How To End A Virtual Meeting
I have attended virtual meetings where the host declares the meeting over and abruptly turns off the online connection. In my opinion, that reflects badly on the organization’s hospitality.
At the end of a movie, the theater manager does not turn off the lights in the auditorium. Instead, the house lights come up. Everyone now knows the movie is over
I recommend a graceful closure for hybrid meetings: Move everyone back to the waiting room and disable the participants’ ability to disrupt this process.
It means more work for the admin (us), but I think it’s worth it. Here are the steps I suggest:
[ Start ]
In the Chatbox, announce that the meeting is over and “Participants are being put back in the waiting room.”
[ Plan A ]
(Stilletto Method)
- In the Zoom Security tab:
- Lock the Meeting (Check Box)
- Enable the Waiting Room (Check Box)
- Turn off “Share Screen” (Uncheck)
- Turn off “Chat” (Uncheck) This prevents participants from trying to stop the meeting from ending
- Turn off “Unmute Themself” (Uncheck) Then mute everyone who has an open microphone.
- This should take less than 15 seconds.
[ Plan B ]
(Broadsword Method)
- In the Zoom security tab: Click on Suspend Participant Activities.
- This is traditionally the admin’s Panic Button when everything online turns into chaos. This turns off all participant’s video, audio, Zoom Apps, and ability to share their screen. This also locks the meeting to prevent participants from joining.
[ Finish ]
In the Participants Box, start moving everyone to the “Waiting Room.”