Set up your personal meeting space, to ensure that you are not interrupted, that the camera captures your best angle, and that no distracting objects are placed in the background.Mute participants when they are not speaking.Let participants log in 5 minutes before the meeting starts to overcome any technical issues before the official meeting starts.Test the technological equipment in advance (i.e., audio, video, WiFi, lighting).Involve all parties during the meeting by including frequent micro-involvements.expectations about participation, uninterrupted attention etc. Set ground rules when starting the meeting incl.Evaluate the meeting format in advance to ensure that you cater for foreseeable cultural differences.Include frequent 5-minutes breaks to create energy and allow for informal chat.Make sure to get everyone to talk within the first 5 minutes to make everyone feel like being of the group.Have participants turn on video to allow for eye contact to raise psychological safety.Be aware of time zone differences and plan accordingly.Make sure that participants are located in a proper physical setting, i.e., a properly lit meeting room or office without distractions.Let participants meet before the official meeting start (start meeting 5 minutes early) to allow for informal small talk.Here are some approaches to circumventing the barriers of virtual meetings. How to overcome the barriers of virtual meetings TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIER: We experience technology that fails sound and images that do not render correctly.

SOCIAL BARRIER: We do not have the same means of creating trust and intimacy before, during, and after the meeting.ĬULTURAL BARRIER: We have different standards and traditions for communication that are difficult to gauge in a virtual setting.

PHYSICAL BARRIER: We are separated in time and space and cannot so easily decode body language. See an introduction to the four barriers of virtual meetings below.

Zoom meeting communication