Virtual meetings have become the norm for many teams and organizations. While video conferencing tools like Zoom have made remote collaboration possible, they also come with distractions that can hinder productivity and focus. One of the biggest culprits is in-meeting chat. The constant stream of messages can be disruptive and make it difficult to stay engaged.
Fortunately, Zoom offers options to disable chat features so you can minimize distractions during meetings. Here are some best practices on how to disable chat in Zoom and keep meeting participants focused.
Table of Contents
Disable In-Meeting Chat in Zoom
The simplest way to turn off chat is directly within the Zoom desktop or mobile app settings.
Here are the steps:
- Open your Zoom app and sign in
- Click on “Settings”
- Select the “In Meeting (Basic)” tab
- Toggle off the options for “Meeting Chat” and “Meeting Chat – Direct Messages”
This will fully disable chat for all your Zoom meetings. Participants will no longer see the chat window during sessions you host.
Pro Tip: You can quickly toggle chat on or off during a live meeting by clicking the chat icon in your meeting controls toolbar.
Restrict Chat Privileges in Zoom
Instead of fully disabling chat, another option is to restrict chat privileges to limit distractions:
- Host Only: Only the meeting host can chat
- Everyone Publicly: All participants can chat, but only to the entire group
- No One: Fully disables chat during the meeting
To change these restrictions:
- Start or join your meeting
- Click on the chat icon
- Click the three dots for “More”
- Select your desired restrictions from the dropdown menu
By limiting chat to hosts or public messages only, you reduce personal back-and-forth chatter while still allowing important announcements.
Set Chat Restrictions in Zoom Web Portal
For recurring meetings, like a weekly team call, you can set default restrictions that will apply to all your sessions.
In your Zoom web portal:
- Go to Settings
- Select the “In Meeting (Basic)” section
- Change your preferences for “Meeting Chat” and “Meeting Chat – Direct Messages”
The updated chat settings will now be the defaults for meetings you host moving forward.
Best Practices for Focus During Zoom Meetings
In addition to disabling chat features in Zoom, here are some other tips to keep meeting participants engaged and focused:
1. Set Expectations Beforehand
Make sure everyone joins the meeting with clear goals and expectations. Send an agenda explaining the purpose and desired outcomes of the meeting.
2. Use An Icebreaker or Warm-Up Activity
Energize the team and improve focus by starting your meeting with a quick icebreaker activity. This could be a fun personal or professional question, game, or poll to get people engaged.
3. Actively Moderate and Participate
As the host, actively moderate by calling on quiet participants, asking follow-up questions, and paraphrasing key points. Your active involvement sets the tone for others to participate.
4. Take Notes and Recap Action Items
Stay focused by taking notes to capture important discussion points, decisions, and action items. Share a meeting recap to align on responsibilities.
5. Limit Meeting Length
Long meetings easily lead to fatigue and lack of concentration. Try to limit your sessions to 30-45 minutes whenever possible. For longer meetings, build in breaks to re-energize participants.
Maintain Focus in Other Video Meetings
The ability to disable chat and better facilitate engagement applies to other popular video platforms like Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Google Meet as well.
While the specific settings may vary, the overall best practices are similar across all solutions:
- Remove distractions: Turn off notifications, close unneeded apps
- Set objectives: Establish goals and agenda upfront
- Change viewer mode: Enter full screen to avoid multi-tasking
- Actively participate: Ask questions, take notes, and stay engaged
- Shorten meetings: Limit sessions to 30-45 minutes whenever possible
Key Takeaways
With remote and hybrid work becoming the norm for many organizations, mastering virtual meetings is a critical skill. By disabling distracting chat features and better facilitating engagement, you can lead more productive and focused video conferencing sessions.
Implement these best practices in your next Zoom or video meeting:
- Disable chat features completely or limit privileges
- Prepare participants with clear goals and expectations
- Actively moderate discussions and participation
- Take notes and recap action items
- Shorten meeting times and take regular breaks
Staying focused in the digital workplace requires intention and discipline. But with the right video conferencing techniques, you can make your virtual meetings an effective use of everyone’s time.
