Page 16 - Nov/Dec 2020 Vol 38 No 5

TECHNOLOGY
Google and Zoom and Slack, Oh My!
Months ago, did you imagine that,
by autumn this year, we’d still be
social distancing and meeting via
teleconferencing platforms?
Me neither. I was sure we’d be back
“in-person” again by now. But….
Events, meetings and conferences
haven’t looked the same since the
COVID-19 guidelines and social
distancing measures were “highly
suggested” for many of us. And health
officials warn the current “usual” winter
flu season may be complicated by the
specter of a possible second tough round
of the COVID-19 flu, forming what some
call a possible “twindemic,” overlapping
epidemics of both COVID-19 and the
“regular” yearly influenza. No one knows
for sure.
Over the past few months, many of us
have attended some type of virtual event,
whether it be a work or team meeting,
church service, family gathering or even
happy hour. We’ve been on a variety of
virtual platforms with funny names,
such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Slack,
Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and Go-
to-Meeting, to name a few of the most
popular.
It’s Not Always Smooth Sailing
The brave new virtual world is upon
us, and trial and error has been rampant
for all involved as we try to get used to
“not meeting in person.” For example:
• Finicky software platforms (requiring
specific browsers) can be prone to
“freezing”
• Slow internet connections can “super
slo-mo” the meeting on your screen
(requiring a refresh, or restart)
• Glitches with incompatible software
can halt a speaker’s presentation in
mid-sentence
• And sometimes family members or
pets appear at inopportune times,
walking into the frame or right behind
you during the meeting, causing
distraction. Who’s seen those funny
commercials or YouTube videos?
Yet, For All the Technology Glitches,
Several “Truths” Have Emerged
• Virtual meetings can be run efficiently,
eliminating those drives from meeting
16 TPW November/December 2020
to meeting, so that you have a little
extra time in your workday.
• Virtual meetings can speed some work
efficiencies in “getting everyone on the have a private (typed) conversation with
same page” for larger gatherings where
the “size of the conference room” is no
longer a deciding factor.
• Virtual meetings (such as Zoom)
offer the “recording” option, so that
if you weren’t able to attend, OR if
you’re taking the meeting minutes,
you can access the meeting’s recording
afterwards (usually if you were
registered for the meeting in the first
place). It’s a great function for double
checking your own notes or to find out
“just who” said “what.”
All virtual meeting platforms aren’t
created equally, so here’s a quick
rundown of some of the most popular
platforms (and uses) we’ve seen over the
last few months and how they’re being
used.
In Public Works, Connecting Virtually
With Co-workers (and to) the Team
Team meetings, division meetings,
even TCAPWA branch meetings…folks
seem to be Zooming everywhere. It’s not
the same as exchanging handshakes, of
course, but it’s better than nothing.
In a Zoom Meeting, lots of options
exist for interaction, from the (optional) Zoom call from almost any popular
“Raise Hand” function to alert the host
Compiled by Lisa Hood Skinner
that you have a question, to the “Chat”
column where you can choose to address
everyone else who might be on Chat, (or
someone while the speaker is talking).
Zoom’s connectivity and simple use has
skyrocketed its popularity. The person
hosting the call is the only one that needs
to have the software program installed.
That means the Zoom call recipients can
access the call in a number of different
ways, joining from a PC, Mac, iPad,
iPhone and Android device.
If you don’t want your face (or
anything in your background) to appear
on any screen, you have several options
from selecting a custom screen, or simply
making sure the red “Stop Video” button
on the lower left of the software has a red
line going through it. Does your puppy
bark loudly and randomly? Make sure
you’re muted, (mute is next to the video
button)(preferably mute before joining
the meeting) and no one has to know the
pup’s in the room.
Zoom Providing Oversight In the Field…
Literally
That simplicity of connecting to a
electronic device is what’s driving its ease
of use on construction and work sites
“in the field.” Because the call recipient
doesn’t have to have Zoom software, the