In a previous blog (Freely Zooming in on Non-Profits), an organization has acquired Zoom. The second blog in the series (Setting Up Zoom (TOO MANY OPTIONS!)) discussed which buttons to push to make the tool work optimally for non-profit. Now you are ready for your first big meeting, YEAH!

… and then you discover that your clients/members/stakeholders are all Zoom-Newbies. Fortunately most in people are Zoom-experts or have at least waved a few times to grandkids on a family virtual-gathering. Nevertheless, as a non-profit, the following can help the more techno-phobic clients or members know what all the fancy buttons ‘do’. It is part of the following blog series:

1. Freely Zooming in on Non-Profits
2. Setting Up Zoom (TOO MANY OPTIONS!)
3. Zoom for the Newbie (This Blog)
4. The Alpha Zoom & Other Tricks
5. Tony White’s Presentation Notes and Tricks on Using Zoom

Zooming Into a Refresher

Is there anything worse than trying to run an important meeting and the dreaded voice appears saying: “… how come I can’t see anyone… where is the mute button… HELLO, HELLO – can you HEAR ME!…”

The above is much less common compared to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, unless you attend a few digital meetings every month – you forget which button does what or the prevailing etiquette.

The following primer helps an organization guide first time or Zoom-phobic meeting attendees. It gently provides direction and instructions without being condescending. You can embed the slides provided in meeting material you send out in advance.

Test and Practice

Most people assume they can use Zoom… until they attend their first meeting. First and foremost is to encourage newbies to TEST their device before that important first meeting. If this is a concern for you, consider running a pre-event before your super-duper-important event. For example, prior to an Annual General Meeting for a bike club, I ran an online bike maintenance program. This maintenance program’s primary objective was to get club-members used to the technology.

Sample Annual General Meeting

The following are from the bike club’s Annual General Meeting. However, the methods and instructions can be adapted for program delivery, a facilitation activity or other member/client interactions. Descriptions of each slide are discussed below.

Sample Meeting Slides to Support Zoom Newbies

Meeting Etiquette: If you travel to a new place you might rely on a guide book for etiquette. The land of Zoom is the same. In the meeting invitation, you include a statement like: “For those new to Zoom, a few etiquette notes:…” and then list good-behaviour (see the pdf for such a list).

The Basics and Where to Practice: Include a page on the basic functionality of the tool as well as links to learn more and even Zoom’s excellent practice meeting link.

Reinforce As Required: For points in the meeting (e.g. the President’s report) where meeting attendees are invited to speak, the relevant buttons were re-presented.

Skip the Waiting Room: unless your meeting is discussing confidential information (e.g. details about a client) do not use the waiting room function. People get stranded because the organizers forget to check. This can be set at a default or meeting level (see below for more details on default meeting setup).

Increasingly Less Relevant

As time goes on, virtual meeting functionality and etiquette will become part of the large social consciousness. Nevertheless, if changing technology (e.g. going to Microsoft Teams or Google Meets), having a few slides labeling the relevant buttons is a courtesy worth providing to your audience. At the end of the day, the technology should be the invisible container to the important content of your meeting [1].

Notes and Further Reading

1. Content versus Container was the subject of a previous blog.