The Digital You: Webex Edition

Ryan Patrick, BITS Chief Technology Officer

When you meet someone in person, on the phone, or over video, you are representing your own brand. The way you dress, how you do your hair, to how you talk…that’s all part of your biological brand and most people care what they look or sound like.  So why doesn’t your digital appearance match your biological one?

Your brand is made of both the biological elements that make you, well, you, and the digital components that represent you in the cyber world.  Your brand is your brand, alive, virtually, and even artificially…own it and manage it as one.

Simple things like a picture or avatar are ways to improve and add life to the digital you.  It’s your brand, and it can help build your virtual reputation as well. 

This post is to talk about two things, first – personalizing your Webex and Webex Teams digital appearance to everyone else out there in the vast virtual world we live in.  The second part is just a few tips to help make Teams or Meetings your own and easier to use, navigate, and not get annoyed by.

The simplest of them all.  Add a picture for goodness sakes.  Seeing a circle with your initials is boring, and it can be hard to make your message stand out.  Visualization works from a human perspective because we respond to and process visual data better than any other type of data. In fact, the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual.   Since we are visual by nature, a simple picture of you – and of other people – is processed quicker and helps increase productivity when working in teams.

It takes about 3 clicks and less than 45 seconds (I timed it) to update your picture. When you change it in Teams, it automatically updates Meetings, and for many of us, this is the first thing a new customer or prospect sees when they meet you.

When you change your look or hairstyle (like a Mohawk!), that’s a great time to refresh that picture . Okay, maybe that’s not a real rule, but it helps keep things fresh and updated. The same picture for years and years gets old. 

Think about other sites that have that digital you out there too.  LinkedIn and Outlook/Office 365 to name a few.

When creating a space, give it a personality (i.e., a picture). It helps the visuals in organizing and recognizing what the space is about, especially when you’re a member of many spaces.  Make sure the picture relates to the space or project.  A quick Google search, and you can find one, save it, upload it, and your teammates will thank you.

Are you there?  What are you doing?  – It’s not like we are walking around the office where you can see if someone is busy or in the middle of a project (not that everyone is that aware, anyway.)   When your teams are not together, using Availability and Status messages can help let your teammates know when you focusing on tasks or projects and when you might have time to talk.

Webex Teams has two options to help you let people know what your status is. 

Availability – This is a great feature that keeps getting better and better.  The color codes from Green, Orange, Red, and Gray, are quick indications you can see.  What’s cool about this is when you join a meeting, share content, are on a call, or out of the office, the updates pull from different systems (Phone, Outlook, Webex) to update it. 

You can also set yourself to Do Not Disturb for different durations if you need that time to focus.

Status – This is a new feature and popular with our team already.  There are 4 default options and you can add your own custom one.  A teammate can simply hover over your picture and know if you are at lunch or focusing on a project.  

In Meetings, customize your Personal Meeting Room.  Change the URL to just your first name or what people call you (well…the nice name they call you). You can change the room name and you host pin, too.

Make Webex Teams work for you. The ability to personalize continues to grow; here’s a few areas to look at.

Choose your theme – Four options are better than only one.  Use one that matches your style.  (I like Dark Mode, as it goes well with being a member of the Dark Side.)

Space Lists – These are new options and can really help with organizing your workspace.  I suggest using all 3.

Manage Notifications -There are a few options in here, and you have more control in each space as well.  I recommend not changing the global notification settings but to do it at a space or people level. 

However, if you don’t like getting chimes, dings, or bings for every message…I recommend shutting that off right here in Preferences.

Organize with Favorites – Simple enough, those top Spaces or team members, click the star and they are at the top of your list.

What’s great about this too, is you can switch from All, People, and Spaces as the favorites are filtered.

First impressions matter, and we meet more people in the digital world than the actual world. Take a look at your digital brand, and create uniformity in both of your digital brands, professional and personal.  They will be different, but maintain them the same, keep them updated, and be more than just silhouette of an avatar.  Be You!

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Links to help you get started:

1. Webex Teams Profile Update – https://help.webex.com/en-us/m67xht/Webex-Teams-Open-Settings-from-Your-Profile-Picture
2. Office/Outlook Profile Update – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2986893/how-to-change-your-user-photo-in-office-365
3. Name that Space – https://help.webex.com/en-us/ktsmt5/Webex-Teams-Update-a-Space-Name-and-Picture
4. Peoples Availability – https://help.webex.com/en-us/wghlt5/Webex-Teams-See-People-s-Availability
5. Do Not Disturb – https://help.webex.com/en-us/njzs6wl/Webex-Teams-Let-People-Know-You-re-Busy
6. Custom Status – https://help.webex.com/en-us/nhfxsmr/Webex-Teams-Set-a-Custom-Status
7. Managing Notifications – https://help.webex.com/en-us/ng7w8cj/Webex-Teams-Tips-for-Managing-Notifications
8. Favorites – https://help.webex.com/en-us/8hf3oc/Add-a-Space-to-Your-Favorites-List
9. Using Filters – https://help.webex.com/en-us/iqq278/Webex-Teams-Filter-Your-Spaces-and-Content