This article was published on March 30th, 2020
With so many people working from home at the moment in Qatar and around the world, we thought we’d share our top tips for staying professional during a video call.
1. Join the call on time. Just because it’s not in person doesn’t mean you can be late.
2. Turn your camera on. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the living room or your car, or even if you child walks around. It’s normal for these things to happen when working from home.
3. Think of you surroundings. You should be in a tidy area, but its more than fine to show personality such as your kids artwork, or an arts and crafts section.
4. Let the people at home know you’re on a call – this will help keep the noise to a minimum and will minimize any embarrassing moments.
5. Try and stay unmuted, but if you’re in a noisy situation beyond your control, hit that mute button!
6. Focus on the call – it shows when you’re checking your phone or your emails.
7. Are you recording the call? Make sure that the people on the call are aware of this and the reasons for that.
8. Be yourself. We all know that you are not in the office – so it’s more than okay to show your true self. You don’t have to have a white background or be seated at a desk, as long as it’s respectful and courteous of the situation.
9. Figure out where the best connection at home is and use that area – it’ll make any call go smoother.
10. Small talk is also okay. If you’re a few minutes early or hang back after the call, it’s perfectly normal to catch up with colleagues and have a chat.
Stay safe, and stay home.
