Guidelines For Productive Online Meetings: Unit 2. Lesson 2

Onboarding Virtual Internship Training for Interior Design Students
Guidelines for Productive Online

Meetings
Unit 2. Lesson 2
Introduction
With the development of the Internet, online meetings have become common
place. By improving the convenience of applications and evolving the user ex
perience*, meetings can be conducted more smoothly and easily than convent
ional videoconference.
* User experience = Not only easy to use and easy to understand, but also a c
oncept aimed at guiding user behavior and realizing what the user wants to d
o "fun and comfortable“
On the other hand, camera reflection, voice, background, etc. are very differen
t, and the implementation method is not uniform.

Introduction
Sharing and engaging in online meeting manners enabl

es more effective meetings and helps to sustain a vibra
nt organization.
University encourages active and effective online confe
rences. Online conferences are now the standard arou
nd the world. Instead of negatively grasping "it is diffic
ult to communicate remotely" or "It is not possible to i
Example: G20 Summit
nteract unless you meet face-to-face", please understan
d that it is essential to improve the ability to communic
ate thoroughly even online as a faculty member and IT
person at the University.

What is online meeting ？
• The meeting consists of participants gathering under a purpose-based proposal withi
n a predetermined time to exchange opinions and make decisions that are appropriat
e for the purpose through discussions.
• Online conferences are a form of conducting meetings in which participants do not p
hysically gather, but utilize the characteristics of ICT and gather in cyberspace to com
municate interactively.
• Unlike lectures and seminars (webinars) that do not intend to interactive communica
tion, online conferences require interaction* between participants.
• Keep this difference in mind. * Interaction= Two or more people may influence each
other.
• "Talking to each other," and sending and receiving information to each other can also
be called videoconferencing (short for teleconference, telephone conference), videoc
onferencing, teleconferencing, etc.
What is online meeting
Tele-conference Television conference
Tele ＋ Conference Tele ＋ Vision ＋ Conference

Purpose of online meeting
Why conduct a meeting?
• Before start your preparation, recognize the purpose of the meeting.
If you do not know, check with your colleague.
Benefits of online meeting
• teleconferencing system that adds not only voices but also facial exp
ressions and gestures. In face-to-face communication, it is said that 7
0% of nonverbal elements such as visual information and gestures a
re occupied. Even when face-to-face meetings move to online meetin
gs, visual elements are an important element of communication, incl
uding mutual impressions and communication.
？
Valuing visual aspects
• This visual element is very important.
• Let's put your face on camera and express
• i.e. visually show you are by nodding
• carefully examine visual elements
1. lighting
2. facial expressions
3. your physical appearance (dress, hairstyle)
4. angles
5. what’s in the background
prepare effective visual information before attending online meetings.

１． Prepare as an participant
As a participant, you need to set up a computer, camera, microphone, and speake

r.
• Secure battery for a computer device
• connect it to an electrical outlet as the battery level can adversely affect video and audio
• Adjust Camera
• In the case of a laptop with a built-in camera, pay particular attention to the position of th
e camera.
• If you look up at the camera at the height of your usual computer, you will have a composit
ion that looks up at your face from below. When photographed from below, human faces of
ten appear out. Adjust the angle and height of the camera to make sure you check how you
are looking.

• Set up a microphone
• Make your voice easier to hear. Chooses the one with good sound quality.
• Headset (mic + earphone) is more likely to have better audio than built-in micro
phone
• Do note that microphones with good sensitivity can easily pick up noise.
➡ Choose the equipment that best fits your environment for the meeting
• Set up a Speaker
• Wearing earphones and headsets can reduce noise, so use them as ne
eded.
• Don't forget to consider grooming, such as disorders in your hairstyl
e when wearing a headset.

• Set up your background

• Virtual background is an option but it has drawbacks
• i.e. When a person with gray hair in a white/grey background uses the virtual background functio
n, the hair may become completely invisible, and blur outline of your face.
• if one can afford to make your background professional, use the physical background instead of vir
tual one.
• Sit against the walls or curtains as your background, and pay attention to furniture appearing with
n your frame. (i.e. you do not want laundries hanging behind the wall)
• Locate your camera properly

so that you can appear making an eye contact

１． Prepare as an participant ー key points to check
• Pay attention to the lighting to ensure that their faces and the overall reflec
tion do not darken.
• Be careful with the clothing you wear. It is rude and unprofessional to par
ticipate in a lounge wear just because you join from home.
• When at home, chose a room as quiet as possible without a pet.
• Ventilation is necessary for COVID-19 prevention, make sure that microphones do no
t pick up outside noise. Be especially careful in rooms with close roads and tracks.
• When participating from your own seat at an office, care must be taken to preve
nt the sound of the surrounding voices and telephone calls.
• It is desirable to participate alone in a sound-shielded private room so that othe
r people's voices and noises do not enter.

1. Prepare as a host
 The meeting host sends an invitation link and materials to join th
e online meeting before the meeting to all participants in the meetin
g.
 Test the microphone audio, speaker, screen sharing, and other m
ovements at least one hour before the start of the meeting when usi
ng the online conference system.
 Make it clear in advance about the roles in the meeting. Specify the
host, facilitator, clerk, timekeeper, and so on.
 Set up a meeting room before starting the meeting to allow time to
resolve any equipment or connectivity issues.
 Optional to set restrictions on participants from sharing the screen.
２． Starting your meeting
• Confirm if they are here and ready
• Check to see everyone's camera turned on
• If any participants have the camera turned off,
ask them to turn it on.
• Whenever possible, interact with all participants to test the audio.
➡ This will increase meeting interactions.
• Manage audio, camera qualities
If more than one person is in a physical conference room
• Consider the location of the camera and where to sit in the conference room so that everyo
ne's faces are visible. Or, make sure everyone connects to an online meeting to capture thei
r faces.
• When connecting to online meetings on multiple PCs at close range, care must be taken wh
en handling microphones to avoid howling.
• Use a headset to ensure that your voice does not enter someone else's Microphone, and car
e that others' voices do not enter your Microphone.
• Do not turn on multiple Microphones /open speaker.
• Confirm recording policy

• It is important for hosts and leaders to discuss whether or not to reco
rd the meeting and to finalize the policy.
• Confirm Name information
Make sure your names shown in the screen (affiliation and name in th
e case of external meetings) to clarify who is participating.
REC
• Set a back channel* and inform participants in advance in case the onl
ine meeting connection is interrupted
• Back channel means an alternative communication method
• e.g., please contact me via WhatsApp when the connection is lost.
• Back channel tools include Slack, LINE, phone, and email.
• Consider in advance what is most accessible to participants.
• Make House-keeping announcement

• Before you begin a discussion, share rules such as whether you should raise your h
and as shown on camera when you speak, whether you want to use the online conf
erencing system features, or allow questions to be posted in chat.

３． During the meeting
• Pay attention to communicate effectively

• If you have many participants in other locations, share the rule of mentioning your
name once before speaking. This makes it easier to identify who is talking.
• Ask them to be clear who they are asking. Online collaboration tools such as Googl
e Docs can be used as whiteboard that all participants can share and interact with.
• Consider what is accessible to participants.
• Restrict participants from chatting or emailing
during meetings unrelated to meetings.

Pay attention to communicate effectively

• If a participant exits an online meeting, tell others that.
• As the facilitator of the meeting, proceed with discussions in accordance with the agenda, agenda, and
"speaking at the meeting," and be careful not to let the discussions fall off the agenda.
• Unless a proposal has been decided in advance, the facilitator must control it so as not to become "a si
ngle participant's place."
• Facilitators should always keep an eye on all participants and, if there are participants who have not s
poken out, order and express their opinions as necessary.
• You should also always check to see if there are any participants raising their hands.
• There are ways to raise hands as if they were shown in images, or to use the "raise hands function" of
the online conference system. It is better to be able to respond in a variety of ways.
• Online meetings have limited communication elements than face-to-face meetings, so try to create a
mood that welcomes each other more than usual and encourages positive comments from participant
s.
• Manage audio quality

• Mute the audio when you don't speak.
This prevents noise such as coughing, operating noise,
and squeaking in the chair from disturbing others.
• without headset, microphone will pick up the audio spoken by other people
and hear it howling.
• If more than one person is gathered in the physical conference room, pay attention to t
he handling of the microphone and try to avoid paper noise.
• Speak slowly and clearly in the normal voice size. In an online conference system, ther
e may be a slight transmission delay, so wait in time during the conversation.

• Remark after someone else's completes speaking.
• Many online conferencing systems have a voice-activated switching function that au
tomatically moves the video to the speaker and displays the speaker on the screen.
• overlapping audio may confuse the listener.
• Avoid sudden/quick movements. Depending on the communication spee
d, block noise* may occur and may appear choppy.
• *Block noise = A type of "noise = visible noise generated in digital images, and the b
oundary of the image becomes like a mosaic.
• Participants should be able to see their facial expressions on the camera. Co
nfigure your camera location so that you can align your eyes to the camera.
• Make your reaction to the speaker bigger than usual.
• For example, if you nod, nod broadly and
understand your intention to agree through the camera.
４． Using features on online meeting software
• There are several ways to display approval at the time of a vote: For exampl
e, zoom adds functions such as "applause" and "raise hands", and there is a
n icon on the screen. Use it as needed.
① In the video, make a circle with both hands,
or actually show a large palm and raise your hand,
and show your approval.
The chairman confirms it by the image.
② The host confirms the online conference system's
"raise hands" function.
③ Write down in the chat using the chat function
• In a public organization, we may have to keep a record of our votes. For that
purpose, be sure to record the meeting and leave evidence of the number of
favors, opposition numbers, abstentions, and so on.
４． Using functions in the meeting software
Example ） Zoom’s function “raise hand”
Other response can be made as well

５． Closing the meeting
• After the host-facilitator declares the end of the meeting, the partic
ipant leaves online. Instead of leaving silently, say a word and leav
e.
• Greetings are in etiquette, as they do when you leave the meeting r
oom where you usually meet. The host confirms that all participan
ts have left the room before ending the online meeting.

Breakout room activity:
One by one, turn on camera and microphone
Use the checklist to examine the qualities in
Checklist
 My voice can be clearly heard.
 My name information is appropriately.
 My face is clearly visible and the lightening is not too dark , not too bright
 My eyes looks straight to the camera as if making an eye contact with other
members in the meeting
 The camera captures my face in the appropriate angle.
 (if you use virtual background), my virtual background does not blur the
outline of my face.
 My background looks clean and neat.
Resources
• MIT Media Lab 　
https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/a-few-simple-tips-for-better-o
nline-meetings-covid-19-edition/
• MIT MEDIA LAB 10 STRATEGIES FOR COLLEGIAL VIDEOCONFERE
NCING 　
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1raLzjieDcVtvLU6-6wi5rS8
1Odm0UWLGlUeH2RECdDo/edit#
• GEANT Best Practice Guide for Virtual Meetings 　
https://wiki.geant.org/download/attachments/47909292/geant-
virtual-meetings-best-practice-guide-v0.2.pdf?version=1&modific
ationDate=1438700476948&api=v2
• Stanford University IT “Meeting Etiquette Tips”
https://uit.stanford.edu/videoconferencing/meeting-etiquette

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Onboarding Virtual Internship Training for Interior Design Students