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Pod 6, The Engine Rooms, Station Road
Chepstow
Monmouthshire

01633 730907

For more than 10 years we have provided companies of all sizes and in a variety of sectors with uncomplicated, innovative and affordable human resources advice and on-site support ensuring that your people are an asset to your company and not a liability.

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With the National Minimum Wage (NMW) now almost fifteen years old, and with another increase pending on 1st April 2017 HMRC have issued a list of the most elaborate excuses they've been given by employers for not paying the appropriate rates:

An Etiquette Guide to Online Meetings

Alan Kitto

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that Teams and Zoom meetings are now a normal part of our working day, instead of everyone being together in a meeting room together.

As such, we feel it’s important that employers set some etiquette guidelines to ensure professionalism is maintained; here are some ground rules that we feel will ensure that online meetings are as productive and professional as possible.

Join Early

Arriving to online meetings early makes sense for so many reasons. Firstly you’ll get a chance to iron out any technical issues with joining the meeting, especially if you’re using a meeting platform that you’re not familiar with.

If everyone turns up on time, meetings can start on time and then finish on time.

Dress Right

Dressing right doesn’t necessarily mean dressing formally but when attending a formal meeting, dressing at least semi-professionally is a sign of respect to the other participants and there’e considerable research that shows that we think and work differently depending on how we’re dressed. It’s a good idea to mirror how you’d dress if you were attending a meeting in person.

What’s Behind You!

Always remember that it’s not just you on camera, but your background is too; anyone listening to you shouldn’t be distracted by what’s behind you, they need to be able to focus on your face and what you’re saying. Try to arrange your workstation so people aren’t walking behind you, whether family members if you’re working from home or colleagues in the office, this can be really distracting for other meeting participants.

Be Prepared 

Being prepared is key to any meeting’s success. Make sure you’ve checked the meeting agenda and know what’s expected from you and be ready to participate and ask questions.

If you’re likely to need to share your screen with others, make sure you close any other widows you may have open so you don’t inadvertently share the wrong screen.

Stay Focused

Meetings, and especially online meetings need everyone to remain focused and alert at all times; here’s some dos and don’ts:

  • DO turn off your phone and other notifications

  • DO pay attention, especially in longer meetings where it’s easier for our mind to drift

  • DO make sure you have what you need to hand (i.e. a pen, paper, any documents you may need, a drink etc)

  • DO give everyone an opportunity to speak

  • DO tell the other participants if you need to step away and let them know when you are back

  • DO ensure your video is on; it’s incredible hard to stay focused when we can’t see each other’s faces and I’m sure that you wouldn’t turn up to a face to face meeting with a bag on your head

  • DO mute your microphone if there is any background noise

  • DO factor in toilet breaks into longer meetings

  • DON’T snack and speak

  • DON’T interrupt others

Data Protection

When sharing your screen with others, especially those outside of your organisation, make sure that that your e-mail software isn’t visible and ideally that your notifications are switched off.

It’s also a good idea to make sure that you close or hide any other internet tabs.

For more information on this or any other HR matter, please feel free to contact us.