Bad audio cost me a job (sort of)
There’s a cardboard box in my basement with an old Polycom speakerphone in it. I can’t remember the last time I had a reason to use it. I don’t even have a landline to plug it into anymore.
I ran a software development agency for most of a decade. We worked primarily with remote clients so there were a lot of phone calls. It’s hard to build up trust and camaraderie over phone and email with colleagues you’ve never met. Even small difficulties hearing each other extends the time it takes to build up a rapport.
The audio quality of the speakerphone feature on our desk phones just didn’t cut it so I splurged on the Polycom for our little bootstrapped business.
To my ear, the improvement was dramatic. I don’t remember if anyone else noticed or cared, but I believe it made a subtle yet meaningful difference.
Time passed and communication norms shifted from phone calls to Skype and GoToMeeting. The Polycom became irrelevant and was relegated to a storage box. A plethora of USB speakerphones and wired earbuds took its place. Of course, incoming audio quality still varied depending on the setup on the other end.
In one case, it was the other end of the “phone” that precipitated me giving up a job I loved.
I had taken on a new role and was calling into a lot of meetings in largish conference rooms. The audio equipment and acoustics were OK but not amazing.
Here was the problem: the organization was still building its muscles in behaving distributed first. Interjecting into the conversation from the phone had high friction due to audio lag, the noise cancellation, and plain old interpersonal dynamics. Without the in-person nonverbal cues that help us break into a vibrant conversation, it was impossible to be an equal party in the dialogue.
Even worse, some days the in-person group would bring in food. The line would be overrun by takeout containers sliding around and potato chips being dug out of bags.
We had advocates for the remote attendees in the room, but it takes time and concerted effort to change the social norms and practices of a group. I had a job to do so I traveled to be in the rooms where things were happening (cue Hamilton soundtrack).
The baseline travel for those internal meetings started to put strain on my home life. I loved the job but you only get one chance to raise your kids and so I let my values guide my decisions, ultimately deciding to leave the role.
Since then, the situation has changed for knowledge workers. Technology has continuously improved, including sophisticated audiovisual/teleconferencing setups, a plethora of video conferencing software, and faster Internet connections. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the rules of engagement and forced companies to accept remote work.
For me now, strictly in-person meetings are the exception and not the norm.
A few of my favourite tips for better remote experiences in meetings include:
Use an external microphone/headset or USB speakerphone instead of built-in laptop mic and speakers.
For discussions in which nonverbal cues might be valuable, have all participants join the video call from their own device with camera on, even those gathered in a room together.
Ask a colleague to give you honest feedback on your audio quality including volume, background noise, and echo. Or record an audio sample on your computer and evaluate it yourself.
If your room has a lot of echo, introduce some soft materials that will absorb sound waves so they aren’t bouncing off hard surfaces and hitting your microphone.
Turn on the noise reduction features of your video conferencing software.
Most importantly, pay attention to the dynamics of your calls. Watch out for folks struggling to be heard and explicitly yield the floor to them. Be cognizant of room noise and gently remind others to be mindful of the non-talking noise they make. Check in with those on the phone a few times to confirm that audio issues are not preventing them from being equal participants.
If you’ve made it to the end of this post, I have a small request: can you visit this LinkedIn post and like/reshare the post about today’s newsletter? That small action makes a big difference in spreading the discussions about topics like today’s.
- Derek