7 Pieces of Zoom Meeting Etiquette

I’ve been working from home for six months now. It hardly seems possible, but that’s where we are. Between Zoom meetings with my colleagues, my writing pals, and my friends, I’m almost amazed at how many of us still don’t have Zoom etiquette down. I know it sounds mean, but at this point, we shouldn’t have a video call faux pas happening every day anymore.

Glitches happen, but there are a lot of things you just shouldn’t do when you’re on a video call. I like to try and give myself a little refresher on Zoom meeting etiquette because it can be easy to get too comfortable and too sloppy on video calls.

When in doubt, mute yourself out .

If there’s even a chance of background noise happening when you’re not speaking, mute yourself. It’s a reasonable precaution, and most people would rather see a red icon than hear your household nonsense.

And we all have household nonsense. I’ve got noisy neighbors, a well-meaning partner who once tried to crawl under the frame of my webcam but was completely visible, and cats with serious sets of pipes. Whatever your noisy nonsense is, spare whoever you’re meeting with it.

If you need to get up, turn off your video .

Or don’t have it on in the first place if you have the choice. Here’s a harsh truth: you really should do your very best to organize your day to stay planted in front of your webcam for the hours that you have Zoom meetings.

Yet if you need to get up, turn off your video. It’s a slippery slope, but either way, you’re revealing to others that you’re distracted. I think pausing the video feed is a little bit classier than simply showing the empty wall behind you when you get up.

Pets are awesome, but keep them in check .

This might sound obvious, but this is a mistake I made. My cat popped into meetings a few times, my coworkers gushed over her, and I got her to simmer down and sit on my lap peacefully. She loves to meow a lot when I’m trying to explain web and graphic design best practices coherently.

Plus, you never know what your pets are going to do. There was one staff meeting where my darling cat, Misty, just turned around and stuck her fluffy butt right in front of my webcam. My boss was very good-humored about it and chimed in with, “oh, look, everyone. It’s Leigh’s cat’s butt.”

It was kind of funny, but also pretty embarrassing.

Don’t answer the phone when you’re muted on a Zoom call .

I feel like this should perhaps be obvious, but I've seen people do this quite a few times. Important phone calls do happen. We have emergencies in life — a vital call from a loved one, a call back from a bank, whatever.

However, I’ve been in a series of meetings where one participant is always muting herself and picking up calls on her landline. I know she doesn’t have her work phone routing to it because we all have digital phone lines. I just stare at her and glower. She very obviously holds a large cordless landline phone to her ear and is talking.

Is it that hard to make sure you don’t answer a call during a biweekly meeting?

Try to look focused .

I understand that not every word in the meeting is going to pertinent to you. I’m a writer who has worked in IT, medicine, and finance. The vast majority of things discussed in the meetings I go to have almost nothing to do with me. Regardless, professional courtesy is still a thing.

If you want to amuse yourself during a meeting, at least do it on the device you’re steaming from. It looks like your gaze is on the screen. It’s better than obviously using your cell phone and not looking anywhere near your webcam.

Find the best lighting in your abode .

This can be tough if you have an apartment without many windows, but do your best to find a spot with good lighting. If you can find one somewhat comfortable spot with some nice light streaming in, make that your new meeting room.

I do enjoy the occasional video call with my colleagues. It’s nice to digitally see the people I used to see every day. I try to open all the blinds before I connect to a video call to be sure my colleagues can actually see me as well.

Keep a poker face like you’re in a face-to-face meeting .

I’ve seen a surprising amount of people do things like pick their noses on camera, eat lots of food when it’s not a lunch meeting, or start grinning for no apparent reason when we’re discussing budgets and spreadsheets. If you wouldn’t do it in a face-to-face meeting, then you probably shouldn’t do it in a Zoom meeting.

Keep up on your Zoom meeting etiquette — remote work could be here to stay .

If you need an incentive to keep digging that collared shirt out of your closet and donning it for a half-hour meeting, think about this. The better you and your team perform in the remote setting, the better your chances are at staying partially or fully remote in the foreseeable future.

My company is leaning toward keeping non-essential employees remote until January, but nothing is set in stone. This is just the rumor mill harmlessly churning. Working from home saves me hundreds of dollars per month on a train pass, and it saves me over two hours per day. I’ve really got my fingers crossed to stay at least partially remote in the future.

Every employer is different, and workplace politics can get complicated sometimes. Even so, whether you’re an ardent remote work lover or more of a skeptic, it’s good to put your professional foot forward. We’re essentially in a teething period right now. If we do well with the little logistics of being remote, we might get to sink our teeth into it completely.