Guide to carry out effective virtual meetings

GUIDE TO CARRY OUT

EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL MEETINGS LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN YMCA

CONTENT

Presentation

4

Quick guide

5

Zoom

5 Minimum requirements for using Zoom

5

Creating a meeting

5

Accessing the meeting

5

During our meeting

5

Tips to participate effectively

5

Guide to carry out effective virtual meetings

6

What do we need before participating in a virtual meeting?

What platform do we choose?

6 8

Plaforms

8

Google Hangouts

8

Microsoft Teams

9

GoToMeeting

9

Webex

9

Skype

9

Whatsapp

9

Zoom

9

What should we consider when planning a virtual meeting?

10

Recommendations for the facilitator and organizer of the meeting

11

Good practices for a virtual meeting

14

Before

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During

15

After

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PRESENTATION The issues we are facing today as a result of COVID-19 have forced many organizations to migrate to a virtual format unexpectedly and without the opportunity to plan the transition.

Nowadays the YMCAs have faced the need to organize virtual meetings with their teams, Boards of Directors meetings, Assemblies, among others.

For this reason, at the Latin American and Caribbean Alliance of the YMCA we have developed a guide to carry out effective virtual meetings with the aim of sharing some tips and good practices to achieve this.

It is important to know and consider various elements in order to plan, organize, direct, participate and follow up on a successful virtual meeting. One of those ďŹ rst elements is to know and become familiar with the equipment and tools that we will need for this.

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QUICK GUIDE This guide will help us to know the easiest way to use the platforms to carry out our virtual meetings.

- Later we must copy the link of the invitation and send it to our participants.

The guide will be based on the use of the Zoom platform, which is the platform that the YMCA Latin America and the Caribbean uses for its meetings. We can review other similar platforms on the Platforms section.

Accessing the meeting

Zoom It is a system that offers an experience for audio and video conferencing which allows us to interact virtually with colleagues when in-person meetings are not possible. With the new reality, Zoom has become an essential tool for small, medium and large teams who want to stay in touch and continue their daily workflows with minimal disruption.

This tool offers different plans for different types of users. Its basic version is free and has some restrictions on its use.

Minimum requirements for using Zoom 1. A computer, mobile phone or tablet with an internet connection.

2. Have the Zoom app that can be downloaded from its website. Here we can download Zoom for all kinds of devices. PC, IOS or MAC: http://zoom.us/download 3. A personal or business Zoom account.

Creating a meeting

If we are invited to a virtual meeting, we can receive the invitation by two different ways. One is through our email and the other is through an event on our calendar.

To join the meeting, we must: - Access to our email account or our calendar and then click on the zoom link we received previously.

- We must follow the instructions that will guide us to the screen where we will participate in our virtual meeting.

During our meeting Once in our meeting, we will identify some buttons that will help us to interact during our virtual meeting.

Tips to participate effectively 1. Mute our microphone when we are not using it to participate.

2. Assign a Moderator / Facilitator.

3. Use the chat box while we are not talking, and we want to make a comment.

As organizers we have two options to carry out our virtual meeting.

4. Use the video camera. (If there is no good connection it will be preferable to deactivate it to improve the audio).

1. Create a meeting

5. Find a comfortable and quiet space.

- First, we will go to the main Zoom page, - We will click on “Start Meeting” - Later we will click on “Invite”; and, - We will invite users to the call by adding their emails.

6. Be careful when sharing you screen.

2. Schedule a meeting

7. Ask for the floor using the corresponding buttons.

8. Be brief in the participations.

- First, we will go to the main Zoom page, - Click on “Schedule” - Fill in the necessary information for our meeting and click on “Complete”.

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GUIDE TO CARRY OUT EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL MEETINGS What do we need before participating in a virtual meeting?

- Enough space on your device to download the program to use

To carry out a virtual meeting effectively, it is necessary to have certain tools and equipment that will allow us to facilitate our interaction with the rest of the participants, either by facilitating the conversation or being part of the audience.

If it is the ďŹ rst time that we are going to enter a virtual meeting, it will be necessary to download the program(s) that we are going to need, on our device. (We will be able to know the main platforms that offer this service in the Platforms section).

The following list will help us to know the minimum requirements to be able to participate in virtual meetings.

Some services allow us to enter the meeting from their own website without the need to download programs.

Tools, equipment and system requirements - Personal computer, tablet, or mobile phone To participate in a virtual meeting, it is necessary to have a device that allow us to access the platform where we will carry out our virtual meeting. The device must have internet access, as well as some minimum technical characteristics that can be consulted in the speciďŹ cations section of the different platforms for making videocalls and videoconferences.

To know the minimum system requirements for using Zoom (the platform used by LACA) you can access the following link: https://support.zoom.us/hc/es/articles/201362023-Requ isitos-del-sistema-para-PC-Mac-y-Linux - Internet Access. Wi-Fi or Wired Connection The device we will use must allow us to have internet access.

- Webcam Currently most devices and / or personal computers have their own integrated webcam, if this is not the case, we can get a webcam that can be connected to our device.

- Microphone and headphones to receive and send audio Like the webcam, most devices and computers have their own microphone and speakers. It is suggested to have headphones to reduce external noises during the video call.

- An appropriate space to participate in the video call An important aspect to have an effective participation in a virtual meeting is to have an appropriate space that allows us to focus on our meeting while avoiding external distractions.

It can be a comfortable and quiet room in our home. It is recommended that the room has good lighting and quiet, avoiding outside noises.

Many telecommunications companies offer accessible internet plans.

Likewise, the data from cell phones is used to enter virtual meetings, although these types of calls consume a lot of data, so the use of Wi-Fi connection is recommended.

We recommend that you have a wired or wireless broadband internet connection (3G or 4G / LTE) for this type of call. 1

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Zoom requirements.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/es/articles/201362023-Requisitos-del-sistema-para-PC-Mac-y-Linux. March 2020.

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WHAT PLATFORM DO WE CHOOSE? Nowadays, there are many products on the market that offer the opportunity to carry out virtual meetings. Many of them offer free versions and these days they offer their free service indefinitely.

Platforms

Google Hangouts

It is a tool that facilitates live videoconferencing, scheduling virtual meetings and being able to have a question and answer session with other users. Hangouts offers a free version and is available with any Google account. In a Hangouts video call in its basic version, 10 to 25 people can participate in the video call.

Currently and with the increasing number of companies affected by travel restrictions or urging their employees to work from home due to the spread of COVID-19, GSuite is supporting with free access to Hangouts Meet’s advanced video conferencing features, which include: - Meetings with up to 250 participants per call.

- Live broadcasts with up to 100,000 viewers.

- Recording of video calls in Google Drive (storage tool) to be able to share them with people who cannot attend.

To access these services, we must enable Hangouts Meet in our organization.

To enable Hangouts Meet video calls and advanced features in our organization, follow these instructions: a. On the main page of the administration console, go to Applications > G Suite > Google Hangouts settings. b. Click on Meet Settings. c. Click on the edit icon to the right of the “Additional Services”option. d. Scroll down and check the box Allow users to make video calls and voice calls.

settings for live broadcasting” and video call recording. f. Click on Save.

Link for more information and https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/

download:

Microsoft Teams It is an Office 365 chat-based workspace designed to improve communication and collaboration among companies; work teams, reinforcing the collaborative functions of the cloud platform, Office 365.

The platform is integrated with Microsoft 365 and meets in a common space, the collaboration applications necessary to work as a team and with which we can work such as: Chats, Videoconferences, notes, content access, Office Online, planner and other features.

Link for more information and download: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/down load-app

GotoMeeting It is a tool created for conducting conferences and online meetings designed for business managers. The software supports conferences of up to 15 people that can be connected by Internet connection or by phone.

Like other platforms, GoToMeeting has made available to organizations that offer first-line care, such as some health care providers, educational centers, municipalities and non-profit entities, as well as current LogMeIn customers, the possibility of using free of charge and throughout the organization many of the LogMeIn products for 3 months, through the Emergency Kits for Remote Work.

Link for more information and https://www.gotomeeting.com/es-mx

download:

e. On the same screen, activate the other advanced 07

WHAT PLATFORM DO WE CHOOSE?

Whatsapp

Webex Cisco WebEx is a secure collaboration platform in the cloud that works with multiple devices and applications to improve the teamwork of each worker.

It is one of the most popular applications for instant communication that allows us to send and receive instant messages via mobile phone or computer using the WhatsApp web application.

It offers quality team meetings, calls and collaboration and, like other systems, it has its free version, as well as various plans that offers more tools available.

The service allows us to share and receive audios, videos and photos for free, as well as making calls and video calls with a maximum of 4 people.

One of the advantages of WebEx is that we can synchronize our meetings with the Google calendar, Outlook, Office 365, among others. Likewise, it offers the service of up to 25 videoconference calls and a meeting room that allows up to 40,000 people in audience.

Link for more information https://www.whatsapp.com/

Link for more information https://www.webex.com.mx/

and

and

download:

This application is highly recommended for instant calls with small groups.

download:

Zoom It is a system that offers an experience for audio and video conferencing which allows us to interact virtually with colleagues when in-person meetings are not possible.

Skype It is one of the oldest and most used platforms for virtual meetings and video calls on the market.

Skype allows us to communicate through video calls, instant messages and share files with other people who own this program and anywhere in the world.

Calls, messages and files are free on the condition that both users have Skype.

Skype allows us to make calls to other users who do not have this software through the purchase of credits, like a conventional phone call.

Link for more information https://www.skype.com/es/

and

download:

With the new reality, Zoom has become an essential tool for small, medium, and large teams who want to stay in touch and continue their daily workflows with minimal disruption.

Due to its ease of downloading, configuring and using the platform, the Latin American and Caribbean Alliance of YMCAs (LACA) has chosen Zoom to carry out team meetings, as well as volunteer and staff meetings in the region.

Link for more https://zoom.us/

information

and

download:

You can watch a tutorial video made for LACA for the best use of Zoom in the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7acDFU1A6A 08

WHAT SHOULD WE CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING A VIRTUAL MEETING? In order to carry out a virtual meeting in an effective way, it is necessary to consider some recommendations that will help us plan, organize, lead, participate and follow up on a successful virtual meeting.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FACILITATOR AND ORGANIZER OF THE MEETING Prepare our equipment and platform in advance One of the first recommendations is to become familiar with the platform on which we will carry out our virtual meeting, as well as the equipment we have.

It is recommended that, if it is the first time that we use it, we test our equipment and test the platform in advance, in order to know all its functions, as well as download updates or enter our username and password previously.

This will help us facilitate the conversation more efficiently.

Share tutorials and conduct test meetings A good practice is to conduct some test meetings through the platform, prior to the virtual meeting, mainly for those who have never used a virtual system and thus avoid problems during the virtual meeting.

It is also recommended to share a guide or tutorial to people who are not familiar with the platform or with the use of virtual tools to facilitate their access and use. Most apps have free tutorials on their technical support pages.

Check internet connection The internet connection is essential to be able to carry out a virtual meeting, since a good connection will allow us to avoid interference, voice failures, frozen images, disconnections, among other inconveniences.

We recommend as a download speed of 1.5mbps for individual browsing or 4mbps for group meetings.

Reach an agreement on the date and time of the meeting with the rest of the participants All meetings organized both virtual and face-to-face must have an established day and time.

One of the characteristics of virtual meetings is that we have to be flexible in schedules and days so that our meeting does not overlap with other meetings previously agreed by our participants in addition to taking into account other factors such as the participants; time zones.

a. The first step is contacting the participants who will be invited to the meeting. A good practice is to invite only the people who must necessarily participate. b. Contacting participants should be to check the best date and time for all of them. A tool for better organization of schedules is the website https://doodle.com/en/. Doodle will allow us to suggest some dates and times and the participants can vote for their best options. Doodle has a free version. c. Once the day and time have been agreed, we will have to officially convene our meeting (it is important to include the link for the meeting, as well as the meeting number and the password in case the meeting was configured with one.

Prepare documents in advance A good practice for the facilitator is to prepare the materials and documents to present during the virtual meeting in advance.

Platforms like Zoom allow us to share screens to make Power Point presentations, share Word files, Excel, videos, among other tools that facilitate our presentation.

Agree on presenters

the

participation

of

other

In many virtual meetings it is common for other participants, aside from the facilitator, to have the chance to share documents, progress, updates, among other activities.

A good practice is to have prior meetings with them to agree on when they will be presented, as well as the time allocated to each of the interventions.

Request confirmation from participants A good practice is that we ask participants invited to the virtual meeting to confirm attendance to know who will be available to connect and who will be absent, in order to avoid assigning activities and / or presentations to people who do not attend and that item on the agenda is left unattended.

To carry out this, we must consider the following points:

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FACILITATOR AND ORGANIZER OF THE MEETING Share the call

- Send reminders

For our call to be effective we must consider some basic points.

A good practice is to send reminders by email and / or WhatsApp or other way of communication that the group is using, at least 24 hours before the meeting.

- Send the invitation and the call The call must be sent by email in advance. A good practice is to generate a calendar of meetings in case they are going to be on a recurring basis.

- Share the topic of the meeting and a brief explanation of the reason for the call Our call should clearly include the objective and theme of the meeting.

A meeting without a clear objective can lead to confusion, waste of time, frustrations or absences.

- Consider the language (if necessary) It is possible that in our meetings we have participants who speak a language different from others, so a good practice is to include the information in the languages of the attendees (in the case of Latin America and the Caribbean it is usually sent in English and Spanish).

This point will only have to considered if it is the case of our meeting.

- Share the link to the virtual meeting An essential point for our call will be to include the link of our meeting created in advance by the person in charge of organizing it, as well as the meeting number and password if one was configured.

In the case of Zoom the invitation can reach our email in this way. In addition to including the date and time of the meeting consider the different time zones.

- Consider the different time zones Platforms like Zoom have facilitated the way of automatically configuring the different schedules.

However, a good practice to know the schedule of each participant is to enter https://www.timeanddate.com/.

- Have a clear agenda of the meeting The agenda for the meeting is essential to have a clear guide of what we will be discussed at our meeting. A good practice is to share the agenda in advance, as well as documents that will be reviewed in the virtual meeting.

It is important to ask for comments and feedback from participants previously to complement the agenda and make our time during the call more effective.

If necessary, we will have to identify who will lead the discussion of each item on the agenda.

It is also recommended to leave space in the agenda for additions or last-minute questions.

Assign a moderator / facilitator A moderator and / or facilitator is essential for the meeting to take place at the agreed time. A good moderator should consider some points such as: - Give the floor to the participants.

- Present the items of the agenda.

- Enable and disable microphones according to the flow of the meeting.

- Motivate participation.

Take notes from the meeting A good practice is to take the most relevant notes of the meeting for the subsequent minutes. It is also recommended to record the meeting in case the platform allows it.

Zoom allows us to record the meeting and save it on the computer of the person who made the recording.

“Timeanddate” allows to know the different time zones.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FACILITATOR AND ORGANIZER OF THE MEETING Establish times for interventions A good practice for the moderator is to notify participants when people exceed the set time to participate. This will allow other participants to intervene.

Agree on the date and time of the next meeting (If necessary).

In case of having recurrent meeting, it is important to agree with the group a new date to send the necessary documents and materials previous the next meeting.

Set the time of the meeting A way to make the meeting time more efficient is to agree on a start and end time for the meetings. An effective virtual meeting can be done in 60 minutes. This allows participants to stay focused on the content of the meeting.

Keep up the meeting flow It is recommended that the flow of our virtual meeting be a little slower than face-to-face meetings. As a meeting facilitator we will need to make sure there are enough breaks after asking a question to make sure that participants have a chance to ask their questions and share their answers and comments.

Be clear and effective It is highly recommended to be clear and effective when communicating during our virtual conversation, because this will make it easier for us to describe something that the rest of the participants cannot see and it will be easier for them to understand what is shared.

Summarize agreements at the end of the meeting A good practice to end the meeting is to take a few minutes to summarize the agreements and save the most important items that were discussed and that will be shared in the subsequent minutes.

Share the meeting notes in a reasonable time A key point to continue the virtual meetings is to send the notes and, where appropriate, the recording of the meeting to those who were unable to attend and to reinforce the agreements.

A good practice is to send the notes to the participants in a time that allows us the corresponding review and feedback.

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GOOD PRACTICES FOR A VIRTUAL MEETING BEFORE

5. Confirm and reconfirm meeting time

1. Choose a quiet place to participate in the video conference

If we are going to talk with people in different parts of the world, it is essential to make sure that we have correctly communicated the meeting time. As mentioned in the call section https://www.timeanddate.com/ Timedate is a very good tool for organizing schedules.

When we are at home, it is recommended to adapt a space to take our virtual meetings. It is important to find a quiet environment where we can limit distractions. It is also important to use headphones to minimize background noise and avoid audio interruptions.

If we are working with new conferencing software, it is highly recommended that we test it before the online meeting begins. This will allow us to clearly hear the other party and that our voice does not mix with sounds from the environment.

2. Disable programs or devices that consume bandwidth When participating in a virtual meeting it is necessary to have the necessary bandwidth, especially if our conversation is through video.

A good practice to improve our connection is to avoid downloading files, as well as closing programs and applications that are automatically updated constantly, so we will ensure that only our conversation is the one that occupies the connection.

6. Access the meeting few minutes before start Entering a few minutes before the start of the meeting will allow us to verify that everything works correctly, and if something fails, we will have time to fix it and be able to enter the meeting in the agreed time.

It is suggested that we enter at least 10 minutes before or even more when we are not very familiar with the platform.

7. Test the connection, the audio and the video A point related to the previous one is that, to have an effective participation in the meeting, we will have to test that our internet connection works correctly, as well as our webcam and our headphones.

Platforms like Zoom allow tests to verify correct operation.

3. Verify the invitation and link to Access the meeting

8. Have the agenda and work materials ready in advance

To participate in virtual meetings, we must have the link to access the virtual room at hand. Usually the invitation reaches the email and it can be synchronized with our calendars for a better organization.

This is useful for all types of meetings. This will allow us to know in advance what are the topics to be addressed during the meeting and will help us to follow an order.

Thus, we will avoid wasting time looking for information during the conversation.

4. Confirm the local time zone It is increasingly common to have virtual meetings with colleagues from other parts of the world and therefore with other time zones.

We recommend that you check the time the meeting is scheduled so that we can access the agreed time.

9. Respect the time scheduled for the meeting A virtual meeting must have defined the time that will be required to cover all the topics on the agenda.

In this way it will be possible for all participants to organize the rest of their day and be aware of the time to deal with the items on the agenda.

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GOOD PRACTICES FOR A VIRTUAL MEETING DURING

15. Get involved and participate

10. Access the meeting at the agreed time It is highly recommended to access our meeting on time, in order to make our time more effective.

A good practice is to stay focused on the conversation avoiding external distractions while participating in the meeting, like other devices, this way we will help the presenter to cover all the agenda items on time.

11. Keep the webcam on

16. Take notes

We recommend that for this type of meetings, we can have our video camera turned on, so that we can interact in a better way and get involved in the conversation. If this is not possible due to connection issues or device problems, it is recommended to continue participating through our audio device.

A good practice for our virtual meetings is to take notes of the most important points discussed during our conversation.

12. Mute the microphone while we are not participating

In this way we will be able to compare our notes with the minute and audios that will be shared after the meeting and we will have the opportunity to complement the information in case it is required.

A very important recommendation to carry out effective virtual meetings is to keep our microphone muted when we are not participating, so we will avoid external noises that make it difficult to understand the presenter or distract him/her.

13. Raise our hand or type in the chat box to ask for the floor There are two very effective ways to participate and not interrupt the conversation. One of them is to raise our hand to ask for the floor. The Zoom platform allows us to click on a small hand that appears next to our name.

The other way is to participate through the platforms chat, asking for the floor or mentioning short comments.

As participants, it is recommended that when asking for the floor and once it has been given to us, wait a couple of seconds before continuing with our participation.

14. Be clear, concise and brief in participating Another good practice to make our virtual meetings effective is that our participations are very specific. The time to participate should not exceed three minutes, except when the presenter takes the floor.

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GOOD PRACTICES FOR A VIRTUAL MEETING AFTER 17. Recap before finishing When the meeting is about to end, a good practice is to summarize the activities that each participant will carry out and will be responsible for. This is a way to ensure that everyone understands and to ensure accountability.

That is especially helpful when we cannot see facial expressions or body language.

18. Share the meeting notes in a reasonable time Especially if you have just finished a meeting dealing with sensitive issues, our first reaction is often to inform colleagues immediately.

However, wait until communication has stopped.

A good practice is to wait until we have completely left the meeting room to discuss anything that has happened. This in order to avoid misunderstandings.

19. Share notes A good practice is to make sure that everyone involved in the virtual meeting has access to the notes, as well as if they have recorded the conversation, they can access the audio.

This can be another great way to create a shared understanding of what was decided, who is responsible for what actions to take, and what to follow in the future.

One recommendation is to invite participants to collaborate via a shared link or email invitation, so they can edit, comment, and send feedback, in real time or within a few days after the meeting.

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