Think about what kind of meeting it is – business, social or rehearsal? How you use the functions might vary depending on your purpose.
Business meetings e.g. committee meetings:
- For the first meeting at least (and potentially more) it’s a good idea to run through a few of the features so people know what’s what.
- As you do more meetings you could just invite anyone who is new to join 10 minutes early for a quick run through – to save everyone else hearing it again.
- Zoom works best when one person speaks at a time – when people talk at the same time no one can hear anything or there are delays:
- Background noise can be a problem in this respect so asking everyone to mute themselves when not speaking is a good idea.
- The host of the meeting needs to manage this and will probably have to be stricter than usual and invite people to speak.
- People can indicate they want to speak by raising a hand, this could be by using the raise hand feature in Zoom, (which only host and co-host can see), if everyone is on video by actually just raising their hand or using the ‘thumbs up’ reaction button. Any of these can work, the important thing is that you have an agreed method.
- Be aware that anyone dialling in by phone can’t raise their hand virtually or physically so you should make sure you have a plan for including them and inviting their views.
- Because speaking over each other causes sound issues; the usual verbal ticks we have like saying ‘yes’ whilst someone is speaking can be problematic – so encouraging non-verbal feedback is good idea, such as using the reaction buttons (thumbs up) or physically nodding.
- Send out documents for reading in advance – although you can use the ‘Screen share’ feature, it will move the meeting on quicker if everyone has a chance to read in advance. But do make use of the ‘Screen share' feature where needed.
- If someone cannot be heard very well (e.g. the sound breaks up or is distorted) suggest they turn their video off. The sound issues might be related to the quality of their internet connection and turning the video off reduces the load and helps improve sound quality. We also have a separate guide on how you can troubleshoot audio issues when using Zoom.
Social meetings:
- Because it’s more social, managing the conversation and inviting people to speak will seem weird. It’s better to have everyone unmuted and let them speak when they want. You can still warn them about the sound issues when people talk at the same time – but they will get used to it and figure out a way to make it work!
- If it’s a big group, consider breakout rooms – people will find it easier to be sociable online in smaller groups. Lots of people might mean some choose not to speak, or the sound is just too poor.
- You can use breakout rooms as a chance to mix people up allowing them to ‘meet’ people they wouldn’t normally talk to.
- Make it an occasion – encourage people to dress up or have a theme each week.
- Do a ‘pub quiz’ – there are several ways this can work, including:
- Everyone in one ‘room’ playing on their own.
- Using ‘breakout rooms’ to have teams, you will either need a quiz master in each room or use the breakout room ‘broadcast’ feature to send written. You could also send the questions separately (e.g. by email).
- Have a musical interlude:
- Each week ask a member to nominate a piece of music they love, they could talk about it briefly, then it can be played for everyone. The best way to do this is to play it on the device they are using to join the meeting and select ‘Screen share’ and then click ‘share computer sound’ in the bottom left.
- One person could perform something for everyone else to listen to.
