What's the proper etiquette when joining an audio conference where people are already talking?

Question

Multiple times I've joined an audio-only Microsoft Teams meeting (on time) where people were already talking. I feel like it would be rude to talk over them to say "hello", like it's going to interrupt the conversation.

Unfortunately, I believe it's also rude to not say hello.

I also think people talking without taking the time to say hello / present everyone in the meeting are somewhat rude, because they are creating this uncomfortable situation.

So, I feel I have no other choice than to wait until I have something to contribute before saying hello / presenting myself. When this happens, I feel I'm not really in the meeting.

Is it considered rude/unprofessional to act like this? What's the proper etiquette?

Should a manager take time to let everyone say hello and present themselves?

Answer 1

This heavily relies on culture, etiquette and the purpose/nature of said meeting as well as who is actually attending - other colleagues, customers, superiors etc.

Personally I would consider it appropriate NOT to interrupt the person currently speaking in the audio meeting and to greet the attendees of the meeting once there is a lull in the conversation or it's your turn to speak.

Answer 2

It's a personal preference in my opinion. Either is professional enough, making a point of interrupting is the more disruptive option.

I treat online meetings the same as most others. In most meetings I attend there is no need for greetings and introductions as we all know each other and we can all see if someone enters after others have started talking.

Answer 3

A simple solution: Join every meeting a minute or two before scheduled time - most likely the primary discussion won't be started by then, and if any informal discussion is going on, saying a hello won't be intrusive or breaking any rhythm.

In the case you are added (by someone else) to an already ongoing meeting, start with a hello from your side, because people might be expecting your presence and not everyone follows the attendee list.

Finally, to address the exact question: If I'm late to a meeting and the primary discussion is already underway, I find it better not to interrupt and wait for either my turn or a pause in the discussion to announce my presence / participation. Otherwise, you always have an option to drop a line in the meeting chat, so someone else who's already in the conversation can announce your presence ("Hey, PowerCat has joined us now!"), as and if needed.

Answer 4

It depends on the culture and the meeting. There are no fixed rules, it's a sliding scale. The factors that main decide if you announce yourself are:

1. Your importance to the meeting. If you are a key decision maker (or the organizer) then you are more likely to want to announce yourself. The meeting has probably been waiting for you. If you are there mainly to listen, you are more likely not to.
2. The meeting size. The smaller the meeting the more sense it makes to announce yourself.
3. Formality. The more there is in the way of a formal agenda, procedures, an order of speaking, the less sense it makes to interrupt that process to say you are here.

Consider also what you would do if the meeting were in person. The ettiquette is approximately the same. Posting a message in chat is more acceptable.

Answer 5

1. You're a meeting attendee. The organizer expects that you'll be present so if you don't announce yourself because you don't want to interrupt then I don't see that as being rude. You're supposed to be there.

2. All the other attendees can see that you are also an attendee. They can see who has joined the meeting. They know you're there. Your silence will be taken for what it is... not wanting to interrupt.

3. There's no reason you can't send a chat message saying "Hello. I'm here." This is less intrusive and let's everyone know definitively that you are in attendance.

Answer 6

It depends. Things like this often depend on all sorts of things to determine what is considered professional or rude.

1. If it's a meeting that hasn't started, chances are any talking going on are side conversations or idle chit-chat, and just saying "hello" should be fine. Especially if this is a small team.
2. If the meeting is like mine, typically the team lead is in charge. We don't use Teams, but if someone joins, he'll address whoever joined in to greet or identify themselves.
3. If your meeting is more casual in nature, a quick "hello" might be in order, to get that out of the way and to return to talking.
4. If your meeting is much more "professional", then conduct yourself accordingly. You might not be allowed to talk unless spoken to first, or the organizer sets it up that way.

Ultimately, there's a ton of "maybe this", or "maybe that" reasons. Speak with your team lead, or whoever organizes the meetings on the side and see what they consider proper etiquette. Perhaps if you do video calls, you need to wear a chicken hat to be "polite". Perhaps you need to be in a suit and tie at all times. Perhaps you need to introduce yourself as if you're on the radio, call sign and all. Or, maybe silence is best.

Answer 7

There is no way to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer to this, because is depends on the situation: what kind of a meeting it is, how many people are there, when did you join, what is your expected role in the meeting and, most important of all, what's the established local culture regarding such things at your workplace.

In general, the "rules" are more of less the same as for face to face meetings. Imagine that you walk into a meeting room where a bunch of your colleagues are in the middle of a conversation. Would you interrupt them to say "hi"?

Obviously the answer is "it depends", right? If you walked in before the official start of the meeting, and the people talking were a couple of your close coworkers casually chatting about their weekend plans, you probably would. If you walked in late to a big presentation where your boss's boss was talking to a large roomful of people, you'd just quietly sit down and try to minimize the disturbance. And I'm sure you can imagine plenty of other situations between these extremes where the answer could be either "yes" or "no" or "yes, but only when there's a break in the conversation".

It's exactly the same with online meetings. Well, except for minor differences due to the nature of the medium, like the fact that you can (usually) enter and leave an online meeting without making any sound, but you cannot talk to people sitting next to you without everyone hearing you (unless you PM them, of course). But mostly it's the same.

Answer 8

If you use Teams, use chat feature.

In my company, usually the conversation will stop briefly to acknowledge someone joining in. However, there are times when the participants are many and it's simply not possible to pause to do this for every person.

We have developed a habit to use chat for asynchronous/delayed communication and 'whispers'. In fact, chat is usually ignored until the conversation reach a natural break point, or a person - usually the host or the current presenter - notice a question or information that need to be 'aired'.

Note: this is assuming you and (most) everyone can access the chat.