Add That Link! Remember to add a video conferencing link to your meeting invitation when setting up hybrid or remote meetings
Space to speak: Create deliberate pauses and time to ask questions for members in person and remote. It may be difficult for a remote member to chime in quickly, so create a space where it is clear that questions/comments are welcome.
Take Turns: When asking a question of the group, sometimes you can ask everyone in the meeting to provide a response by going around to call on each individual. To make this more engaging, you can ask a person to “pass” to someone else when they’re done.
You’re on camera: When conducting a hybrid meeting, have both the in-person and remote attendees on screen if possible. If your conference room is not equipped with a camera, consult with ITS about room or technology options, or else ask in-person attendees to bring their laptops and also join zoom video.
Be sure people in the physical room only join video, not audio, or else multiple audio sources will cause feedback.
Respect people’s decisions not to be on camera when remote. There are many possible technical and environmental reasons for these decisions.
Running Late? Communicate! If you are going to be late starting the meeting, send a message to attendees to standby. Remote attendees have no way of knowing what is happening in the room and may think the meeting has been cancelled.
Be Proactive: Whenever possible, share a meeting agenda ahead of time. If there are materials you need people to review, send them with ample time to review. Attach them to the meeting invitation whenever possible. This will allow your attendees to be well prepared and be able to participate more fully.
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Hosts should bring their own laptop to conference rooms. Even if the room has a computer in it, you are most familiar with your own set-up and will be able to facilitate meetings more smoothly.
Pre-flight check: Test your technology ahead of time so your meeting runs smoothly. You never know when something might need to be updated or, if you just attended a virtual meeting on a different meeting platform, your mic and speaker may need to be readjusted.
Tools of engagement: Make virtual meetings more engaging and inclusive by using interactive tools such as polling, chat, or Jamboards to encourage participation for remote and in-person members. Consult with ITS about how technology can help make your meetings more inclusive.
RSVP with note: When responding to a meeting invitation, please indicate whether you will be attending virtually or in person.
Consider your background:
Visual Backgrounds: If you have a lot of visual distraction or a private space in your camera's view, consider a virtual background but keep in mind that virtual backgrounds can be distracting too if they are busy or the camera has trouble distinguishing where you end and your room begins. Zoom and Meet have a “blur background” option which simply blurs your real life background.
Audio Backgrounds: Choose a place that is separate from where other people will be talking whenever possible. Shared office environments are difficult sound environments both for you and for your office mates. If you're in a place where you can't control your background noise, be sure to stay muted whenever you're not speaking so that Zoom doesn't accidentally choose your background noise over other participants when deciding which sounds to share to everyone in the meeting.
Cross-talking: Sometimes there is a slight delay for remote meeting members. Take pauses to prevent cross-talking.
Where is my microphone? Stay close enough to your microphone so everyone can hear you clearly. If your conference room doesn’t have a reliable microphone, consult with ITS.
Shhhhh! Mute when you’re not speaking or when there is background noise. This is especially important in larger meetings (10+ participants). At the same time, for smaller meetings, staying unmuted can help foster an easier flow of conversation.
You’re on mute. While it’s courteous to mute when you’re not speaking, be ready to unmute at any time and be sure you’re unmuted before speaking.
Camera On? For small meetings with a lot of interactivity, having your camera on creates a more inclusive experience. For large meetings with a primary purpose of listening, having the camera off is reasonable – consider adding a picture of yourself to your profile. You may also need to turn your camera off if your Internet connection is poor.
Special thanks to Vassar College and Vassar's Office of the Vice President for Technology and Human Resources for permission to use and modify their guidance for meeting formats.