Prepare before you share your screen

by Karen Adamedes

The ability to share your screen is one of the most useful features when you are working from home. It means you can make presentations, conduct training, work on a document with others, or simply share a document or website you are referring to.

If you can see it on your screen, you can share it using a collaboration tool.

Over the years, I have had a number of calls from staff members confessing that they were chatting online during a video conference, and their ‘private’ discussion (usually about someone else on the call) had been seen by everybody. Not cool. This can potentially be upsetting to others. And it can cause an unnecessary dent in the credibility of the people involved. It also wasted a considerable amount of their time, as they then had to ring everyone on the call to apologize.

Sharing your screen on a conference call is another way you can inadvertently share information you shouldn't. You don’t want to upset others, be embarrassed by what others see on your screen, appear unprofessional, or accidentally share confidential information.

Here is a short list of suggestions you should consider before you share your screen. If you do decide you need to share mid-call, take a moment and run through this checklist. Even better if you can be prepared beforehand.

Turn off your desktop notifications

Apart from it being completely distracting, there’s a good chance you don’t want everyone on a conference call to see every email that arrives in your inbox while you are sharing your screen. It can be even worse if your email display settings show the first couple of lines of text. But even the subject of an email could be confidential.

Shut down instant messaging

Regardless of whether it’s a personal app or an internal company messaging service, you don’t want messages appearing while you are sharing your screen. They take up valuable screen space, obscure the document you are trying to share, and disrupt the flow of the discussion.

I close my instant-messaging apps whenever I am on a conference call or use the Do Not Disturb option, even if I am not planning to share my screen. I just don’t want the distraction of trying to have a conversation or make a presentation while people are sending me messages at the same time. It's super annoying when you are trying to concentrate, and messages keep coming in from every direction.

Close your windows

Apart from closing your actual windows to minimize background noise, I’m also talking about the windows that are open on your device: Facebook, travel sites, email, presentations, the last thing you were reading, and confidential material.

All of them. Close them before sharing your screen. (Except what you actually want to share, of course!)

It is too easy to flick between screens and show something you don’t want to share. If they’re not open, it can’t happen. Close them down.

Open the document you want to share

As part of your preparation, open the documents you want to share before the call. If you need another document during a call, stop sharing your screen while you look for it.

Have a little side chat while you are setting up, rather than letting your colleagues or clients see the titles of all your documents and files.

And when you’ve finished your call, don’t forget to turn the screen sharing off.

Preparation of all kinds is important for effective calls and contributes to your credibility.