Online Annual Meetings
Many UU congregations are beginning to think about how to do an online annual meeting. The UUA has created a helpful page for this at https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/voting-online. However, as someone who ran the online voting for the offsite participants at the UU Ministers Association's annual meetings for several years, I have some additional advice.
Voting Methods
Zoom Polling: Those who are using Zoom as a platform for meetings and worship services will have noticed that Zoom has a "polling" feature. The advantage of this is it's integrated with Zoom, Zoom will save your results, and the results can be shared easily in the meeting. There are some disadvantages to using Zoom polling, however, as well. One disadvantage is that if two members in a household are sharing a screen, they will only get one vote. With the prevalence of smart phones, this may be minimal, and you could ask for a roll call of vote. Another disadvantage is that Zoom only allows 25 motions per meeting. For most congregations, I suspect that is enough. However, if you have something that people may want to make amendments upon amendments on and call the question about and so on, you may need to have plans for a secondary method in place. Another thing to note is that you'll have to sign into the meeting early to set up your polls. The host (or maybe the co-host) has to be the one running the polls, as well. And, of course, people on phone will be unable to vote.
Other Polling Platforms or Forms: There are a lot of companies that provide online polling options, each for a price. What we used at the UUMA was Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere unfortunately is a yearly and not monthly subscription, so for your average congregation the price is going to be higher than you wish. (Although they are offering a 90-day COVID-19 free subscription for educators. If you consider yourself an educational institution, or you have an educator who wants to create an account, then you're all set.) This will still require everyone in your Zoom meeting to be voting from a separate device. Advantages over Zoom Polling are that you can vote from a device that has internet but not Zoom capability, and you're better able to divide the Zoom hosting functions from the poll-creating functions, in terms of volunteers managing the meeting.
Since I know Poll Everywhere the best, I'll describe how it works, and assume that other online polling platforms work similarly. What happens in Poll Everywhere is that you create your vote with its multiple choice options (yes/no/abstain), and then you get a link for that vote. You open the poll for responses, and then the link can be pasted into the chat box of Zoom or livestream, or Youtube or Facebook (although you'll want to make sure only your members have access to the vote). The results can be displayed through a "share screen" as they're coming in.
Zoom Raising Hands: Using the "raise hand" feature in Zoom is actually a pretty appealing method. Raised hands jump to the top of the participants list, and can be easily counted. However, this has the same disadvantage as Zoom polling, in that folks on shared screens can only be counted once, especially if they have a divided vote. You could, however, designate certain other symbols in Zoom to indicate two votes from a household on a particular measure. The disadvantage is that people on some devices may have difficulty finding the "raise hand" feature. But it does allow folks on the phone to vote with a *9.
Raising Hands: Raising your hands the old-fashioned way with your acutal hand is surprisingly a very doable method in Zoom for congregations whose annual meeting might number under 150 or so. Simply ask folks to raise their hands, and scroll through the screens and count your votes. It can work. It takes a little time, but less than you would think. A roll call vote also allows you to take the time to invite the folks calling in by phone to vote, calling them out one phone number at a time. It's time-consuming but very doable. People need to know to keep those hands raised until you say to lower them. Mute everyone while you do this, so people's boxes on Zoom won't change their order on you while you're counting!
Roll Call: Hey, if it still works in Congress to have a roll call vote, it can work for your congregation! This is time-consuming, but the easiest, particularly for a small quorum number in your meeting. People can give a yea/nay vote pretty quickly.
Advice for Your Meeting
Motions: If you're using an electronic polling method, since you want to have the polls lined up in advance with the wording already spelled out, it helps if someone has the exact wording for the motions and is pre-arranged to make your motions. This limits the on-the-fly editing your poll creator will have to do. Encourage people to make their motions in writing, by typing them into the chat box. This slows things down in a helpful way, and helps eliminate confusion.
Slow It Down: Some congregations have a history of people getting impatient in business meetings, and people being quick to call the question. The congregation needs to be educated that a meeting online must necessarily be different. Votes will take a little while, and we need to be patient. Allowing for people's technology problems and the lag time that may happen between screens means we can't jump to call the question. It also means motions upon motions upon motions will be even more confusing than in in-person meetings. Talk to your congregation first about the fact that you'll simply not be using the "call the question" procedure, perhaps. Build in wait times after every vote to allow people to figure it out and the votes to be properly counted.
Line Up Volunteers: You need several additional volunteers to run an on-line business meeting. If you're using a polling system, you need someone opening and closing the votes and displaying them, as well as typing up new motions. If you're doing a hand-count method of some sort, you need one or two people at least assigned to do the counting and report the results. These folks will also be needed to determine your quorum.
Who Speaks: Using the "raise hand" feature in Zoom to have people be called on to speak for or against a motion limits the confusion of everyone trying to chime in at once. People pop to the top of the participant list in the order that they raised their hand, so this keeps it orderly.
Limit Chatting: The chat box needs to be used for motions, for voting, and for other business. Discourage folks using it to chat about their opinions or have side conversations.
Voting Methods
Zoom Polling: Those who are using Zoom as a platform for meetings and worship services will have noticed that Zoom has a "polling" feature. The advantage of this is it's integrated with Zoom, Zoom will save your results, and the results can be shared easily in the meeting. There are some disadvantages to using Zoom polling, however, as well. One disadvantage is that if two members in a household are sharing a screen, they will only get one vote. With the prevalence of smart phones, this may be minimal, and you could ask for a roll call of vote. Another disadvantage is that Zoom only allows 25 motions per meeting. For most congregations, I suspect that is enough. However, if you have something that people may want to make amendments upon amendments on and call the question about and so on, you may need to have plans for a secondary method in place. Another thing to note is that you'll have to sign into the meeting early to set up your polls. The host (or maybe the co-host) has to be the one running the polls, as well. And, of course, people on phone will be unable to vote.
Other Polling Platforms or Forms: There are a lot of companies that provide online polling options, each for a price. What we used at the UUMA was Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere unfortunately is a yearly and not monthly subscription, so for your average congregation the price is going to be higher than you wish. (Although they are offering a 90-day COVID-19 free subscription for educators. If you consider yourself an educational institution, or you have an educator who wants to create an account, then you're all set.) This will still require everyone in your Zoom meeting to be voting from a separate device. Advantages over Zoom Polling are that you can vote from a device that has internet but not Zoom capability, and you're better able to divide the Zoom hosting functions from the poll-creating functions, in terms of volunteers managing the meeting.
Since I know Poll Everywhere the best, I'll describe how it works, and assume that other online polling platforms work similarly. What happens in Poll Everywhere is that you create your vote with its multiple choice options (yes/no/abstain), and then you get a link for that vote. You open the poll for responses, and then the link can be pasted into the chat box of Zoom or livestream, or Youtube or Facebook (although you'll want to make sure only your members have access to the vote). The results can be displayed through a "share screen" as they're coming in.
Zoom Raising Hands: Using the "raise hand" feature in Zoom is actually a pretty appealing method. Raised hands jump to the top of the participants list, and can be easily counted. However, this has the same disadvantage as Zoom polling, in that folks on shared screens can only be counted once, especially if they have a divided vote. You could, however, designate certain other symbols in Zoom to indicate two votes from a household on a particular measure. The disadvantage is that people on some devices may have difficulty finding the "raise hand" feature. But it does allow folks on the phone to vote with a *9.
Raising Hands: Raising your hands the old-fashioned way with your acutal hand is surprisingly a very doable method in Zoom for congregations whose annual meeting might number under 150 or so. Simply ask folks to raise their hands, and scroll through the screens and count your votes. It can work. It takes a little time, but less than you would think. A roll call vote also allows you to take the time to invite the folks calling in by phone to vote, calling them out one phone number at a time. It's time-consuming but very doable. People need to know to keep those hands raised until you say to lower them. Mute everyone while you do this, so people's boxes on Zoom won't change their order on you while you're counting!
Roll Call: Hey, if it still works in Congress to have a roll call vote, it can work for your congregation! This is time-consuming, but the easiest, particularly for a small quorum number in your meeting. People can give a yea/nay vote pretty quickly.
Advice for Your Meeting
Motions: If you're using an electronic polling method, since you want to have the polls lined up in advance with the wording already spelled out, it helps if someone has the exact wording for the motions and is pre-arranged to make your motions. This limits the on-the-fly editing your poll creator will have to do. Encourage people to make their motions in writing, by typing them into the chat box. This slows things down in a helpful way, and helps eliminate confusion.
Slow It Down: Some congregations have a history of people getting impatient in business meetings, and people being quick to call the question. The congregation needs to be educated that a meeting online must necessarily be different. Votes will take a little while, and we need to be patient. Allowing for people's technology problems and the lag time that may happen between screens means we can't jump to call the question. It also means motions upon motions upon motions will be even more confusing than in in-person meetings. Talk to your congregation first about the fact that you'll simply not be using the "call the question" procedure, perhaps. Build in wait times after every vote to allow people to figure it out and the votes to be properly counted.
Line Up Volunteers: You need several additional volunteers to run an on-line business meeting. If you're using a polling system, you need someone opening and closing the votes and displaying them, as well as typing up new motions. If you're doing a hand-count method of some sort, you need one or two people at least assigned to do the counting and report the results. These folks will also be needed to determine your quorum.
Who Speaks: Using the "raise hand" feature in Zoom to have people be called on to speak for or against a motion limits the confusion of everyone trying to chime in at once. People pop to the top of the participant list in the order that they raised their hand, so this keeps it orderly.
Limit Chatting: The chat box needs to be used for motions, for voting, and for other business. Discourage folks using it to chat about their opinions or have side conversations.
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