Using online meetings for job continuance

Before last year, only a handful of us had a fair experience with online meetings.  Conferences, Church services, family reunions, fitness classes, lectures, court sessions, interviews, Annual General Meetings and weddings were all physical attendance affairs.

Then Covid-19 pandemic hit resulting in a lockdown in March 2020. With most workplaces shutdown, companies hopped onto the various virtual platforms in a bid to continue operations somehow.  

Ashraf Kakaire, an implementer of youth empowerment activities through debate and dialogue at Open Space Centre made the best of online meetings during the lockdown last year.His team ran a leadership curriculum; Ready to stand, ready to vote with young people in Kampala, Wakiso and Gulu. 

These were mainly youth with political aspirations that could not attend have physical meetings. With the elections looming, the only viable option was meeting virtually for training. “We had two hours to engage the participants in the presentations every day during the lockdown,” says Kakaire.

Kakaire says Zoom can allow up to 100 participants, a session of 45 minutes at no cost but because their programme had more than 350 participants they had to pay an annual fee of about $145 for their engagements.

For mobilasation the centre relied on WhatsApp groups. “We needed to communicate to let people know about the time for classes and share the Zoom links,” he adds. They managed to have a successful programme facilitated by Zoom. 

Other platforms
While Zoom has become a popular platform, there are many others that can be used for online conferencing including Skype, Google Meet, Blue Jeans, Microsoft Teams and Webex among others. According to Alexa, an online ranking website, Zoom is the third most visited website in Uganda. Today, it has been downloaded more than 500 million times. It fosters active participation through its features like the recording tool, chat tool, raising hand alert, break-out rooms and does not require an app to use unlike the others. 

Successful online meeting
This is what you need to know as a host or attendees for an online meeting to be successful.  

Sufficient data bundles
 With online meetings, we move away from transport costs and embark on data charges. Know your device and how much data usage it takes to avoid getting off before completion of the meeting.
When using a phone on a Zoom call, one would need about 1.5 GB for two-three hours. The data could cost about Shs7,000-Shs 10,000 depending on the service provider.

Reliable internet connection
Online meetings require preparation which goes as far as looking out for one’s internet connectivity. In an environment where there is unreliable internet connection, Zoom performance can be affected. The video can become static and the audio choppy. Using Wi-Fi is often better than a cellular connection. Plan ahead by choosing a location where you can use fast and reliable internet. 

Battery power 
Being a gadget operation app, your battery power is essential during an online meeting.
Shafik Mutebi, former student of Photography attended Photography Zoom classes with Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA) during the 2020 lockdown and was using his mobile phone. Some classes ran for three to four hours which was frustrating when his battery died in the middle of the classes.  

Compatible gadget
Online meetings collect a number of people. Some people’s gadgets are not compatible with the Zoom App. Meeting hosts can consider connecting the Zoom calls to the Facebook live feature so that participants can follow and comment. 

Challenges
Although zoom is popular, it is not without faults.  Dr Sara Namusoga-Kaale, a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Communication- Makerere University, Kampala has had to adapt to Zoom to hold classes with her students. She says, there is this awkward silence most of the time with Zoom.  “Because of the internet connectivity issues, people’s cameras are off.

If you are lucky, the students will use the chat facility to chat with you, so you are always asking, can you hear me? Can you see my screen? There is also the other side of teaching practical classes that is made impossible,” Dr Kaale says. 

She therefore advises hosts to be creative, “For example, you need to include other digital platforms to break the monotony. You could use the Google jam board to get students’ opinion on an issue being discussed in class. You could also use Menti to run polls and quizzes et cetera. You need to be creative.” 

Uninvited guests
Sharing Zoom meeting credentials or links is a security risk. Anyone could hack into a Zoom meeting. This is especially dangerous for companies sharing confidential information. In this case, it is important to share links for closed meetings to the email addresses of participants. 

Not very inclusive
Zoom does not have inclusive features for all the categories of Persons With Disability (PWD’s) like the deaf. The host thus has to think out of the box.  Kakaire’s Open Space Centre youth empowerment classes included PWD’s. The sign language interpreter who had prior been introduced in a WhatsApp group would be part of the call and his video would be kept on during the zoom classes.