5 Simple webcam rules for working at home

Rule #1 — The initial setup

Start up a program like Photo Booth on a Mac to have a look and see what the person on the other end sees. Can they see half of your face? Can they see directly up your nose (this has happened more than once — it’s disgusting). If it doesn’t look good on your end, it won’t look good to the other person.

Rule #2 — Stage your environment

Speaking of looking good, is there a pile of stuff behind you in the background? Are you showing off too much of your kitchen, living room, etc.? Remember, if your meeting is over a webcam, the person isn’t just looking at how you present yourself but they are also forming a judgement of you based on your environment.

Rule #3 — Announce your intentions

This is one of my all time pet peeves. If you decide during a video conference call to a) turn off your web cam and/or b) mute your mic, you should announce your intentions to do so BEFORE you do it. It’s jarring for the person who is presenting to see a bunch of people suddenly go from active/ live participant to static image avatar + microphone muted icon.

Rule #4 — Mute all of your devices and incoming notifications

This one appiles to all meetings but turn off your phone ringer and any other notifications that may be running in the background (i.e. Slack, Mail, etc.) You almost have to work harder to be quiet if you’re working at home, in particular, because a loud echo or noise from another device can be a massive distraction.

Rule #5 — Get rid of other distractions

This goes without saying, and it should be common sense, but a significant other doing the dishes or laundry, a pet running in front of your camera or making loud noises isn’t cool. Make sure you have your setting staged and everything ready to go with your webcam BEFORE you hop on the call, not after.