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🎥 We use Zoom for almost all of our meetings. You may also choose to use a “Slack Huddle” or a phone call, and those are welcome but more rare.

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What is Zoom used for?

• Scheduled meetings, such as 1:1s, or team standups
• Impromptu discussions that would be easier to talk out than type due to complexity.

Meeting Etiquette:

Before the meeting:

• When possible, use a shared document (usually a Paper doc) with an agenda, and for note-taking. (In larger meetings, consider asking for a volunteer to take notes, or rotating if it’s a standing meeting.)
• If you’re inviting some teammate(s) for an impromptu discussion, please provide as much context as possible. For example: What is the topic? Why is it a meeting instead of a Campsite post? Is it urgent? Is there anything the participants should read in advance to have more context to make the meeting more efficient?

On Zoom:

• We are generally a video-on culture. This helps us hold more effective and efficient meetings; body language helps with smoother speaker transitions and allows participants to react without speaking (like by nodding). More importantly, it helps us connect as a remote team when we can see each other’s faces.
  • For one-off exceptions, it’s fine to turn your video off and share a sentence or two with the group about why you’ve done so. For example: feeling under the weather but choosing to join the meeting, feeding a baby, driving or walking, or any case in which the background might be distracting for the rest of the folks in the zoom.
• Stay un-muted whenever possible. This helps the meeting feel less like a presentation and more of like conversation.
  • Exceptions include: larger meetings that are more like presentations (for example, All Hands events), or a situation with background noise like a coffee shop or a barking dog. Of course, in that case, please mute your microphone to avoid interrupting the discussion.
• We welcome you to share your (messy) room and life with us, or choose a neutral background, like having your back to a wall. Generally, we don’t use artificial backgrounds or blurred backgrounds, as these can be distracting in their own way. (Exceptions are fine as one-off occasions! No explanation needed. We just prefer that this isn’t the norm.)
• Use headphones when possible. This moves your microphone closer to your mouth, which makes it easier for Zoom to determine who is talking.

Facilitating:

• If a meeting is larger than 6 people or so, choose a facilitator beforehand to create an agenda and keep the meeting on track.

Transparency for Zoom Calls:

Transparency of Zoom calls