Meetings

How do I decide on the most effective and equitable format for my meeting?

We will support online and in-person meetings and consider both formats to be effective and equitable. The most appropriate format for any given meeting will be determined by a combination of what you are trying to achieve from the meeting, how many people are attending, the dynamic working arrangements of attendees and in some cases the personal circumstances of attendees. Wherever possible you are encouraged to arrange either fully in-person or fully on-line meetings. Hybrid meetings, that require interaction, should be used sparingly as they are resource intensive to run effectively and equitably.

View good practice advice for holding effective meetings.

How do I make sure MSTeams meetings work effectively for all participants?

View good practice advice for holding effective meetings.

Some simple top tips include:

  • Establish etiquette guidelines: Agree a system to give everyone a voice. Use the ‘hands up’ functionality to agree who speaks next and use chat function to allow everyone to contribute if they feel more comfortable doing this.
  • Use names and give context: When responding to chat comments, repeat the relevant remarks and make clear who you’re responding to. Don’t just say ‘Yes, Jane that’s right’ because others may not have seen Jane’s comment and it won’t make sense to them.
  • Engage participants regularly: It’s hard to simply listen online for a long time. Invite participants to give comments or ask questions, and use tools like chat, reactions or polls.
  • Ensure that participants have adequate equipment and Wi-Fi connection to engage in the MSTeams meeting. This might mean some participants joining online from campus rather than a home location.
  • Ensure that participants, especially those joining online from campus are doing so from an appropriate space/are using headphones to reduce background noise.
  • Keep slides simple and visual: wordy slides which may be difficult to read, especially if someone is joining from a mobile device.
  • Follow up/check with participants to see what they thought worked/didn’t work. We are still in a learning phase, so we need to keep things, constantly

How can I tell where other colleagues are working on a particular day so I can arrange meetings?

Colleagues working dynamically will be required to clearly mark their planned location of work in their Outlook calendars and make this element generally accessible. Guidance on how to do this will be provided before the 1st of October.

If my manager decides a meeting is in person and I am planning to work remotely at all the potential times, would I be obliged to come in? 

If your manager has determined that the most effective format for a meeting is in-person then it is expected that attendees will attend in person. However, where attending in person presents problems, it is reasonable for you to request an online meeting instead and the manager should consider that request in light of the circumstances surrounding the request. Ultimately, if the manager has determined that in-person is the most effective format for the purpose of the meeting, then that will need to be adhered to. 

Where can people go to have online meetings whilst on-campus, especially if you work in an open plan office or are hot-desking?

Some additional meeting areas will be available, but colleagues will also be able to take some meetings from their desks using the headsets available from ITS.Guidance on etiquette for holding MSTeams calls in open plan will be provided.

If/when we move to reduce desk space what happens on days when we have face-to-face team meetings where all the team are present?

As part of the rationalisation of desk space, central hot desks will be made available which staff could utilise on such occasions.  We will also investigate meeting spaces which staff can use in a flexible way. A pilot is planned for Phase 1 to inform our thinking further.

Will the facilities exist to allow confidential MSTeams meetings?

Yes, meeting rooms can be booked in the normal way.

Given that hybrid meetings are sometimes necessary (e.g., with international partners), will we be investing in hybrid meetings rooms or hybrid meeting technology?

We have so far invested in upgrading 38 rooms across campus with screens, high-quality microphones and speakers to allow hybrid meetings of limited size to take place.  Further piloting of and investment in hybrid meeting technology will be considered in due course.

However, hybrid meetings are resource intensive and need to be carefully facilitated to ensure that all attendees feel included and able to participate. Therefore it is recommended that hybrid meetings should be used sparingly. Where critical participants are unable to attend in person, it is probably better to hold the meeting online.

Will we have an institutional license for Zoom given that our external partners use this platform most often?

The University does not have a licence for Zoom and the preferred communication tools is Microsoft Teams. You are able to join Zoom calls from University-managed computers but should not purchase subscriptions in order to administer Zoom calls for work purposes.