My worst Zoom 1–2–1 ever!
My Zoom 1–2–1 read like a 1970’s sitcom disaster! If they had laptops, online networking and Zoom in the 1970’s — imagine what the writers would have done with this content!
Whether you use Zoom, Teams or Google, accidents can happen when you use technology ….!
The morning started out calm and well planned, both my partner and I were working from home this day and I was to have my meeting in the back office/conservatory, my partner was to have his in the front room, we had our coffees, and were just settling down to starting the calls when the house phone rang — my father “we need to pop round and pick something up — its OK isn’t ? WE will just be in the shed!” I tried to explain we would both be on meetings, but it didn’t phase him — it should be OK I thought….!
Then we started the call, with me running around the kitchen, luckily the meeting is with a networking friend who I had worked with before — she knew me! “Where are you?” she says, “in the kitchen tidying up, my parents are popping around for two minutes, but that is enough!!!” She laughed in understanding, then we sat down and started talking, then my phone kept ringing, now I do have an assistant to answer the phone — however this did not seem to be happening and this was a client who was stuck overseas, I answered hoping I could put him off for half an hour — not gonna happen, again my sainted friend was VERY understanding, and had a call of her own!
So call finished, we started again, then the door went, my parents must have rushed around in record time! Just as I jumped up to answer the door, I knocked my coffee, which spilt over my laptop keyboard!
What to do first? Luckily I had napkins on my desk (please don’t ask me why, I think it was for this very eventuality!!!) so I flipped the laptop with my poor friend on sideways on the desk and set the napkins to mop up the residue, then went to answer the persistent door!
So my parents went into the garden, but were back at the door in seconds, “where’s the carpet cleaner? Do you have my post? And other such questions! The situation was getting silly so I introduced from the back door — to my friend who was sitting looking at everything side on, as the laptop continued to dry out!
Anyway satisfied they had everything they needed, my parents went off, only for the internet to drop off and we lost the connection! The call was finished the old fashioned way — on the phone!!
So there you have it, the guide to how NOT to conduct a Zoom meeting! Tell me what was your online meetings disaster, please let me know and make me feel a little less like the Murphy’s child I seem to be!
Ella M Doherty FCCA
