As lockdown eases we’ll all be glad to get back to face-to-face meetings with our units. Nothing beats the excitement of the first meeting back after school holidays, and the first meeting back after lockdown will be even better!

But for many units, online meetings over programmes like Zoom have become a really valuable way to stay connected. For some units, the odd Zoom meeting may still be a useful option at some point in the future - especially if the Welsh weather prevents an outdoor meeting you had planned!

For those of us who have been running online unit meetings, there are several things that we’ll have learnt about how to get the most from a Zoom meeting. In this blog, we’ll reflect on some of the most useful things we’ve learnt about running an online unit meeting…

1. The mute button should be treasured

How many of us have stood in the middle of a meeting with our hand in the air for what feels like a decade while our girls happily carried on enjoying their activity?!

We’ve all been there. But with the magic mute button, silence was simply a click away!

2. On-screen name badges are a delight

If you were lucky enough to gain some new members over the past year, learning names was never an issue! A neat little name badge in the corner of every screen meant there was never any excuse for confusing sisters or forgetting a nickname.. Another bonus? The badges never fell off during games or accidentally swapped - they just stayed still!

But on the other hand, it did mean learning the names of our parents as well as our girls! When you’re in charge of the waiting room, you’ve got to be on the ball to know who's who.

3. Repeat after me songs work best online

When it comes to an online meeting, it’s definitely easier to go with call and response songs, than those sung in unison. There’s nothing quite like watching all of your leaders desperately trying to keep everyone singing in time… in the end, it’s best just to give up. After all, you’ve all still sung the same song (albeit at different times, in different keys and at different speeds!). 

We learnt some fantastic songs from the Girlguiding Cymru Thinking Day campfire too.

4. The best filler activities are made from adapting games you would do in a face-to-face meeting

When we first started online meetings, filling the odd 5 minutes between activities could be as stressful as planning a main activity. But as time went on, I think we can all agree it’s the simple things that worked the best as a quick filler activity. Sending your girls on scavenger hunts, playing ‘my grandma’s pants’ or giving the girls a chance to share their news will never go amiss.

5. A Girlguiding meeting is still a Girlguiding meeting, regardless of where it’s held

Even though the world of Zoom and online meetings was new to many of us, we made it work! 

If you’d like to find out even more about online guiding, or perhaps you think the occasional online meeting may work for your unit in the future, take a look at our page on how to take guiding online.