Virtual Meetings

Committees, including the Executive Board, should be meeting every 1-2 weeks to discuss necessary adjustments to their area of operations and planning for the upcoming 3-6 months. The chapter should continue meeting weekly to check-in with everyone, allow officers to provide pertinent updates in their area of operations, and vote on any business matters of the chapter. Yes, chapter decisions can still be made and voted upon when meeting virtually.

However, the chapter should not engage in the use of Ritual when meeting virtually as it is not possible to seat everyone, in particular the officers, according to Ritual and to use the Ritual items as prescribed by the ceremony. Also, when using certain services, the meeting can be, and sometimes is automatic, recorded.

Tips for Leading Productive Virtual Meetings

- 5 Tips to Planning the Ultimate Virtual Meeting.
- The Ultimate Guide to Remote Meetings in 2020.
- Commit to a consistent meeting schedule.
- Set an agenda. Make sure to check-in with everyone - How are they holding up? Any funny stories to share? What’s been difficult?
- Use a meeting platform that allows video. Possible platforms include:

• Google Meet - Up to ten users can meet on-demand, or schedule through your Google calendar by adding “conferencing.”
• Skype offers similar features as Google, allowing ten or fewer users without paying for the business account.
• Zoom offers free video conferencing for up to 100 people. Calls are limited to 40 minutes with the free version, but it may be worth the $15/month in the chapter budget to upgrade the account with no such limitations. The General Fraternity has a limited number of Premium Account licenses available for free. Visit www.sigmanu.org/zoom to submit a request for one of these licenses. The Zoom “Breakout Rooms” function can be an effective tool to facilitate small group discussions as part of your meeting.
• FreeConferenceCall.com offers free conference call solutions for meetings by phone or by web, share your screen, and chat. Up to 1,000 call participants and up to 5 web participants with the free version.
• GoToMeeting is currently offering a 14-day free trial.
• Discord is a popular free meeting and communication platform in the gaming community that may meet the chapter’s needs.

- Ask participants to mute their phone/computer until they need to contribute to the meeting. Encourage participants to use the chat or “raise hand” feature for discussion.
- Conclude the meeting with a summary of key points and confirmation of agreed-upon next steps and goals.
- Keep meeting notes and share them afterward using a cloud storage system like Google Drive or Dropbox. Alert the chapter when the meeting notes are uploaded.
- As you begin using this new format, ask for feedback.