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The Division of Extension recommends the following best practices for employees who schedule virtual meetings.

Introduction

The following are virtual meeting best practices developed by Educational Technology Support and Extension Human Resources.
Employees scheduling virtual meetings (e.g. Zoom) are encouraged to review these best practices and modify their calendar invites as appropriate.

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.

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.

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.
Encourage "Water Cooler" social gathering that promote social interaction and communication between coworkers.

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.
Zoom Virtual backgrounds may also be used to provide a level of discreteness for those concerned about the background of their video.

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.

Need help with implementing these best practices? Register to attend ETS 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.

No.	Document Title	ID	Updated	Views
1	Communications - Virtual Meetings - Extension Best Practices	106946	2021-06-01	817

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