The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were disruptive in ways we’re only just beginning to understand.

After the initial wave of lockdowns sent millions of knowledge workers home in March 2020, IT leaders were challenged to keep everyone working no matter where they were, or how they were connected. Collaboration platforms were quickly forced into service as organizations of all sizes and in all sectors struggled to maintain productivity for their suddenly remote workforces.

They may have succeeded in keeping the lights on, but the processes used to do so weren’t always best practices, and the results weren’t always optimal.

Zoom bombing became a thing as a largely consumer-focused platform was pressed into enterprise service on a global scale its designers had never envisioned. Platform outages routinely threw remote workers offline as vendors worked flat-out to increase capacity. Just as millions of workers were adjusting to the realities of working remotely, vendors, too, were figuring out how to meet their needs despite the global-scale challenges associated with doing so.

Those same remote workers wrestled with maintaining productivity through virtual windows and workspaces – often while working side-by-side with homebound children grappling with their own remote education challenges. They reported to supervisors and managers similarly confused about how to maintain team cohesiveness in this new virtual landscape. While the vast majority had good intentions, many hard lessons were learned along the way.

The fact that remote work succeeded at all given the circumstances of its sudden global ramp-up will be viewed by history as one of the bright spots of an otherwise dark period.

REPAVING A HASTILY REPAIRED ROAD

To their credit, collaboration platform vendors did an admirable job updating their products to meet the fast-evolving needs of remote workers. And as employers accelerate their return to office (RTO) plans and once exclusively remote workers shift into hybrid work styles, the tools continue to evolve to meet the evolving needs of the post-pandemic workforce.

For example, Microsoft has steadily updated Teams with breakout rooms, together mode, support for native and third-party apps, transcription, and greater control over who participates in a meeting, and what they can and cannot do within that meeting. Zoom has tightened security with two-factor authentication and stronger encryption to better meet the needs of an increasingly corporate-focused audience. It has also upgraded its infrastructure to better handle heavy workloads and reduce the frequency and duration of once-ubiquitous outages. Zoom has also introduced integration with a growing range of services, including Salesforce, Dropbox, and Slack.

All told, today’s collaboration platforms are far more capable of meeting the needs of hybrid workers than when the first lockdowns were announced.

GETTING MORE OUT OF THE EXPERIENCE

While the tools themselves may be much improved, it’s fair to say organizations can always do more to derive more productivity value out of them. As we all put the finishing touches on our RTO and hybrid work plans, we’d do well to keep the following best practices in mind:

1. Upgrade end-points

Fuzzy video and muddy audio aren’t just annoying: they’ll quickly derail any meeting and destroy productivity. Consider the following:

• Ensure all remote and hybrid employees have proper cameras and mics.
• Publish how-to documentation to help employees set up optimal home or remote office spaces.
• Test remote/home office network performance and work with remote employees and telecoms on improvements.

2. Review physical meeting spaces

In-office meeting rooms that may have been adequate for remote sessions prior to the pandemic are ill-equipped to handle the challenges posed by today’s hybrid work styles.

Follow collaboration vendor guidelines – including upgraded hardware, better soundproofing, and optimized seating and lighting – to ensure both in-person and remote participants are equally seen and heard.

3. Establish clear best practices for attendees

While proper frameworks will benefit any meeting, they are particularly crucial in remote and hybrid environments.

Define guidelines for things like screen sharing, muting microphones, virtual backgrounds, and chat sessions, among others. Schedule training at regular intervals for employees and make training and guidance materials available to third party participants. Don’t forget the basics like including agendas in all invitations and summarizing and distributing next steps and to-dos following every meeting.

4. Follow proper security protocols

Zoom bombing became a serious early-pandemic scourge because the platform initially lacked protections and users often failed to follow proper invitation protocol. These days, we know better, and our tools have been updated.

Avoid posting invitations and links publicly. Ensure all participants use two-factor authentication, and use waiting rooms to better control access. Ensure all participants’ apps, browsers, and operating systems are regularly updated to minimize exposure to opportunistic cyberattacks.

5. Break down and break out

Breakout rooms allow smaller teams to maximize productivity, up their brainstorming game, and avoid the pitfalls of massive numbers of people crammed onto a tiny screen. Use them wisely – and often.

6. Regularly review settings

Today’s collaboration tools allow a high degree of customization, so take the time to tweak settings to streamline the experience for participants. For example, set meetings – particularly large ones – to automatically mute participants on entry, limit presentation tools to specific participants, and activate captioning for greater accessibility.

Don’t forget to test them again periodically as end-user needs – and the apps themselves – continue to evolve.

THE BOTTOM LINE

As millions of workers – including our developers here at STEP Software – settle into post-pandemic routines involving various combinations of in-office, remote, and hybrid work, collaboration tools are now their primary communication and productivity tool. Vendors have done an admirable job recognizing their shortcomings and streamlining how they work. Now it’s up to the rest of us to get the most out of them. We’re always here if you’d like to set up a Teams or a Zoom call of your own with us.

The post Collaboration tools hit their stride in the post-COVID age first appeared on STEP Software.

If you’d like to get on a Zoom call in progress without being disruptive, Zoom allows you to make your entrance silently. It’s a feature that can be useful when you need to enter a meeting that you’re late to. You can quietly make your way in without anyone noticing.

To enter a Zoom call silently, click on the Settings gear icon in the Zoom app, click on the Audio tab, and check the box for ‘Mute my microphone when joining a meeting’. You can unmute the microphone using the button at the bottom of the screen when you need to speak during the meeting.

It’s also possible to get into a Zoom call without your video turned on. On the Video tab under Settings, check the box for ‘Turn off my video when joining meeting’ under the Meetings header. This can be a helpful setting to use when you experience poor internet speeds and prefer to avoid bogging your call down transmitting data-heavy video. The Video button at the bottom of your screen will help you turn the video back on whenever you need to.

GET A DIFFERENT BACKGROUND

If you need to get on your Zoom call while in a room that isn’t very presentable, Zoom allows you to set virtual backgrounds. This works best when you’re seated in front of a background that isn’t particularly distracting. Go to Virtual Background under Settings, and choose from among the background wallpaper options available. You can even upload an image or video of your own to use as a background. Simply click the + on the virtual background selection screen and select Add Photo/Video.

USE SHORTCUTS

It can help, during a multi-person call, for everyone to mute their microphones when they aren’t actually speaking. It is a practice that can make for lower levels of distracting ambient noise. On a computer, you don’t need to fiddle with the mouse to mute and unmute yourself to get a quick word in. Instead, all you need to do is to tap the spacebar.

Zoom lists on its knowledge base several other useful shortcuts that you can use (Hot Keys and Shortcuts for Zoom). You can even make custom keyboard shortcuts for common actions/settings.

MAKE ZOOM SHOW THE NAME OF EVERY PARTICIPANT

If you often have a hard time remembering people’s names in meetings, checking the ‘Always display participant names’ on their video box under Meetings, under Settings and Video. You’ll never struggle to remember the name of a meeting participant again.

SET UP A REMINDER

If you tend to forget the times of your meetings, you can set up convenient reminders. On the Zoom app for your phone, go to Meeting Settings, and select ‘Meeting reminders’. The app will notify you when it’s time. On a computer, you’ll find the same feature under the General tab under Settings.

USE DIGITAL BEAUTIFICATION

While you want to look your best in a video call, the quality of the average webcam and lighting situation available to most people don’t make for a flattering picture. Zoom has a feature for this. You’ll find it under Settings in Video. Put a check beside ‘Touch up my appearance’. Right away, Zoom displays your video with a soft-focus filter turned on for a more flattering appearance.

RECORD YOUR CALLS

The ability to record your video calls can be convenient in many situations. You can share a recording with someone else, rewind to listen to essential parts again, and so on. Zoom for computers has a Record feature that helps you keep recordings of your meetings for your file. Go to Recording under Settings to activate the feature. The next call that you’re on, you only need to click on the Record button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to turn it on. You can even get Zoom to record the audio from each participant to a separate file.

USE EMOJIS TO EXPRESS YOURSELF

On the bottom of the meeting screen, to the right, is the Reactions tab. You’ll find emojis under it to add some personality to your meetings. Get creative and express yourself!

INVITE PEOPLE TO AN IN-PROGRESS MEETING

If you’re in the middle of a Zoom meeting and realize that you didn’t remember to include a couple of people, it’s possible to invite them without much fuss. Simply go to the Meetings tab, copy your invitation link, and send it to the people you need to invite. You can also directly invite people who are on your contact list by clicking on Contacts.

People tend to prefer Zoom over other video conferencing apps because it is easy to get it to work with minimal user intervention. With these handy tips, however, you can make Zoom a whole lot more functional, flexible, and practical.

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The post 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Zoom Experience first appeared on STEP Software.