Virtual meetings caught many of us off guard, thrust upon us by necessity rather than design. While we had dabbled in occasional virtual meetings before, the sudden shift to practically living in this new environment presented unique challenges.
For better or worse, our personal and office lives merged together. Dress codes became a thing of the past as we found ourselves working in outfits we never would have imagined wearing even on the most casual of days.
New behaviors emerged, some endearing and others not so much. Kids and pets made adorable appearances in our home offices, but watching someone eat on camera wasn’t always pleasant. Interruptions became the norm, with deliveries, repair people, and household crises infiltrating our meetings.
Suddenly, our housekeeping skills were under scrutiny, visible in the camera frame. We were granted glimpses into rooms of colleagues’ houses that we wouldn’t normally see, even if we visited them in person. Backgrounds, blurring, or simply opting not to turn on the camera became ways to mask these aspects.
This led to the infamous “great camera debate.” Should we insist on cameras being on during meetings? When does it become an expectation of presence, and when does it cross the line into privacy invasion?
Determining what was right or wrong in this new virtual landscape was a constant learning process. We were all navigating uncharted territory.
Amidst this context, Jugo, a UK startup dedicated to revolutionizing virtual meeting experiences, conducted a study on virtual meeting etiquette. Intrigued by their findings, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joseph Toma, their CEO, to delve deeper into the study’s implications. Our conversation was filled with humor, thought-provoking insights, and valuable information—an engaging exchange that transcended the thousands of kilometers that separated us.
I invite you to enjoy our chat as much as I did. As promised, I will share some highlights from this enlightening conversation.
Listen to the podcast episode below:
Here are the links we referred to in the interview as promised.
Here is the study and announcement by Jugo.
Additionally, you can find a helpful PDF infographic summarizing virtual meeting etiquette.
Lastly, here’s the promo video mentioned in the interview. There’s a registration form but you don’t have to fill it in to watch the video.