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Best Practices Guide to Virtual Communication

August 21, 2020 By

During the Spring of 2020, the pandemic caused almost all in-person meetings and classes to transition to a virtual format.  These sessions have become imperative to maintaining our country’s infrastructure and ensuring business continuity.  During this time, we’ve learned that a virtual, remote setting can be a poor substitute for in-person interactions.  Many facets of communication are transmitted via eye contact, body language, and facial expressions.  Even video calls often miss these small gestures of affirmation or disagreement and cause confusion.  This guide includes sections on: logistics, scope, etiquette, engagement, facilitation, and security.  These best practices will give insight on planning and implementation strategies to streamline online sessions and get the most out of virtual communication.

Logistics

Good planning is the cornerstone of any business meeting, educational class, and collaborative webcast.  Being thoughtful about the virtual platform you are using and being familiar with all that system’s features, tools, and your own hardware will prevent many issues and enable you to troubleshoot problems that do occur with ease.

  • Selecting a platform
    • Ease of logging-in
    • Bandwidth
    • Special features (break-out rooms, etc.)
    • Cost and capacity
    • Security capabilities
  • Familiarity with the functions/tool of the platform
    • Seamless and rapid execution of desired functions (muting, break out rooms, etc.)
    • Provide attendees “user guide” or tutorial of the platform
    • Consider attendees’ technological knowledge
    • Ensure that guest speakers are familiar with the platform (how to share their screen and advance slides)
  • Video
    • Be cognizant of surroundings and nearby distractions
    • Ensure virtual background choice is appropriate
    • Webcam is clean from smudges and operational
    • Lighting is adequate
    • Consider appropriate attire
    • Be cognizant of camera angle
  • Recordings
    • Be cognizant of recording privileges (FERPA)
    • Make attendees aware you are recording
    • Utilize recording for missing attendees
  • Sound
    • Verify hardware (headset, microphone, earbuds) is working correctly
    • Double-check the mute feature is on to minimize feedback and background noise
    • Consider force-muting all attendees
    • Closed Caption might be available in different languages
    • Audio from videos comes from the host’s computer (host should consider removing headphones)
    • If computer audio isn’t working correctly, consider dialing in via a phone
  • Internet and Bandwidth
    • Consider internet connection (hardwired is preferred)
    • Have a back-up plan for internet shortages (switch to phone)
    • Factors that may affect bandwidth (screen freeze or delays)
      • Using webcams
      • Video virtual backgrounds
      • Actively using chat function
      • Streaming videos
      • Sharing your screen
      • Switching between windows
      • Having too many programs/windows active on your desktop
  • Post-Session Reporting
    • Most platforms include reports to determine:
      • Attendee identity
      • Duration of participation
      • Information regarding access to recordings
    • Sometimes past chats can be downloaded
    • Graphical analytics
  • Multiple Screens
    • Using more than one screen can help with multitasking
    • Smart devises can be used as an extra screen (tablets or phones)
    • Ensure you know which screen is being viewed when sharing your screen

Scope

As advanced as our communication technology has become, virtual sessions are not a perfect substitute for interacting with someone in-person.  They can easily lead to miscommunication without thoughtful planning.  These strategies will help you create a scope to keep your session on track and optimize your time together.

  • Pre-planning
    • Determine session’s objectives
    • Ensure all necessary materials are distributed to attendees
    • Prioritize important topics near beginning of agenda
    • Decide if attendees will use webcams or not
  • Length
    • Shorter meetings prevent screen-fatigue
    • Virtual format doesn’t translate well into all day sessions
    • Limit to less than 2-3 hours at a time
    • Consider multiple sessions, across multiple days, instead of lengthy sessions
    • Schedule more breaks
  • Attendance
    • Fewer people (< 20) leads to increased engagement and ease of facilitation

Etiquette

When in a remote setting, professional etiquette is often the first to go.  Control must be applied consistently for everyone in attendance.  An effective way to establish a professional setting is for the host/facilitator to lead by example.  Overcoming common distractions (pets, housework, demanding children, and flashing words on the computers screen) will help facilitate proper etiquette in a virtual workplace.

  • Host Etiquette
    • Clearly establish the session norms (rules)
      • Hold everyone accountable
    • Review the agenda at the beginning
    • Avoid scope-creep
      • Don’t spend time on topics outside of the agenda
      • Discourage side-bars
      • Suggest taking off-topic conversations “off-line”
    • Timing
      • Start and end meetings on time
      • Avoid catching-up late attendees
      • Consider creating a follow-up meeting if sessions run long
      • Have a time-keeper
      • Create a timed agenda
      • Include time to introduce guest speakers
  • Attendee Etiquette
    • Remove external distractions (auto screen notification, cell phone noises)
    • Remain on mute unless actively speaking
    • Verify name is correct in the participant window
    • Avoid interrupting speaker
        • Wait for a pause in the conversation
        • Use the chat feature

Engagement

Virtual sessions must accomplish everything that an onsite meeting would and attendees can experience screen-fatigue due to the tedious nature of online sessions. These best practices will help you craft strategies to maximize the engagement for all attendees.

  • Use attendees’ names
  • Have multiple communication outlets available
    • Unmute
    • Chat
    • Annotate
    • Raise hands
  • Activate video to enable eye-contact
  • Utilize multiple media to avoid boredom
    • Kahoot
    • Mural
    • PollingEveryWhere
    • Gimkit
    • PowerPoint Live
    • Microsoft Forms
    • Whiteboard
    • QR Codes
    • Quizzes & Polls
    • Slidesmania
    • PearDeck
    • Congregate.live
  • Consider presentation style
    • Less words on a slide
    • Graphics
    • Avoid multiple transitions and excessive use of animation
    • Fonts are easy to read
    • Color scheme
      • Don’t use clashing colors
      • Ensure font and background color makes text legible
      • Be cognizant that not everyone’s monitor presents colors the same way
  • Stretch break
  • Keep updated on latest tools, delivery methods, and resources
  • Utilize rewards to encourage participation
  • Use open-ended questions to facilitate discussion
  • Encourage attendees to share their experiences and opinions
  • Summarize and reemphasize important points

Facilitation

Planning is imperative to an effective, online session, but implementation is where the rubber meets the road.  Careful thought needs to go into running your meeting to ensure effective communication, attendee engagement, and strive to continuously improve this process.

  • Establish a facilitator or scribe outside the session leader
    • Monitor the chat
    • Troubleshoot issues (muting)
    • Alert leader/instructor
  • Consider saving the “chat” discussion for meeting notes
  • Your phone or tablet’s camera can be used as a scanner
  • Summarize action items before concluding
  • Solicited feedback via survey
    • Limit to 3-5 questions
    • User friendly format
    • Request completion prior to leaving session
    • Utilize input for continuous improvement

Security

During the pandemic, vulnerabilities in virtual security became very clear.  Instances of unauthorized attendees in confidential meetings and cases of “Zoom-bombing” were all over social media.  Care needs to be given to protecting the integrity of your online session.

  • Be cognizant of unauthorized attendees (Zoom-bombing)
  • Restrict unauthorized calendar invite sharing
  • Verify attendee identification for confidential sessions or virtual exams
    • Require use of work email addresses for calendar invites
    • Visual identification can be established by having the attendee hold-up their picture ID to the webcam
  • Use passwords
  • Don’t publish the meeting link on social media, magazines, newspapers, website, whitepapers, etc.
  • Appreciate that different companies have varying levels of control and specific security stipulations
  • Lock session

Clear communication is imperative for business meetings, trainings, and everyday correspondence.  Although circumstances have forced wide-spread adoption of virtual interactions, this remote communication will likely continue even after normalcy resumes.  Misunderstandings are easily prevented through thoughtful planning and consistent implementation.  These best practices can greatly contribute to increased engagement and effective communication, even in a virtual setting.

By Jennifer Stone and Wendy White, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Technology

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