When working from home, you will undoubtedly need to participate in meetings and voice calls remotely to organise projects and such with your team. Chances are you’re using either Microsoft Teams, Zoom or possibly Slack, but there are several things you can do with all of these to improve your and others meeting experience.
When working from home, it is assumed that you are using a laptop or some other basic setup and not a home studio with professional microphones and soundproofing, however this can make meetings more difficult with muffled and unclear sound. Even low-end equipment can often outperform the default laptop microphone, but there are some other cheap options that could improve the quality like an air deflector or learning how to use VoiceMeeter.
To improve your webcam, most things can be done for relatively cheaply, such as having adequate lighting (turn on a desk lamp), diffusing harsh light (tape baking paper or other thin, white material over your light) and having a clean background (set up your meeting space against a wall). With these easy tweaks even a cheap laptop webcam can look decent for any meeting.
One of the most beneficial things to a meeting going smoothly is users that know how to operate the software package you are using to hold it. This includes basic actions such as screen sharing for documents, how to mute yourself and other users, or even use push-to-talk if you are chatting in a noisy environment.
While there are several differences, meetings online do share many of the same principles that you would employ during an in-person meeting, such as benefiting from a clear, pre-set structure and clear direction. Online meetings still need to be focused and kept on track, and the easiest way to do this is with a set agenda to work your way through.