Small groups meetings and video conferencing

Contacts between members are to be encouraged, indirectly through the internet forum,(Gd 4) but also through small groups when this is possible (Gd 4) Leaders will organize these internet contacts within a frequency which can vary between two and four weeks (video conferencing?). It is advisable to set themes and 'helm' the exchanges. (Gd 4) Overview For Board meetings, Exchange group meetings, Sacred listening and discernment direction meetings. In person meetings, usually will not be possible, because of the geographical distance separating members. Video conference meetings, are a rich means of communication. Silent typed meetings, might, in certain cases, have other particular advantages. You need to install Skype or/also Google talk An agenda should be prepared jointly and the final version emailed to all participants before a meeting. Templates of agendas  Board meeting Exchange group meeting Sacred listening and discernment direction meeting Planning a meeting  The planned frequency (for example: every two weeks or monthly) of group meetings, insure the healthy flow of it's services. It is invariable and predetermined. The official calendar of meetings is prepared before November 15, for the following year. Each meeting should be planned at least 2 weeks in advance and its final agenda then emailed to each participant so as to leave time for everyone to be prepared. The meeting itself Participants must have working audio-visual and be committed to being present at the start time and for the duration of the meeting. Using headphones is recommended, as it will prevent possible echoing of sound, insure a better perception of conversations and more privacy. If there are other people close around you during the video conference meeting, please definitely use headphones; and when not speaking, should your environment be noisy, please mute your microphone. Please turn off or silence all phones or devices that might be picked up by your microphone. Close or minimize programs and tabs on your computer screen in order to avoid distractions. Please find a comfortable location/position and stay basically in the same place, as extra movements can be distracting for the others in the group. This is a closed meeting. The meeting cannot not be recorded by someone, unless the permission to do so is granted by all participants. This fact must then be duly noted in the minutes report, with the reference link to the secure archived audio/video file. The audio/video file must always then remain private, not being accessible in any way to the general public, and must be duly deleted when it becomes no longer useful or necessary. All secure archiving of reports and files is realized following the instructions of the webmaster. The person presiding the meeting should be careful to encourage and permit all participants to express their comments or opinions. Participants should be careful to organize their thoughts in advance by praying and taking notes if necessary, and strive to exchange in a deep spirit of faith and of listening together communially for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Minutes are taken at each meeting by the secretary to be reported at the next meeting. Some suggested meeting introductory/conclusion prayers Sign of the cross To ask with Mary for the gifts of the Spirit : "O God, thou hast filled with the Holy Spirit the Blessed Virgin Mary when she prayed with the Apostles in the solitude of the Cenacle, let us love, we pray you, silence of the heart, so that by praying better, thus recollected, we deserve to be filled of the gifts of the Holy Spirit". (Marthe Robin) Our Father Hail Mary Glory be Our Lady of Good Counsel  R. Pray for us Saint Bruno  R. Pray for us Sign of the Cross At conclusion the sign of the cross is preceded by the following L. May the Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil. May he keep us faithful in his service. R. To Him be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. Templates of minutes reports Board meeting Exchange group meeting Sacred listening and discernment direction meeting Template of presences reports Template of treasurers financial reports Utility to customize the pdf templates Convert a PDF to Word Following up on a meeting Subjects are followed up at the next meeting. Minutes reports are approved and signed at the following meeting by the officers, and then securely archived by the secretary. Presence reports are securely archived. The treasurers financial reports are securely archived. Any copies of permitted audio/video recordings of meetings are securely archived, or deleted. All secure archiving of reports and files is realized following the instructions of the webmaster. You are invited to help log, identify and experience customs, by transmitting your comments and suggestions. Contact Horarium SBPCLC regular small group contacts Install Skype Setup Skype is a free, easy to use program, that can be easily downloaded from the internet. Open a Skype account and create a username and password Download Skype for your OS (Win/Mac) and install it on your computer Sign in to Skype Reference Open a Skype account Download Skype Skype security  Skype FAQ's Testing Skype A Skype tutorial Video conference meetings If you have access to the internet and a camera, you can use Skype to communicate with sound and vision in video conference meetings. Many computers have a webcam already built in, but if you need one, you can get them cheaply and easily, ready to plug and play. Using headphones is recommended as it will prevent possible echoing of sound, insure a better perception of conversations and more privacy. Skype Etiquette Skype makes it easier to exchange with others, but it also can make it easier to bother them, too. There's nothing worse than hearing a bunch of pings or getting an incoming video call when you're trying to get work done - or worse, when you're sharing your screen to give a presentation. Here are some tips on how to avoid awkward moments on Skype by having proper "Skype etiquette": Send an Introduction Prior to IMing If the person you're trying to reach isn't responding, it's not a conversation. The best way to start a Skype conversation is to first send a message asking if the person is free to chat. On the off-chance that they aren't, try to refrain from the tempting act of bombarding their window with messages and hitting the "Enter" button too frequently. For example, write complete sentences before hitting the enter button, so as to minimize any annoying pinging alert sound on your correspondent's computer, each time you hit the "Enter" button. Send a Note or Plan a Meeting Before Video Calling While Skype is a great way to stay in touch, it's important to note that your correspondents may be away from their desk or catching up on work. Sending them a quick note or planning a meeting before making a video call is an easy way to ensure that you aren't disrupting anyone. Be Aware of Your Surroundings When interviewing or conducting a business video call via Skype, remember that the viewer can see you and what's behind you. Tidy up and be aware of your surroundings before starting a video call. Go Easy on the Multitasking Give the person you're video calling your undivided attention. Just because you're on your computer and can easily read and send emails or surf the web while engaged on a video call doesn't mean that you should. Not only will the other person be able to tell if you seem otherwise distracted, but depending on the placement of your computer's microphone, the sound of your typing may come across as well. Silent typed meetings If video conference meetings take too long, involve too many people, do not produce clear decisions, or would take time away from completing "real" group work. There is an ingenious use of Skype to overcome meeting overload, dubbed "silent meetings". You may want to use Skype’s group chat feature to host meetings consisting of typed, real-time exchanges between participants, instead of conducting "talking" meetings (either in-person, or via audio or video calls video conference). Some of the benefits found from silent typed meetings     Quick, efficient and thoughtful swapping of information, ideas and updates     More democratized participation from senior, junior, introspective and extroverted team members     More accommodation for international participants, who might prefer quiet for odd-hour meetings, and who may not have lots of Internet bandwidth available     The transparency that comes from having a permanent, accurate meeting transcript If you’re interested in organizing silent typed meetings on Skype, here are a few best practices to help get you started     Create a group for the meeting, and give it a title that makes it easy to identify (such as "xyz Board meeting" or "xyz Exchange group meeting" or  "xyz Sacred Listening and discernment direction meeting"). Do this by clicking on the Create A Group link on your Skype client.     Share the meeting agenda in advance, and ask participants to draft relevant updates prior. During the meeting, members can simply drop those updates into the chat.     Clearly indicate decisions and to-dos by including specific phrases like "Action Item" or "Next Steps"     Encourage participants to take some discussions into "sidebar" one-on-one chats during the meeting, if those items don’t require full team participation.     Require that participants unable to attend the meeting alert the group in advance. Ask absent participants to provide updates to a colleague who can share them in the meeting, and have them review the transcript after the meeting. Join Google + and install Google voice and video call plugin Make a computer-to-computer voice or video call To start a voice and video chat you'll need to: Download the voice and video call plug-in, quit all open browser windows, and install the plug-in. Sign in to Gmail, Google+, iGoogle, orkut, or your Chrome OS device. Voice Calls If your contact has a camera icon next to their name in your Chat list, you can start a voice call with them. Simply select your contact from the chat list and in the Chat window that appears click the phone icon. Hangouts and 1:1 video chat If you’re using Chat in Gmail, iGoogle, orkut, Chrome OS, or Google+ you can start Hangouts directly from the Chat window. If you don’t have a Google+ account you can start or join a limited hangout, which only includes the option to hang out with 1 other person. If you’d like access to all Hangouts’ features including the ability to hang out with up to 9 people, share your screen, and use cool Hangouts’ apps, you can upgrade to a free Google+ account at plus.google.com. Google+ Hangouts lets you video call with one person or have a multiway video call with up to 9 other people. To start a hangout from Gmail, Google+, iGoogle, orkut, or Chrome OS simply: Select the contact you want to chat with in your Chat list. Click the Hangouts icon  at the top of the Chat window. Your contact will receive a Hangouts invite in their Chat window. Once they accept your invite, you both can start hanging out and even invite up to 8 more people to join you! When you start a hangout a post will appear in your stream but, the post will only be shared with the people who were invited to the hangout. In addition to starting a hangout from the Chat window, you can also start a hangout in Gmail by: Hovering over a contact in your chat list and selecting the Hangouts icon  on the profile card that appears. Clicking the Hangouts button  at the top of your Chat list. Receive a computer-to-computer voice or video call You can receive Google+ Hangouts invites and voice calls (from one computer to another) in Chat. Just download the Google voice and video call plugin and sign into Chat to get started. If you don’t have a Google+ account you can start or join a limited hangout, which only includes the option to hang out with 1 other person. If you’d like access to all Hangouts’ features including the ability to hang out with up to 9 people, share your screen, and use cool Hangouts’ apps, you can upgrade to a free Google+ account at plus.google.com. Whenever someone calls you in chat, you’ll hear a sound notification and a chat window will appear. To answer a voice call, click the Answer button in the chat window or, click Join Hangout to accept your hangout invite. You can ignore the call by clicking the Ignore button. If you miss your call, don't worry. The chat window will open, with a message saying who attempted to call you. Your contacts can still place calls to you even if you have a status of Busy. You cannot opt out of taking voice or video calls while still receiving normal text chats.