Using Zoom for Virtual Troop Meetings
If you’ve set up a virtual troop meeting sometime in the past few years, chances are you’ve used Zoom to do it. Technology is a real boon in helping us stay connected! If you can’t have an in-person meeting, your troop will likely appreciate being able to still connect virtually. On the flip side, technology also has its own challenges. However, with some navigating, you can steer clear of those pitfalls and ensure a positive experience for everyone—read on for best practices for holding a troop meeting on Zoom.
Zoom 101
Setting up a Zoom meeting is relatively simple. You’ll have to sign up for a Zoom account first. After you’ve authenticated your account, follow the instructions on our one-pager to set up a virtual troop meeting. One of the perks of Zoom is that you don’t have to download anything in order to use it; participants just need to click on the link you send them to join the meeting.
Safety First
As with any Girl Scout-related activity, safety should be paramount. Make sure that Girl Scouts and guardians have read through and signed the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge before participating in any online meetings or events. Here are a few additional safety tips when using Zoom:
Use Zoom safety settings. When setting up your meeting, remember to check your settings to ensure your meeting is accessible only to you and your troop.
Password protect your meeting. Enable the password requirement to join your meeting and only share the password with troop participants.
Use the virtual waiting room feature. This enables you to admit individual participants into the meeting and controls who can and can’t be admitted.
Enlist a co-host. You can promote a co-leader or another registered adult volunteer to the co-host position. This gives that adult the same meeting privileges and controls as you, the host. Your co-host can then moderate the chat box and do some general management so you can concentrate on leading the actual meeting.
Change usernames. Once they’re in the meeting, encourage everyone to rename themselves so only their first name shows up on the screen. (Alternatively, if you’re comfortable, they can assign themselves nicknames—a perfect time to use their camp names!)
Remember Your Audience: Program Grade Level Tips
Girl Scouts will inevitably have different comfort levels and experiences with using virtual tools to engage with others. Ability and savviness with technology often correspond with age, so here are some additional things to keep in mind when working with different program grade levels:
Younger Girl Scouts (Daisy–Junior)
Girl Scouts this age tend to have shorter attention spans, so keep meeting duration on the shorter side. Zoom’s basic plan lets you host a forty-minute meeting for free, which might be the ideal length for younger troops.
Use a simple background or blur it. When you’re not physically present, it’s easier for Girl Scouts to get distracted when they’re just staring at a screen. A relatively blank background helps them stay focused on what you’re saying and asking them to do.
Ask for an adult to be present. Girl Scouts may need assistance (with technology or with general instructions), so it’s helpful to have a parent or guardian with her to step in when necessary.
Older Girl Scouts (Cadette–Ambassador)
Keep it Girl Scout-led. Just because your meetings have moved to a new platform doesn’t mean that they need to forfeit leading their troop activities. Can your Girl Scouts take charge of choosing a badge and creating a plan to earn it? Then let them go for it!
Decide on virtual meeting length. Although their attention spans may be longer, your older troop may or may not want to meet for your regular meeting time. They can alternate longer meetings (potentially up to the 90-minute mark) with shorter meetings (30–40 minutes). Come up with a schedule and time frame that’s most appealing to your troop.
Remember to allow time for simply checking-in and “hanging out.” At in-person meetings, Girl Scouts this age like to spend some time catching up and simply chatting together. It’s no different in a virtual setting. Starting or ending your meetings with a troop hangout can continue to fill this social need.
Keep Everyone Engaged
When you’re not there in person, it can be a little more difficult to ensure the activities you’ve planned are meeting everyone’s individual needs. Try to vary your program to include everyone:
Some Girl Scouts may be more comfortable speaking up on a virtual call than others. Try an icebreaker question at the start of each meeting to give each person a chance to talk. Think of this as your opening circle time. Instead of going around the circle to share, have each participant “popcorn pass” to another troop member after they have shared to keep the conversation going.
Use the breakout room feature to do pair-and-share or small group conversations. Younger troops may need an adult also assigned in each breakout room to help guide and monitor the conversation, while older Girl Scouts should be okay their own. As the host, you can hop between breakout rooms to see how each group is doing.
While you may have been able to zip through activities and badge work in a regular in-person meeting, the flow of activities will likely change when you move to the digital realm. Some badges lend themselves better to virtual meetings than others. Keep an eye out for the digital Wi-Fi symbol on certain badge activities on the Volunteer Toolkit. That means that those meeting plans have adaptations included to use during a virtual meeting.
Virtual meetings might take a bit more time and planning to make work, but any troop connection is better than none!
