LET’S ZOOM!

If you don’t already have Zoom installed, go to https://zoom.us/ to create an account and install zoom on your computer (the basic version is free!). If you plan to use Zoom with your team, go ahead and have them create an account so you’re all using the same platform. 

Once it’s been installed, you can easily drag it to your desktop or dock. It will ask you to log in, and you’ll see a screen that looks like this: 

Zoom’s support page has a lot of great resources, but if you’re a newbie it can be a little intimidating. Here are some basic navigation functions to help you get started:

1. New Meeting: This is a quick-start way to jump on a video meeting with someone. Once you’ve clicked the New Meeting button, you’ll begin a video call. Click the taskbar at the bottom to navigate your meeting:

• Unmute your microphone so you can talk to others .
• Start the video button so others can see your face.
• Use the Invite button to invite your team to join you.
• Share your computer screen with attendees - great for showing someone how to specifically do something.
• Use the chat feature to send links to one another during the meeting.
• Record the meeting if you’d like.
• Use reactions to show emotions in real-time.
• End the meeting using the red End Meeting button on the right. 

2. Join: If someone sends you a meeting invite, you can quickly join using the Meeting ID.

3. Schedule: Schedule reoccurring meetings using this feature. Select the topic, date and time, and plug it right into your calendar! 

4. Chat: Quickly chat back and forth with your team members individually or as a group. You can share screenshots, files and emojis with one another. 

5. Meetings: View all of your upcoming scheduled meetings. 

6. Contacts: Find contacts and organize them into groups (ie: finance or social media team). 

7. Profile: First things first, go ahead and add in your profile picture (this makes it easy to see who is who). On your profile, you can set your account to Available, Away or Do Not Disturb so your team can be respectful of your schedule by knowing if you’re available to chat/video or not.  

8. Settings: This is where you’ll make all of your technical adjustments. Our favorite feature? The “touch up my appearance” feature under the video tab! 

MAKE YOUR ZOOM MEETINGS AWESOME

Luckily, for those of us who are new to virtual meetings, Stephana has compiled her favorite tips for making your Zoom meetings a great experience for the whole team. 

• Before jumping right into the meeting topic, be sure to take a minute to catch up first! If someone's cat/dog/child walks into frame, don’t be afraid to say hello!

• My friend Sherri would Zoom me when baby deer would walk in her yard in rural Utah. That was all she called to show me, but sharing video or information other than work/projects made us feel closer despite the physical distance (and didn't meet in person until we'd known each other for 2 years!).

• We had "Coffee Talk" - this was our morning huddle. We'd all be on video drinking coffee/tea and take 15-30 mins to catch up and then talk about project statuses. If you can connect with your team each morning, it fills the void of greeting each other in the office. The point of this is to have some fun with it. Seeing "coffee talk" on your calendar will make you smile every morning.

• Before you call someone on Zoom, send them a quick message to make sure they're free. They might be deep in a project but forgot to turn their "do not disturb" on. 

• If you do put on Do Not Disturb, don't forget to turn it off! You can use the timer function to help with that. 

• You can download the Zoom app on your phone so you don’t miss any important messages when you’re out walking the dog!

If working remotely is your normal environment, what are your favorite tips? Share them with us at [email protected].

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES

We will continue working to fulfill our mission of improving the quality of life in our community by providing information, resources and support to you. 

If there's something specific you'd like us to cover, let us know!

In the meantime, here are some great virtual resources available to you during this time:

• Free Virtual SCI Workshop: "Leading Change in Times of Uncertainty + Disruption" LIVE with expert Kristie Tobias on April 7th, 2020.
  
  
• Online Learning Options:  As some organizations are asking employees to stay home and avoid large groups, a great way to keep your team engaged and give them the skills they need is to provide them with online training, accessible from wherever they are working.