• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie policy (EU)
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Video
  • Write for us
Today Headline
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • POLITICS
    • News for today
    • Borisov news
  • FINANCE
    • Business
    • Insurance
  • Video
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • ENTERPRISE
  • LIFESTYLE
    • TRAVEL
    • HEALTH
    • ENTERTAINMENT
  • AUTOMOTIVE
  • SPORTS
  • Travel and Tourism
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • POLITICS
    • News for today
    • Borisov news
  • FINANCE
    • Business
    • Insurance
  • Video
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • ENTERPRISE
  • LIFESTYLE
    • TRAVEL
    • HEALTH
    • ENTERTAINMENT
  • AUTOMOTIVE
  • SPORTS
  • Travel and Tourism
No Result
View All Result
TodayHeadline
No Result
View All Result

From unflattering angles to sound clashes: seven (painful) stages of video conferencing | Hybrid work with HP

April 14, 2022
in Business
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


These days, remote meetings are part of the fabric of our working lives. From giving us the “business on top, pyjamas on the bottom” dress code to enabling that dream relocation to Mallorca (or Margate), the new era of video conferencing has helped us balance work and life better than ever before.

But while hybrid working is endlessly flexible, people usually aren’t. Factor in clunky, unreliable tech and suddenly everyone’s cringing faster than you can say … er, nothing. Because you’re on mute again.

Whatever your profession, chances are your video conferences go a little bit like this …

Stage one: staring at your own face
First, the urgent business. We all know that nothing can be achieved on any video call until everyone has taken a good, long look at their own face. Really it should be the first item tabled on the agenda. But without that luxury, you are doomed to spending the first five minutes of every meeting pretending to pay attention while really contemplating your best angles, subtly attempting to sort out a chaotic fringe and pondering the eternal question: is that really what my eyebrows look like?

Of course, the savvy hybrid worker always joins the call a few minutes early – officially, to look organised, but really so you have a chance to tweak the blinds to their most flattering angle, or haul a desk lamp in from another room and angle it straight at your face. This will work wonderfully until the sun begins to set outside, leaving you ghoulishly uplit as though telling a campfire ghost story. Boo.

Stage two: sorry, didn’t catch that
Like proverbial buses, you wait ages for someone to kick things off and then three people speak at once. Even those of us who pride ourselves on not having suffered a “you’re on mute” moment since late 2020 can’t say we never fall victim to the mortifying “You go”, “No, after you”, “I’ve forgotten what I was saying anyway” exchange of doom, followed by awkward laughter and subsequent silence. Everyone will nod and make non-committal “agreeing” noises. Nobody knows what they’ve agreed to, and will later find out in a startling email.

Stage three: the big freeze
Once you’ve all remastered the art of conversation, there’s the small matter of trying to look at the person who’s speaking, while they duck in and out of squares like the world’s worst Brady Bunch reboot. Wait, there they are! Nope, gone again.

It doesn’t help that your colleagues include the Gesticulator, who keeps bobbing out of shot because their passionate body language can’t be contained within one small square, the Nostril, who seems to have confused this meeting with a medical examination, and the Jack in the Box, who can’t stay seated for longer than a couple of minutes without springing up to adjust the curtains, fetch a snack, or answer the door to the postman. Not forgetting the Iceberg, who freezes so often on screen that you begin to wonder if they’re moonlighting as a human statue.

Stage four: the special guest appearance
You could have sworn you switched your camera off – and yet the colleague who just messaged to say that they’d seen your partner/housemate/parent sneak across the room in a towel would suggest otherwise.

Boxout

While cameos from cute cats and dogs have become an accepted (and often welcome) part of the home working experience, not all cohabitants are as welcome.

Stage five: the soundtrack
It is a universal truth that the otherwise silent, peaceful couple next door will choose your very important work call as the perfect time to start primal scream therapy, or perhaps clog dancing. The neighbourhood dogs will begin their daily choir practice just as you reach the most nerve-racking point of a pitch, while the builders across the street will helpfully finish their tea and begin their schedule of high-pitched drilling just in time for your client’s questions.

Background noise is an unavoidable fact of hybrid working, but it doesn’t mean we should have to get distracted every ti … hang on, was that your doorbell? Or my doorbell? Shall we all go and answer our doors, just in case?

Stage six: the fidgets
Stage six is the most painful stage of video conferencing, being that it involves muscle cramp. You’ve now been perched on an unsuitable chair at an uncomfortable angle for 45 minutes, trying to look alert while keeping your face in the light and strategically blocking the pile of laundry on the floor behind you, dreaming of the moment you can finally get up and stretch your legs. Are you wincing at their budget projections, or because you’re trying to surreptitiously shake out a bad case of pins and needles? They’ll never know.

Stage seven: the bad bye
Finally, it’s time to wrap things up. Aims and objectives have been met and to-do lists have been ticked off. Any other business? Ah, yes, of course – the incredibly awkward wave.

You try to suppress it. You clutch your mug of cold coffee in an effort to ride out the urge. But resistance is futile, and so after the traditional farewell of five byeees per person (six, for luck), up pops your hand and soon you’re flapping it around like a gameshow contestant.

We can’t entirely blame video conferencing for this so much as the faulty connection between brain and arm, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that everyone else on the call is waving like an idiot, too. Great work today, team.

News flash! Video conferencing needn’t be a painful experience – you just need the right tech for the job. Say goodbye to video call faux pas like muffled sound and washed-out faces with HP Presence. With both meeting space and remote solutions that incorporate advanced collaboration technology such as AI Noise Reduction and Auto Frame, HP Presence makes sure everyone is seen, heard and able to share their thoughts – no matter where they are. Discover more at hp.com/uk-en/solutions/presence.html

Previous Post

Last-gasp WSL win keeps alive Sally Fitzgibbons’ hopes at Bells Beach

Next Post

Halo Episode 4 Review: Homecoming

Related Posts

Which of Buffett’s bank stocks might make you the most money?
Business

Which of Buffett’s bank stocks might make you the most money?

This is the time of...

Read more
Paysafe Limited (PSFE) CEO Philip McHugh on Q2 2021 Results – Earnings Call Transcript
Business

Regions Financial Corporation 2022 Q1 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (NYSE:RF)

This article was written byFollowSeeking...

Read more
How to save money on subscriptions and not lose films, TV and music
Business

How to save money on subscriptions and not lose films, TV and music

As the cost of living...

Read more
Business

A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the world – podcast | News

Support The Guardian The Guardian...

Read more
Ex-Colgate researcher who stole toothpaste formulas worth millions of dollars is sentenced to 21 months
Business

Ex-Colgate researcher who stole toothpaste formulas worth millions of dollars is sentenced to 21 months

This case left a bad...

Read more
Load More
Next Post

Halo Episode 4 Review: Homecoming

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration: Russians already scared to advance on Bilohorivka and no longer force their way across Siverskyi Donets – Yahoo News

Head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration: Russians already scared to advance on Bilohorivka and no longer force their way across Siverskyi Donets – Yahoo News

‘Heartbroken’ Dog Doesn’t Understand Why His Family Is Leaving Him At The Shelter

‘Heartbroken’ Dog Doesn’t Understand Why His Family Is Leaving Him At The Shelter

Horror as goat gives birth to ‘humanoid kid’ with baby-like face

Ex-porn star Lana Rhoades flaunts 2.5st weight loss two weeks after giving birth

Ex-porn star Lana Rhoades flaunts 2.5st weight loss two weeks after giving birth

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

The 5 best screen recording software and apps of 2022

The 5 best screen recording software and apps of 2022

Mars lander losing power because of dust on solar panels – ABC News

Mars lander losing power because of dust on solar panels – ABC News

About Us

Todayheadline the independent news and topics discovery
A home-grown and independent news and topic aggregation . displays breaking news linking to news websites all around the world.

Follow Us

Latest News

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

After decades of EV trials, GM thinks having full portfolio is key to success

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

Top Things to Do in St. George, Utah • The Blonde Abroad

The 5 best screen recording software and apps of 2022

The 5 best screen recording software and apps of 2022

  • Real Estate
  • Education
  • Parenting
  • Cooking
  • Travel and Tourism
  • Home & Garden
  • Pets
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • About

© 2021 All rights are reserved Todayheadline

No Result
View All Result
  • Real Estate
  • Education
  • Parenting
  • Cooking
  • Travel and Tourism
  • Home & Garden
  • Pets
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • About

© 2021 All rights are reserved Todayheadline

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Posting....