Running remote committee meetings

Remote committee meetings can make use of existing Nexus SharePoint committee sites and Teams online meeting functionality

Guidance

Microsoft Teams can be used to manage committees as long as you accept the limitations of using Teams for this purpose. A dedicated Meeting Management Solution or Committee Meeting Site can be created in SharePoint Online once you've onboarded into the service. See the Meeting Solution Self Support site for more information on using these site types in SharePoint Online. 

 

A Note on Governance

Using Teams for committee meetings is permitted under council regulations for member participation

The regulations for committees are available to view online.        

See section 2.6 in Part 2 which covers attendance. Para (3) states:           

(3) A member who is participating in a meeting by telephone, video-conference or any other means of communication which permits all members simultaneously to hear one another, shall be considered present and therefore shall count towards the quorum.

As with any face to face meeting participants need to be physically well enough to attend and engage with the agenda.

 

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  1. Continue to upload papers to your existing SharePoint committee site if you have one. If you don’t then ask your local SharePoint administrator to create one for you
  2. If you have an Outlook meeting already set up for the committee then change it to a Teams meeting. See: Arranging a meeting in Teams
  3. If you do not have an Outlook meeting then create a new meeting in Outlook inviting all the attendees and make it a Team meeting. See: Arranging a meeting in Teams
  4. Insert the agenda and links to papers into your Outlook meeting invite

  • Members will join the meeting via the link in their Outlook meeting invite but they will also see a ‘Join Meeting’ button in their calendar

  • Additional attendees can be added to the meeting

    • Select the Attendee tool button and then type the name of the person you would like to invite when needed and then should be asked to leave/hang up when their part of the meeting is complete.

  • Video delivers the highest levels of engagement but requires good internet connections. We recommend that video is used to confirm identity/attendance but switched off once the meeting starts or the attendee is confirmed

  • It is recommended that you adjust your agenda to allow for 5 minutes of settling in time before commencing the main business of the meeting

  • At the start of the meeting please explain how the meeting is going to be run. This can include recommending that questions are first posted to the chat window and reassuring everyone that at the end of each agenda item you will be canvassing all participants

  • We recommend that someone is nominated to monitor the chat list who can then alert the chair to any activity.

  • Notes can be taken throughout the meeting using the Notes facility

  •  For people with audio difficulties you can also enable captions to be turned on which will (in real time) convert chat to text

  • It is also recommended that participants mute their microphones at the beginning (or the Chair chooses ‘mute all’) only unmuting when they wish to speak

  • If the meeting has attendees then please add them into the call when needed and use the attendees list to check that they have left the meeting when requested

  • At the end of the meeting please allow a period of time for remaining chat messages to come through before closing the meeting

  • At the end of the meeting upload the minutes to your existing SharePoint site

  • If there have been any technical difficulties which resulted in participants leaving the meeting these should be recorded in the minutes

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  1. Access the meeting through the link in your calendar invite

OR

  1. Join meeting button or the ‘Join Meeting’ button in your calendar slot.

Please note that if you do not have a Single Sign-On account then you will be placed in a meeting lobby until the Chair lets you in.

  1. Join the meeting with your camera switched on but for large meetings please switch off after introductions have been concluded
  2. Mute your microphone during the meeting unless speaking
  3. Make use of the chat window during the meeting to raise questions, voice support or raise concern

When the meeting business is concluded please hang up

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  • You will receive the meeting invite, but please do not join the meeting but wait for the chair/administrator to add you to the meeting. Please remember to have Teams open

  • When asked to leave by the chair, please hang up

Teams meeting screen

  1. Currently active participants. These change as participants contribute.
  2. Teams toolbar.

Teams toolbar

  1. Call duration
  2. Enable/Disable video
  3. Mute/Unmute microphone
  4. Screen share options
  5. More options e.g. Screen blurring, Captions, Device settings,
  6. Show the meeting chat window
  7. Show the meeting participants
  8. End the call

Creating a Teams meeting

  • Windows
    • In Outlook on Calendar Home tab click New Teams Meeting button
  • macOS
    • In Outlook Calendar invite's Organizer Meeting tab click Teams Meeting button on Calendar invite

Joining a Teams meeting

  • From within a Calendar invite
    • Click on the Join Meetings link
  • From within Teams
    •    Click on the Join button

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