In today’s world, Zoom meetings need to be thought of as interchangeably as possible with traditional, in-person meetings. From being on time, to confidentiality, and even your professional appearance, a virtual meeting should be taken seriously. However, there are some unique aspects of Zoom meetings that you need to take into consideration to protect professionalism that you might not think of or need for in-person meetings.

Top 6 Things to Think about During and After Zoom Meetings:

• Be Kind to Other People’s Professional Status: Treat others with respect in regard to sharing screen time, approach the meeting with the same formality as an in-person one (even if you are wearing sweatpants with your button-up shirt!) and address individuals with the formal respect needed.
• Taking Screenshots: Let your attendees know that you are taking a screenshot and wait until everybody is prepared. For larger meetings, be sure to take enough screenshots of meeting attendees as needed to ensure that everybody’s image is captured.
• Sharing Screenshots: Ask permission before tagging people or sending the image. People might have many reasons for not wanting their image shared.
• Screenshot Staging: In addition to making sure your giving people a heads up about taking a picture, make sure you take a quick glance at your attendees to make sure your setup and their screens look professional. To list a few things to look for, assess where your mouse cursor is to keep it out of the way of someone’s face, check that all attendees are displaying a professional name, and make sure that attendees haven’t left up a virtual background that isn’t appropriate. Consider taking the screen shot early in the meeting when everyone is there and fresh so you don’t miss anyone that might have to drop off early. Doing this can also serve as a bit of an ice breaker because everyone will need to hold smiles while you take the shot. You can even ask someone to tell a joke to get more natural smiles!
• Recording or Livestreaming Zoom Meetings: If you are recording or livestreaming, remind your attendees at the top of the meeting.
• Chat Features and Timing: Chats can be a great tool for sharing information, but they can be distracting, and it is easy to accidentally share messages with the wrong audience. Consider turning chats off or establishing ground rules for using chats.