Powerful Remote Office Hacks and the Body Language Cues that Come With Them
Seemingly overnight, professionals across the US have activated remote, home offices. While we all share in the hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic will flatten sooner rather than later, the reality of our remote situation demands a renewed intention to the setup of our ‘home office’.
As I say to all of my clients, nonverbal communication does not stop just because you are no longer in the same physical space as someone. In fact, the cues we are sending in the way we show up on video calls can be just as loud as when you walk into a conference room. Additionally, working at home doesn’t mean your physical experience goes out the window. On the contrary, your posture and presence remain important pieces of your remote working experience.
Luckily, setting up a decent system that allows you to connect with clients and stay physically present, is made accessible through a few minor, but powerful hacks. Here are my recommendations.
Laptop Setup for Confident Posture on Video
Rule number one: adjust the lens of your camera to match the height of your eyes. The worst offense is when the camera lens comes at you from a bottom-up perspective. This makes you look like a giant while displaying an unfortunate view of your neck and nostrils.
Rule number two: DON’T STOOP TO MEET YOUR LENS. Adjust your set up to bring your lens to your eye height.
There are two products that can help with adjusting your laptop lens to align with your eye height.
The first is a laptop stand. I like this one and this one.
Both of these laptop stands are adjustable to help bring your laptop and camera to an appropriate height. From a postural perspective, aligning your screen to suit your height is key whether you are seated or standing. From a video call perspective, having your camera lens at eye level means you avoid the risk of stooping over your camera lens/showing up on video with an angle that signals discomfort and a lack of confidence.
The second is a standing desk. A slightly more comprehensive solution to adjusting your height set up is to procure a standing desk. There are two main set ups you can try. You can go this route with an electric powered desk that adjusts to your height. This product allows you to preset up to four different heights between 28 to 46 inches.
You can also get an adjustable platform that sits on top of your pre-existing desk or table. This works in the same way as the standing desk except you manually slide the platform up or down whether you are standing or sitting.
Whichever way you go, the height of your laptop matters greatly when you are spending so much time oriented around this device. This goes for whether you are working remotely, or in the office.
Taking Physical Breaks while working remotely – the Webcam Cover
Beyond the obvious reasons of wanting to ensure you are not ‘being listened in on’, having a webcam cover is a great way to give yourself a break in the middle of a longer than usual video call.
One of my clients has to call into to a five-hour video meeting hosted by her national organization once a quarter. She said one of her biggest challenges is feeling like she has to sit there for the five hours.
I suggested she try out a simple webcam cover, like this one. The bonus of a webcam cover is that it easily allows you cover up your camera for a few moments, do a quick stretch or movement series, without having to mess around with officially turning your video on or off.
Once again, whether you are working remotely, or in the office, I cannot advocate strongly enough for taking regular physical breathers. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but getting your blood circulating, taking a few deep, belly breaths can help reset your focus and keep yourself energized. A webcam can help you ensure you are doing these outside of any prying eyes.
Lighting
How often have you signed onto a video call to a dark, looming shadow? Or a bright, halo/orb that obscures your fellow participant’s face?
One of my biggest pet peeves when video conferencing with people, is when their lighting is not set up properly. Most of the time, this can easily be fixed by ensuring you are not back lit (read: make sure the light source is coming from behind your screen, as opposed to behind your head).
Apartment lighting might not be ideal for a video call set up, however, you can solve most lighting issues with a Lume Cube. This small and subtle LED device packs a great lighting punch – simply attach it to your laptop (DSLR mount included) and aim the light onto your face. The Lume Cube comes with a light warmer and diffusion light so you can play around with what you feel looks best. The focused lighting helps brighten your face and is soft enough not to hurt your eyes/cause you to squint.
Noise Quality
It goes without saying, one of the main problems with video conferencing is audio. There is a serious rabbit-hole to go down when it comes to upgrading your audio.
From the simplest perspective, using headphones can be hugely helpful. This helps the microphone pick up on your voice more clearly. Air pods are great and allow you to be wireless. You can also consider Bose noise-cancelling headphones which can help you focus in on the audio feed from your end. It feels like you are in a bubble which is cool in and of itself.
In a conversation with a podcasting friend of mine, he recommends using this Blue Yeti USB Mic. This mic is super easy to set up, filters out noise and you have the ability to control which part of the microphone is turned out. Your voice will ring clear when using this microphone. Muffled and poor quality audio can significantly reduce the power of your communication over video or telephone.
Recap
Pay attention to your laptop setup to ensure a present and confident posture
Set up to take physical breaks with a webcam cover
Get your lighting right
Get your audio clear
In the end, any one of these upgrades will significantly up your remote office game. Being intentional when it comes to your remote office work space demonstrates thoughtfulness. You send the message that you take pride in your professional life, that you have spent time thinking about the experience of the person on the receiving end and you will also end up feeling more present and connected yourself.
It is important to keep in mind that once this current COVID-19 risk has passed, the value of going through this exercise will remain relevant. Working from remote offices and spaces is not going to disappear once social distancing does.
As always, feel free to reach out with any of your own remote office hacks – I am all ears and eyes. Here’s to putting your best remote foot forwards!