Zoom Relaxed Principles/Expectations
BECTU Theatre Freelancers Branch
Last Updated Oct 2026
We welcome all people to our meetings – we would like disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent people to feel comfortable to attend without feeling the need to mask or push through discomfort. We ask that all of our members please take a couple of minutes to read through the below to understand the way we’ll run our meetings.
Etiquette
There’s no dress-code for meetings – please wear whatever you’re comfortable in.
We don’t expect you to have a perfect/‘professional’ background – you can come to the meeting from bed/sofa/garden/etc.
Feel free to have your camera on/off – you can switch whenever you like, there’s no expectation to have your camera on.
On Zoom calls people can overlap, or there can be pauses – we know these will happen and we welcome them – please attend our meetings in good faith and be kind when overlaps or pauses happen.
Accessibility:
Our Zoom calls will always have Captions enabled, so you’ll be able to read what is being discussed in real time.
Using microphone or chat will be treated equally in our calls – if a person puts a question in the chat, that question will not be preceded by questions said on-mic afterwards.
Please feel free to move as you need within meetings – you can stand, rock, stim, knit, etc.
Don’t feel any pressure to make eye contact (look at the camera), smile or nod throughout the meeting.
If you need someone to repeat themselves, or someone uses language or acronyms you don’t understand, please feel free to ask.
If you feel uncomfortable asking any questions or sharing with the whole group, please message the meeting host, or email the committee or Co-Chairs Abi or Joseph.
Introductions:
Theatre Freelancers Branch Co-Chairs will introduce themselves at the start of the meeting and will mention any Officials and Committee Members in attendance. Members do not have to introduce themselves in All Member Meetings.
Schedule/Breaks:
Where meetings are scheduled to last over an hour, we will take breaks.
For meetings over 1 hour and under 2 hours, we will take a 15 minute break around halfway through.
For meetings over 2 hours, more breaks will be taken, including a full hour for lunch (where necessary).
If you need to take a break outside of the allotted break times, please feel free to – if possible message to let the meeting host know.
During breaks we ask that all members turn their cameras and mics off, so no one taking their break is missing out on conversation.
We understand meetings may occur during members’ work breaks, so please feel free to eat. However if you are eating, always mute your mic.
Raised hands
If a show of hands (a vote) is called for in a meeting, please either raise your hand on camera, or digitally raise a hand via the react buttons. Please let us know if you are uncertain how to digitally raise your hand.
If you’d like to speak, please digitally raise your hand. This ensures we can keep track of the order people raised hands.
Overall
Our agenda will have been emailed to all members in advance of meetings – we will attempt to stick to the order of the meeting written in the agenda.
If you experience technical issues on the call, please let us know.
If you have any questions, please get in touch – we’re aware this doc may not include everything,so let us know if there’s anything we should add.