Chaparral 2021-2022: 30.1 Governance TidBits

Governance Meetings and Other Meetings – Zoom Etiquette Tips

by Frankie Strong
Governance Office Coordinator

 

Hello Everyone!

We’ve been online, remote, at home, and in office for over a year now. This seems to be the new normal and we’ve all endured the increased hours of screen time. To come up with ‘Zoom etiquette’ now seems to be ‘a little late’; however, I do want to share with you some points I’ve observed from several well-run meetings that I’ve attended. I hope that maybe you’ll be able to utilize some, or maybe this serves as affirmation for your great meeting practices. And if you have anything to add please send those my way to fstrong@glendale.edu

 

Preparation for meetings:

Chairs call for agenda items at least 1-2 weeks prior to the meeting date.

Agenda and meeting materials are emailed by the chair to the committee members, including the agenda, previous minutes and documents to review. Zoom link is shared – most chairs utilize the same Zoom room link – double check that the Zoom link works. It is recommended to have a passcode and/or activate the waiting room feature(s).

Agendas can include the Zoom link. For the governance committees that share their agenda, those will be made available on the “Scheduled Meetings” page – just include my email when the agenda is sent. Providing the member list is helpful so that all can see which seats are held by whom, and to see who are voting members and non-voting members. For governance committees the most up to date member list is available as the Blue List.

Did you know that when you set up a Zoom meeting you can select options such as:

• requiring a passcode; customizing the passcode;
• setting up a waiting room;
• play a chime when someone enters the Zoom room;
• audio and video of participants can be muted or allowed to unmute themselves, and more.

If the above options are not set up beforehand, the host can always set options within the meeting room by going to “participants”, go to the ellipses (…), or three dots located in the lower right corner of the ‘participants’ window.

I’ve observed that it works very well when there is a ‘meeting team’. What this means is that the chair creates the Zoom link and makes other Executive members co-hosts. This enables the co-hosts to also ‘share screen’. Co-hosts can have certain responsibilities during the meeting such as one person monitors the chat and informs the chair of comments or questions that arise in the chat. Another person can ensure that names of attendees are correct and thus recorded as such. And yet another person can be the keeper of all materials to display by way of the ‘share screen’ feature; materials such as the agenda, minutes, or PowerPoint.

All members should read or review the meeting materials beforehand, as this is just good practice.

 

During the meeting:

Order of decorum follows a ‘live meeting’ – what this means is that side chat, chat blast, is discouraged, as this would be equivalent to speaking while the chair or member has the floor, or having a side conversation while the meeting is in session. The host is able to ‘mute all’ by going to the ellipses in the ‘participants’ window.

It is helpful when a chairperson shares the meeting protocol or guidelines – this helps participants to be aware of and to follow the guidelines set forth. Be clear about what counts as a vote: Hands raised, "Yes" or "Aye" in Chat, verbal response, etc.

It is nice to welcome all new attendees at the beginning of meeting, especially new committee members and guests. For governance committees, it is nice that the chair gives each member a chance to introduce themselves to the new student representatives, especially since student reps are changed each semester.

Participants can ensure that their name is correctly displayed – this helps with recording attendance. One can accomplish this by hovering over their name; two buttons appear, select the blue ‘more’ button.

Participants can raise their virtual hand in Zoom to be called upon. Questions can be typed in chat.

It is ok to have your video off – I know that sometimes it is distracting to see everyone fidgeting – but at the same time it is nice to scroll through to view the smiles of friends and colleagues.

By the way, meeting link and I.D. is available in the Zoom conference by selecting the green shield in the upper left corner of the screen.

 

After the meeting:

The chair and/or designated person follows up on action items from the meeting.

Minutes should be produced and shared no later than one month after a meeting, or sooner.

Participating in governance is greatly appreciated. Your contributions help to ensure that GCC as remains the premier community college of our region.