Overview:

In general, in-person meetings are the way to go when interacting with clients or your team mentor. On a pragmatic level, in-person meetings give everyone in the meeting access to the full range of verbal and non-verbal cues that are critical for interpreting the information presented and the sublties of your evolving relationship with the client: endless research has shown that facial expressions show reaction to conversational content; nodding, blinking, and eye movements all convey valuable information; posture conveys information on attitude towards the interaction, and even how a person enters a meeting room or arranges their seating gives subtle hints on their intent or role in a meeting. On a less obvious level, in-person meetings also play an important social role as well: taking the trouble to come to a meeting shows personal commitment in the project and builds trust among the attendees. In short: prefer in-person meetings when possible.

There are many times, however, when in-person meetings are not possible or practical. Perhaps the distances to the client are too great to have every meeting be in-person, there is a pandemic that makes in-person meetings unwise, or there are other factors that make meeting in-person impractical. Plus, not every meeting has to be in-person; doing some of them electronically may make sense in order to increase the frequency of meeting and client input.

Luckily, we now have access to very high quality video-conferencing products (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and many others) that can allow productive and efficient meetings with a fairly minimal loss of efficacy...if they are use thoughtfully and strategically. The central question in the professional context becomes: how can one structure electronic meetings in a way to maximize information transfer and the sense of professionalism while minimizing any negative effects? The overall answer is to make your electronic meetings as formal and structured as possible, doing everything you can to try to replace or compensate for what you would have had in the in-person format. Here are some key points to adhere to in order to achieve this:

• Lead on arranging the meeting. Unless your client insists, try to lead on negotiating a medium (which vconf product to use) and in setting up the meetings (sending links/calendar invites). This shows professionalism and commitment to having the meetings, and also gives you some control over the quality of the interactions by ensuring good technology is used.
• Use video in any and all meetings if at all possible. Research shows that the sense of social presence in meetings is exponentially increased if video is available. It gives everyone tons of vital and often subconscious non-verbal information: is the person actually listening? How are they taking what I'm saying right now? Are they nodding or looking confused...or do they appear to be typing away on other email while I'm talking? Did they think this is important enough to dress appropriately? All of these things are critical for building that commitment and trust with your client that is already taking a hit because this meeting is not in-person.
  
  Here is how video conferencing etiquette has evolved in modern business: If you are using a video-conferencing product and you do not have your video on, it will be perceived as a sign of distance, disinterest, or disrespect and will damage the efficacy of the communication. Of course there are exceptions to this, but it's gotten so that they need explicit explanation, e.g., a collaborator joins the meeting by audio phone or with video off...but then explains why they are doing so and offers apologies, e.g., "I'm in a breakout room at this conference I'm at and my internet here is terrible". There are reasons to join without video...but the default is to show your commitment and personal engagement by having it on. [Aside: note that this is not the case with a large scale (>10) "presentation" or lecture context: in that case, the speaker should definitely have video on, but others can have it off to save bandwidth and avoid distraction...but anyone piping up (e.g. to ask the speaker a question) should turn on video during that interaction. But this is not the context of your client or mentor meetings...]
  
  If your client chooses not to turn on his or her video, ignore it and continue showing a positive example; keep your own video on and conduct professional. Often this will result in the client stepping up and showing video in future meetings...with the attendant benefits for your communication quality.
  
  A final comment on the video issue: it should be obvious that you need to ensure that your "background" is suitably professional. It's fine to be at your desk in your bedroom or at the table in your apartment; not everyone has a home office. Just make sure that the background is not a complete disaster. If you are embarrassed or uncomfortable about your background, you can often install a virtual background showing some neutral landscape photo; this is fine. If you have dogs barking, roommates screaming, whatever, then you need to plan ahead and find a more appropriate place to join your meeting. There are tons of quiet spaces on campus where you can be alone, have strong wifi, and hold your meeting.
• Professional environment and equipment: Nothing says "this isn't really a priority to me" more than phoning (zooming/skyping) into your meeting from the bathroom stall in the local bar or while driving around town. You must plan and arrange your schedule to be in a professional space for your meeting where you have no distractions, no background noises, can devote your full attention to the meeting, and have a stable internet connection. If you think that having an electronic meeting is a fantastic excuse to head to the creek for the afternoon and just do it from your cell phone, think again. This will be immediately obvious to everyone involved...with the resultant loss of professional reputation and impact. In general, a mobile device is not suitable for professional meetings: the image wobbles around, the picture is small with a poor aspect ratio that says "Hey look, I'm on cell", the small screen makes it impossible to see detail in participant video or shared documents, and sharing your own documents/demos is difficult/impossible. Use a laptop/desktop in a suitable space.
• Professional visual presentation: Often electronic meeting systems allow participants to install icons or avatars to represent themselves. Make sure you use something professional. This is not the place to have a placeholder image that shows you doing something goofy, wearing funky headwear or hanging out at the beach. Icons, placeholder images, and avatars should be selected to convey a professional tone: a professional headshot is great, or use the logo for your project...or some innocuous image. This isn't the time to show off your creative or funky side.
• Use of emoticons and other "fun" stuff. It's very common these days to allow fun and quirky emoticons, animated gifs, or other "expressive visual devices" to spice up online interactions. These are all fine when chatting with your friends, but have no place in a professional meeting. If you agree with something, say so verbally...don't paste a goofy "thumbs up" emoticon into the chat pane.
• Professional language: The language and forms of address you use should --- just as in in-person meetings -- stay clear, concise, and semi-formal. This isn't a casual skype with your buddies, it's a formal meeting with your client and the tone and language must signal this.

In summary, in-person meetings are still the best way to communicate and should be used when practical...especially when tense or sensitive conversations need to take place, e.g., to resolve some awkward situation or problem that has come up on your project. That said, the use of video-conferencing technologies is becoming increasingly acceptable in professional meetings and can actually increase the quality of client interaction simply by allowing more meetings to take place. It is vital, however, to make every effort to make sure that these electronic meetings are formal, structured, and as similar to in-person meetings as possible. Following the guidelines above are a great start on this, and should be considered as "required" as part of professional practice here in Capstone.