disinterests the client or fails to make the impact that direct eye contact could.
- Give an indication of the time you are going to spend on the videoconference. You could say something to the effect of: "I hope we can wind this up in the next 30 minutes." or "We are booked for the next one hour and I am sure we will be able to fruitfully discuss our agenda".
Good luck!
Photograph: Getty Images
(Photograph used for illustrative purposes only.)
Disclaimer: While we have made efforts to ensure the accuracy of our content (consisting of articles and information), neither this website nor the author shall be held responsible for any losses/ incidents suffered by people accessing, using or is supplied with the content.
on your mobile
On your phone browser type