Online PowerPoint Meeting Etiquette
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008When participating in an online PowerPoint meeting and communicating via teleconference, there are ground rules that all participants should abide by. Physical cues and facial expressions that assist in conveying your message in person are not available during a teleconference.
Unlike physical meetings, where it can be easy to slip in without disturbing the meeting, most teleconferencing services have an audible notification when someone else joins the teleconference. The meeting then usually pauses for that person to identify who they are and can be annoying when the meeting has to stop for each person that joins late. Plan on logging on 15 minutes before the start of the meeting so people can introduce themselves and the meeting can start on time. These same ground rules apply for video conferences.
Be aware of background noise. If you have dogs barking, or noisy traffic outside, it can be quite disturbing to the rest of the participants in the meeting. If you are in a noisy environment and can not help it, use the handset and not the speaker phone to reduce this noise as much as possible. The “mute” button can be used to prevent background noise, however the pause for you to turn off mute before you can answer the question prevents the conversations from flowing freely. Use the mute button only if you have to. When you do participate in the conversation, state your name and be sure to speak clearly, so the rest of the meeting participants can identify who is speaking. If your phone system has “hold” music or information when you put a phone line on hold, be aware that if you press hold during your teleconference, the entire meeting will have to hear that until you return.
It is your responsibility to pay attention and fully participate in online meetings and teleconferences. Turn off your cell phones and PDA. Don’t browse the web or check your email. Treat the teleconference and its participants with the same respect and attention you would an actual meeting to get the maximum benefit of the technology.
