Communications - Virtual and Hybrid Meetings - Extension Best Practices
Whether in-person, fully virtual, or a hybrid meeting, it is important that we be intentional in making meetings inclusive through the adoption of best practices that align with both our Extension mission and our core values for successful meetings.
Core Values for Successful Meetings
Equity: All invitees are welcome and have the opportunity to participate.
Inclusion: All participants are involved and feel, seen, heard, and valued.
Intention: Facilitators actively plan, set expectations, and manage toward successful outcomes.
Engagement: Participants actively contribute to the conversation and collaborative output.
Responsibility: All attendees have a responsibility for effective, productive, safe and secure hybrid meetings
Meeting Types and Outcomes
In addition to fully in-person meetings, Extension supports both fully virtual and hybrid meeting modalities.
Virtual meetings are when all meeting participants are not physically present in the same place. These meetings use technology to facilitate the running of the meeting, and may use a variety of tools from phone based teleconferences to full video conferencing tools such as WebEx, MS Teams, Google Meet or Zoom. The advantage of Virtual meetings is that all participants are joining and contributing to the meeting using the same platform.
Hybrid meetings are when two or more participants are physically present together in the same place and one or more participants are in a remote location. In general, hybrid meetings are difficult for both facilitators and remote attendees to manage and participate, so extra attention to details must be taken to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly and all participants can engage in the best way possible.
When evaluating meeting modality, consider how to balance effective and productive meetings with the ability to enable remote participation. Meeting size and activities may influence this. For example, for certain types of meetings, if a small minority of participants will be physically together and all others remote, consider if conducting the meeting fully remote can be effective and achieve the desired outcome. For some meetings, if all participants are physically on-site and able to meet in the same location, an in-person only meeting may be appropriate if that achieves the desired outcome.
The Division of Extension recommends the following best practices for employees who schedule virtual or hybrid meetings.
Introduction
- The following are virtual meeting best practices developed by the Office of Digital Solutions and Extension Human Resources along with input from the UW Madison ITCCC Workgroup on Hybrid Meetings.
- Employees scheduling virtual or hybrid meetings (e.g. Zoom) are encouraged to review these best practices and modify their calendar invites as appropriate.
- Employees are expected to follow Cybersecurity best practices as they relate to sharing meeting connection information and resources in a safe and secure manner.
Extension Meetings Best Practices
Shorten Meeting Length
- Shorter meetings result in transition and processing time between meetings.
- Meetings typically scheduled for 1 hour should be re-scheduled for 45-50 minutes to have time in between meetings.
- Leverage scheduling tools in Outlook to reschedule the duration of scheduled meetings.
Encourage Phone Only and Walking Meetings
- When the agenda topics allow, schedule meetings using the phone number options.
- For meetings that are scheduled with a phone number option, encourage meeting participants to walk or engage in other activities (that allow them to listen) while they are called in.
Encourage Meeting Best Practices
- Conduct meetings following best practices. Set agendas and have target meeting outcomes. When the agenda is finished and outcomes have been met, end the meeting.
- Communicate meeting best practices to staff through articles and other regular communications.
Organizing the Meeting
Plan for all meetings to potentially include remote participants wherever possible. Prior to the pandemic, and even with the return to campus, we had remote participants at many of our meetings. Remote options are now the rule, rather than the exception..
Know the purpose and intended outcomes of the meeting - can they be achieved through a hybrid meeting, or would another format work better? If the outcome can successfully be completed asynchronously, is the meeting necessary?
Carefully consider the time allocated for each agenda item, and the number of items on the agenda. Hybrid meetings may need more time for participants to react, be acknowledged, unmute their mike and generally participate.
Plan to start the technology (collaboration tools, video conference tools) in advance of the meeting, so that participants have the opportunity to test and correct their settings, and also allow for some social interactions before the meeting starts.
Allow a few minutes before the meeting starts, to account for participants who are switching from a previous meeting or having technical issues (start the meeting at 5 minutes after)
Consider ending the meeting early to allow time for participants to record notes and prepare for subsequent meetings.
Prepare and share meeting materials in advance. Make sure that there is enough lead time that meeting participants have a reasonable opportunity to review the material and prepare for the meeting. This is especially important for online/hybrid meetings where it is easy for participants to lose the thread of the conversation. Prepare a clear agenda that includes the expected outcome for each agenda item (discussion, announcement, vote, etc). When appropriate, share meeting materials using tools that allow concurrent editing and collaboration, so that participants can add their questions, comments and related information in advance for everyone to see. Consider using the same tools for “live” meeting notes, so that people can follow the discussion and contribute ideas, links, and comments in real-time.
Consider collaboration tools and ancillary technologies that will be used in the meeting ahead of time, and communicate this to all participants to ensure they will be able to access it during the meeting. Be intentional to include ways for shared ideating, such as a document viewable and accessible by all. Consider holding pre-meeting training sessions for tools that may not be familiar to participants.
Be intentional to ask about accessibility accommodations such as closed captioning in meeting invitations, as participants may be hesitant to advocate for their own needs.
Set expectations for participants and communicate these before the meeting.
If the room technology is not adequate for all in-person participants to be viewable on screen to remote participants, consider scheduling two meeting rooms on campus or having participants bring a laptop or other device (such as a cellphone) and have cameras on, with microphones muted, during the meeting.
Offer to test the conferencing technology with remote participants before the meeting to avoid any technical delays, and provide a backup phone teleconference number in case someone encounters technical difficulties.
Designate someone else to assist with facilitating the meeting, as hybrid meetings require more effort and production than fully in-person and remote. Decide in advance which role(s) each facilitator will be responsible for, including running the meeting and supporting attendee participation.
Effectiveness, equity and fairness are considerations that must be taken into account when organizing hybrid meetings. Meeting organizers and committees should openly discuss shared responsibilities in performing tasks such as room scheduling, platform selection, collaboration tools, facilitation, and technology operation.
Decide in advance if the meeting will be recorded, and notify attendees that a recording will be made.
Facilitating the Meeting
Remind all participants that there is hybrid participation, set the rules for engagement, and consider how best to be inclusive at the beginning of the meeting.
If a meeting is “close session” or contains sensitive information, be mindful that proper technical security controls are in place, such as using the video conferencing tool to lock the virtual room and/or remove uninvited attendees.
If the meeting is to be recorded, announce the start of recording prior to initiating.
All designated meeting facilitators should be intentional about reading and responding to the chat, and watching for raised hands of remote participants. One facilitator should be focused on monitoring chat, watching for raised hands, and supporting balanced participation.
Facilitators must ensure remote participants have opportunities to speak by including and calling on them, as it is more difficult for them to know when it is best to say what’s on their mind. In short, try to replicate what’s done in the physical room for remote attendees.
Participating
As someone who is present in-person
Be intentional to open spaces for conversation and engage remote participants to help them feel included in the meeting and outcome. Watch the chat space and remote participant engagements, such as raised hands.
Be visible on camera to remote participants, and when a remote participant is speaking, look into the camera.
As someone who is present in a remote location
Fully engage in the meeting by using the meeting and collaboration tools in the best way possible, including shared responsibilities for recording notes and ideas in a viewable space.
Wear a headset if possible when in large or busy spaces, and if necessary to minimize distractions to others in shared office spaces and background noises to other meeting participants.
Turn your camera on If possible so all other participants can see your face, which improves participation in small to medium sized meetings.
Identify yourself when speaking If attending by telephone only.
Set Expectations for When the Camera is On or Off
- Some meetings require active participation that is best served by having a camera on during the meeting. These are typically smaller group meetings where interaction with other attendees being seen is important.
- Large meetings may not have the same interactions or expectations for interaction.
- Expectations should be set at the start of the meeting so that all participants are aware of what is expected.
- Virtual backgrounds, where supported, may also be used to provide a level of discreteness for those concerned about the background of their video.
Schedule Fewer Meetings
- Not all meetings need to take place via video conferencing, and maybe a meeting does not need to take place at all.
- A phone call, email, or instant message (e.g. Teams) may be an appropriate alternative.
Get Help
- Need help with implementing these best practices? Register to attend Office of Digital Solutions Office Hours for training and support.
- Any other questions related to these best practices? Contact hr@extension.wisc.edu.
- If you have any articles or best practices you would like included here, please contact hr@extension.wisc.edu.