Do you have a nice video background?

You are likely to have constant Teams or Zoom video calls with clients or work colleagues. One of the first things you should think about should be how to have a nice background.

When in the office, you can have a nice branded background, which is the best option.

For home offices, follow "less is more":

• Have a neutral wall or setup behind you or with minimal objects - you may be fond of family pictures or band posters, but the person on the other side may be distracted
• Check you don't have a pile of clothes to fold, boxes, or any mess that may be behind your desk
• Test - sit at your desk and take a selfie. Then organize your background accordingly
• Good lighting can improve the general quality of your video
• If you want to go the extra mile, designate one wall as your company wall and keep it consistent with the company branding

Virtual backgrounds

Not ideal, but if you can't have a nice and clean background, the alternative is to use the virtual background effect feature (e.g. blur OR a background image):

• Teams - Custom backgrounds in Microsoft Teams make video meetings more fun, comfortable, and personal
• Zoom - Virtual background feature allows you to display an image or video as your background during a Zoom meeting