If you can’t make a call on time, ping the other people on the call via Basecamp as early as you can. Pinging at the time of the meeting means people have probably already interrupted their days.

We should work wherever we are most comfortable, but when it comes to calls, we should be in a quiet place, with headphones. Feel free to schedule calls according to when you will be in a quiet place.

It’s hard to get a good, bubbling conversation when people are turning mute on and off, forgetting to unmute, etc. There are obviously plenty of situations where mute is merited, but as a default, please stay audible.

Record calls in TLDV by default.

If you’re on a call, get involved and have your voice heard. Turn off your phone, chat apps and email.

For client calls, we should arrive 5 minutes early. If the client is early, that gives us extra time to build the relationship by finding out more about each other.

Have deliverables in a predictable, polished format where the client will not need to wait for things to load. Have development deliverables in a staging site you’ve tested thoroughly, not a local environment.

If you are screen sharing, turn off EVERYTHING aside from the work you are showing. Do not open your email while sharing. Do not open Asana or Slack. Be incredibly cautious about this. The times it goes wrong, it goes really wrong.

You may only need to listen in on a colleague’s presentation, but find moments to make clarifications, reinforce points the presenter is making, and help guide the call in the right direction. Be amiable with the client and make small talk. Take notes.

By being focused, prepared, and early, we should be able to save everyone time by finishing meetings quickly. This is one of the little ways we can make our clients feel taken care of. They should look forward to, not dread, their meetings with us.