Time ReDesigned is a completely remote company and we rely on Zoom and other technology tools to effectively communicate with our team members and clients. This month, we are sharing 5 of our favorite tips and tricks to help “newly-remote” educators get up to speed on video conferencing. While we don’t physically meet with our team members, we communicate virtually every single day! Our regular Zoom meetings keep our team productive and efficient. As a 100% remote company, these time saving hacks produce a meaningful difference in our productivity.
1. Create Recurring Meetings With Saved Settings and One URL
For weekly meetings, monthly check-ins, and other regular scheduled calls, Zoom lets you create a recurring meeting. There are two reasons why using this setting is beneficial. First, it lets you lock in all the call settings you want once and have them be in place every time you meet. Second, recurring calls use the same join URL each time, so you never have to send a fresh one to attendees.
Additionally, if you meet with the same group consistently, but not on a regular schedule, you can choose an option called No Fixed Time, which lets you use the same settings and meeting ID over and over with the same group, no matter when you meet together. This option is popular with educational groups who use Zoom as their virtual classroom.
How you do this will depend on which platform you're using, but you can refer to Zoom's documentation for setting up your recurring meeting.
2. Record your Meetings
Recording meetings is a tremendously useful tool in Zoom. As we all know, human memory is deeply flawed. So let's not rely on it for remembering who was going to do what and when. A couple weeks (or even days) later, it can be hard to remember who said they would take on that messy project. How are you going to follow up? Better turn to that recording!
3. Meeting Reminder (Mobile)
When we aren't in our buildings, it can be easy to forget when a meeting is about to begin. Set up Zoom reminders to ensure that you never miss an important scheduled meeting. This can be done by visiting your Meeting Settings and switching the “Meeting Reminder” option to “on”. This will ensure that Zoom will remind you to join any upcoming meetings.
4. Slack
We meet in Zoom but we live in Slack. With the Zoom/Slack integration feature, you can start Zoom meetings right from Slack. Just type “Zoom” in Slack to see all of the integration options.
We also use Slack on a day to day basis to quickly communicate with team members without having to send an email It’s a great place to coordinate and collaborate, and a fun place to get to know your fellow organizers and activists, even when you can’t all be in the same room at the same time.
5. If I’m Not Speaking, Should I Hit That Mute Button?
One of the biggest rules in Zoom etiquette is to always mute yourself if you are not speaking, or when a large number of participants are in the meeting. This rule is not as critical If the meeting has five people or less. Basically, if you can see everyone on the call, you can have a conversation as if you're all in the same room. If you can't, then you need to lean into the remoteness of it and mute.
Be sure to keep an eye out for our Deep Dive Video Series on “How To Lead Effective Virtual Meetings” coming soon to our Youtube channel.
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