Workspace & Physical Background
Your appearance on video calls is a direct reflection on your company, and on your own professional character.
"The background reveals the true being and state of being of the person or thing." ~ Juan Ramon Jimenez
"A [work] setting is not a background; it is an environment." ~ Robert Edmond Jones
"A weak background is a deadly thing." ~ Robert Henri
Introduction
Presenting an unprofessional background during video calls is the number one rookie mistake people make as they transition to remote working. This article breaks down the key steps you must take to ensure you avoid this mistake, by consistently presenting professionalism and reliability.
As you begin your journey as a remote professional, you must remember that you're still interacting with real humans as you represent your company, and present a perception of who you are. Similar to a physical office, there are key efforts you must to make in order to present yourself professionally within the remote sphere.
Workspace
When contemplating remote work, many people (mistakenly) assume that it’s appropriate to work from, literally, anywhere. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
The location you choose for performing your work directly impacts the quality of your work, as well as how you are perceived. Professionals look professional, whether they are in-person, at the front of the room, or on a video call.
Key factors of a professional workspace include the following:
Availability/consistency: It's not enough to appear professional half of the time. The workspace you choose should be consistently available in order to facilitate the long hours you'll spend producing high-quality work. It should also be available on a moment's notice. Inspiration or opportunity can strike at any moment, so you - and your workspace - should be ready!
Appearance: They say, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Professional appearances matter, and nothing can derail a client's impression of you faster than an unprofessional background.
Noise: Background noise is one of the most common distractions which can derail a remote meeting. A little preparation on the front end will prevent the potentially huge negative impact distracting noise will have on your meetings, and your reputation!
Bad Backgrounds
Bad background choices include couches, outside (most of the time), dining room tables, or any other room (e.g., kitchen, bed, bedroom) which isn't dedicated to a proper, professional workspace.
Good Backgrounds
Good backgrounds include private offices (or a private room converted to office), dedicated (i.e., not shared) working spaces, or co-working facilities. In short, any environment which is designed and dedicated to professional work.
Test your background quality before you begin calls
The best way for you to know how your background looks is to see yourself from the perspective of your fellow meeting attendees. Remember, they're not viewing only your face, but everything in your background, as well.
For Zoom users: start a new call with no one invited
For Skype users: navigate to settings -> Audio & video
All others can start a Google hangout with no one else invited
Build a professional background
Now that you know what your background looks like, you need to remove everything that compromises a professional setting. You should be working from a dedicated workspace that is not used for any other purpose during work hours.
You want your background to be clean (e.g. no dirt on the wall) and simple. This is a case where you need to have high standards and be nit picky. If there is a tiny little corner that looks bad, you can bet that your teammates, manager, and clients will notice it, too. Fix it, immediately. Otherwise, you'll be distracting them during your calls.
There also shouldn't be any moving objects, screens, or other people your background. If there is a door within view, make sure it is closed. You want to be clearly visible, so pay attention to your webcam's placement.
Your room should be well and your camera should never face a light source (e.g., lights, windows), otherwise contrast will be too high, and your face won't be visible.
Acceptable backgrounds
Orderly books on a bookshelf
Whiteboard with neat writing
Blank wall
Wall with (non-distracting) artwork
Plants
Bedroom where your background is clean, bed not visible; you have a desk and chair
Unacceptable backgrounds
Bedroom where bed is visible or you are sitting on the bed
Bathrooms (yes, we’ve seen this)
Pets
Clothes
Posters
Laundry
Kids’ toys
Darkness
Hacking the unacceptable
If it’s impossible to clean up your background, a simple solution is to put a projector screen right behind your chair. This creates a clean presentation, despite having a messy, unprofessional background. Also, Zoom allows you to use virtual backgrounds, which can decrease distraction.
Pay attention to lighting
If you’ve ever held a video conference with someone who has their back to a window, you know how annoying this angle appears. The number one rule about lighting is always facing windows. The best possible set up is to be facing a window so natural light can illuminate your face.
Time of day and shadows are your next consideration. As you test your background at different times of the day, take note when a unique shadow or glare appears. Personally speaking, I need to move my computer to the right each morning around 9 am because I know the sun comes through and casts a disrupting glare on my face.
Lastly, experiment with your lights. During the day, you may appear best with no lights on but at night you will always need to have room-wide lights.
Test your input and output audio quality before you begin calls
If you ever start a call with poor input (you can’t hear well) or output (people can’t hear you) audio quality, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Your colleagues will be polite and wait for you, but inside they are really rolling their eyes and frustrated by you.
Audio and video are essential to your life as a remote worker so you need to nail them every time. The major conferencing tools all provide opportunities to test your quality before calls begin.
For Zoom users: navigate to Zoom preferences: zoom.us ->preferences->audio
For Skype users: navigate to settings -> Audio & video
For Google Hangout users: navigate to the 3 button menu in the bottom right of the screen -> settings -> audio
Conclusion
When you invest (time, attention, and resources) into your workspace and professional background, you're really making an investment in your own remote career. They say, "You never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression."
The appearance you convey in your video calls is a direct reflection on your company, and on your own professional character. Making good choices now, helps lay the foundation for a long and successful remote career.
Bad Examples (Don't Be Like This)
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