The COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on our lives, affecting all the fields and sectors of our lives like Education, Finance, Employment etc. setting us back a decade. Progress in science and technology have provided a helping hand for us, allowing us to resume our lives digitally without any inconveniences. Virtual meetings in online platforms like Zoom, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams have become a regular part of our work processes with meetings held regularly to track the progress and growth of employees towards their targets. It is necessary to revamp our skills to better suit the digital world and improve our efficiency to adapt to the changing trends. Here are a few ways by which you can reinvent your skills to meet the growing needs of the digital world.
Introduction
The pandemic has ushered us to the digital age with the development of new applications and software platforms to allow employees to function efficiently and meet their targets. Planning and scheduling of activities happen in online platforms and content management systems that help in organizing and tracking them efficiently. Here are a few ways to reinvent your skills to suit the virtual world and meetings professionally.
Upgrade Your Devices:
Invest smartly in devices like laptops and smartphones to empower your skills and improve your work efficiently. Get familiar with using the devices and start collaborating with your colleagues on the digital workspaces to engage with them efficiently. Technical expertise with the devices often saves plenty of time in learning new applications and software platforms giving you an edge over the competition.
Interpersonal Communication:
Improve your conversational and communication skills with people on digital platforms to engage participants online. Various sectors like sales and marketing, finance, business, education etc. often require frequent meetings to continue efficiently. Good vocabulary and confidence while speaking often improves the quality of the presentations and allows you to produce a significant impact on the viewers.
Applications and Software:
Stay updated regarding the new applications and software that come up to simplify your work processes. Various application developers have focussed on making interesting and unique applications to allow easy collaboration of employees in digital environments. Content management systems and online modules help chart out activities in proper order to get the employees oriented towards the common goal for improvement.
Applications like Teamviewer and Zoho Assist allow employees to access devices remotely and collaborate with their team members without inconveniences. Acquire adequate knowledge about these applications as you venture out to address virtual meetings to suggest and utilize innovative solutions to existing problems.
Virtual Meeting Etiquette:
Get familiar with the right etiquette to follow for virtual meetings and conferences to ensure smooth proceedings. Virtual meetings are new to many of us and we might not be aware of the exact etiquette to be followed in the meetings, which makes it essential for us to learn it and behave accordingly. Ensure you are properly dressed for the meetings with prior checking of the video and audio components in your devices.
Modify the presentations to better suit the nature of the meetings and design it innovatively to keep the participants focussed on the meeting. Muting and unmuting audio components is a prime concern for most participants unfamiliar with the muting platforms as they often end up interrupting the speakers and participants due to background noises. Be punctual to the meetings and inform the participants about the starting time of the meetings well in advance of the meetings to ensure that time is not wasted in these events.
Online Courses and Camps:
- Various companies and enterprises have developed training camps and courses for their employees and teams to improve their knowledge and skillsets during the pandemic period. Join such camps and virtual conferences to boost up skills and improve your understanding of various technical and non-technical aspects of your work processes. They also give you a fair idea of the nature of advancements that are happening in your field and broaden your thinking and ideas regarding your field.
Conclusion
Continuous, dedicated efforts are required to stay ahead of the ever-growing competition in our goal-oriented world and the pandemic has spoiled the well-designed work environment we have constructed for ourselves. It is time to reconstruct our work processes and digitize them to ensure rebound to growth and economic stability. Explore the digital world and reach out to people through online meeting platforms to resume work and progress. Virtual meetings are a rapidly growing trend that will soon replace physical meetings due to the ease of conducting and participating in them.
