“GitLab is very prescriptive that we work handbook‐first. The GitLab handbook is the operating manual for the company. If it's not in the handbook, it doesn't exist.”
These are the words of Darren Murph, the head of remote at GitLab and one of the most passionate remote‐work evangelists you are likely to find. The GitLab handbook is an ambitious read at over 2,000 pages of text that are constantly being iterated on by its fully remote workforce. At GitLab, documentation is not just a process – it's a value that everyone adheres to, and one that hybrid workplaces need to adopt, says Darren. “The accessibility to the information must be agnostic. You should not have more access to information if you're remote. You should not have more access to information if you're in an office.”
The underlying reason for the documentation orientation is clear: it turns all tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge by making it visible to all. (In fact, anyone can check out the GitLab handbook by going to https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/.) As companies and teams are transitioning to hybrid work and hybrid meetings, it might be wise for them to steal a page or two or 10 from this tome, but we'll start here with the emphasis on documentation, specifically as it relates to hybrid meetings.
In order to make meetings that involve both in‐person and remote attendees work, you need to set ground rules for how those meetings are going to be conducted. Meeting scientists have been recommending setting ground rules for any kind of meeting for some time (Allen, Rogelberg, and Scott 2008). These ground rules may answer such questions as: What needs to happen before the meeting? What should happen during the meeting? And most importantly, what should happen after the meeting? The answers to these questions can't be simply “understood” – they need to be co‐created by the team, explicitly documented, and then followed by all. Ideally, they are backed by real meeting science, and that's where a team meeting agreement comes into play.
In this chapter, we will explore the different elements of a team meeting agreement including:
You may have heard of team agreements. Maybe you are even part of an organization where they are the norm. But at most organizations, the idea of creating a document that spells out expectations for how a team will work together is considered an unnecessary step. Perhaps that may be true if a team is colocated, but when some members of the team are remote, that can be a real problem. According to Lisette Sutherland, “When we work together in the same place, we can see what people are working on. Behavior is implicit when we can easily observe people and make inferences. When we work remotely, we have to make our behaviors more explicit: leave nothing implied so that there is minimal room for confusion.”
With all of the complexity of a hybrid meeting, there is plenty of room for confusion, resulting in ineffectiveness at best and chaos at worst. That's why a team meeting agreement can make all the difference. It provides parameters for making the most of these meetings and helps to mitigate the potential for problems.
If you think a team meeting agreement can be handed down from on high, think again. In order to get buy‐in, everyone in the meeting needs to be a part of the creation process. A leader should not just send out an edict, laying down the meeting rules. A team meeting agreement needs to be just that: an agreement between everyone who will be showing up in the meeting room, whether virtually or in person. Taking the time to hammer out the details with input from everyone is key, because the team meeting agreement is of vital importance. It establishes the underpinning for hybrid meeting success, and everyone needs to believe in and adhere to it.
But what needs to be included in a team meeting agreement? In Journalism 101, you learn that every story should answer the five Ws and the H: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Those same questions can be used to craft a solid team meeting agreement that is thorough and multifaceted, identifying what both the meeting leader and attendees pledge to do before, during, and after the session. For each of these periods in the meeting lifecycle, we will identify line items to include in the team meeting agreement, based on the answers to these questions.
First, a quick caveat: by now, you know that the first step in the meeting process is determining if a meeting is even necessary. The team meeting agreement assumes the event does need to take place, and will likely be a meeting designed to be collaborative, dialogue‐based, and purpose‐driven. Obviously, it's best not to violate this assumption.
As you've learned, a hybrid meeting demands a higher level of work in advance than a meeting that is held in person, where missteps can more easily be rectified on the fly. The margin for error is slimmer for a meeting involving multiple modalities of attendance, so determining what needs to be done prior to the meeting and then holding people accountable for following through takes on even greater significance.
In this section, we will focus on answering the Five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. The responses to these questions will help inform the first section of your team meeting agreement on actions to be taken before the meeting.
For someone to be included on the meeting invite, at least one of the following needs to apply:
You'll notice spectating is not on that list. Those who do not need to have a voice in the meeting need not be in the meeting at all. Extra attendees only add to the complexity of the communication flows and often can bog them down (Allen, Tong, and Landowski 2020). Anyone in the room, whether in person or virtual, needs to be there for a reason and have a direct role in the discussion. That means that the meeting content is relevant to them, and their full participation is not only desired but required.
We can't stress enough how important it is to have an agenda for the meeting – an agenda that is not presented as the meeting begins, but one that is crafted, socialized, and perhaps even iterated on prior to the actual session. It's the number‐one recommendation of meeting practitioners and scientists alike, and yet some estimate that fewer than 10% of meetings have an agenda (Cohen, Rogelberg, Allen, and Luong 2011; Meeting Science 2021).
The agenda gets people invested in the meeting itself because they can easily see how it impacts them. If the right people are on the invite, the line items are germane to their jobs and they will prioritize the meeting. The best way to keep people from multitasking is to ensure that each person present has a stake in what's being discussed.
The agenda can be sent as a static document with or without a request for comments or feedback, or as a link to a collaborative document that can be modified. The latter allows attendees to add topics beyond what was initially proposed by the meeting organizer. Rather than having to go back and forth for edits on the static agenda, those additions can be made on the document shared by all meeting attendees. But a word of caution: beware of “agenda creep.” Remember, the best hybrid meetings are shorter. If the agenda grows beyond what can reasonably be addressed in the time allotted, see how the list of items can be pared down or even redirected toward asynchronous methods of communication.
In order to maximize the discussion time, teams should lean into doing as much pre‐work as possible so they can start the meeting at a collective level of understanding of the issue at hand (Odermatt, König, and Kleinmann 2015). In addition to a basic agenda, meeting leaders should send out any reports, documents, articles, or spreadsheets necessary for the attendees to review prior to the session. Just like the agenda itself, these pre‐reads can be sent in static form like PDFs or as links to the appropriate online content. GitLab believes in providing links to any relevant resources directly on the live agenda doc. (GitLab uses Google Workspace, ergo Google Docs.) Housing the links on the agenda itself saves people the trouble of searching on their own for the pertinent background information.
While the meeting organizer might be the most likely person to pass along resources in advance, a team member who is being asked to present may also have information to share ahead of time. In that case, it is the responsibility of the attendee to ensure that everyone has access to that information, either by passing it along to the meeting leader for distribution or by sending it out themselves.
However, team meeting agreement item 3 means nothing without the attendees taking responsibility for actually doing the pre‐work. Up to this point, much of the onus has been on the meeting organizer, but here's where the responsibility starts to fall squarely on the shoulders of the attendees. You know that carefully crafted agenda that was sent out? It has absolutely no value if attendees don't do anything with it.
Attendees must pledge to:
The location of a hybrid meeting can be both physical and virtual. However, if all of the infrastructure is in place from a technology and room design standpoint, how people choose to join shouldn't matter. Still, it is helpful and also respectful to let the meeting organizer know how you plan to attend. If most people are planning to join from the office, that might dictate a larger conference room is reserved rather than a smaller video‐equipped huddle room. In some cases, even the in‐office people might decide to just find a quiet spot on the premises and join from their individual boxes on the screen. It's also helpful for the meeting leader to know how many attendees will be joining virtually. Keeping track of total attendees can be a challenge, but knowing how many boxes should be on the screen can simplify that aspect.
When considering how people attend a meeting, it is imperative that an attendee's contributions are not diminished or enhanced by how they show up. In a truly hybrid environment, location shouldn't matter, according to Darren Murph of GitLab: “Hybrid is not about where you work. It makes no difference where you work in a knowledge‐based company. Focusing on where people work is completely missing the point. Focus on how people work and how things are done.”
From where you attend a meeting should be a product of what works best for each individual within the guidelines offered by the organization. Remote? In the office? Your location only plays into the logistics of possibly booking a conference room to accommodate the meeting. It should have no impact on how your attendance is perceived or the value that you provide to the meeting itself. As we mentioned previously, leaders can send a strong signal by alternating how they attend their own meetings – alternating between running a meeting in person from the office conference room and leading the meeting as a virtual attendee.
As we've mentioned earlier (see Chapter 2), with bulging calendars stuffed with meetings, setting start and end times and sticking to them is crucial to meeting effectiveness and satisfaction (Allen, Lehmann‐Willenbrock, and Rogelberg 2018; Lehmann‐Willenbrock and Allen 2020). Still, certain organizations consider it a part of their culture to be lax about the clock. For those companies that have a loose relationship with time, employees might consider it completely fine to show up five or even 10 minutes late, but this inevitably results in either wasting precious time catching up the latecomers, or going over because the agenda did not account for a delayed start. In fact, the science of meetings is pretty clear in declaring that meeting lateness is universally problematic around the world (van Eerde et al. 2020). One of Joe's recent academic articles included data from a number of countries and confirmed that even in places notorious for being lax about the clock, starting late annoyed meeting leaders and attendees (Allen et al. 2021).
Being disciplined about starting and ending on time requires full team commitment, which is why it should be included in the team meeting agreement. If one person is perpetually late, it throws off the entire meeting flow. Including it in the agreement may not solve the late‐person problem, but it can give you explicit ammunition to force them to course‐correct.
In Chapter 3, we acknowledged the challenges of setting meeting times if your team is worldwide, and offered some tips on managing meetings across multiple time zones. If your team stretches across the globe, it is worthwhile to address how to navigate that in the team meeting agreement. Jay Hyett of Culture Amp explains how they schedule meetings for their team whose members’ locations range from Melbourne to San Francisco to London: “They think globally: ‘How do we make it work for everyone?’ And that means sometimes we do things early and sometimes we do things late.” The key here is sharing the burden and not being biased toward one time zone over all others.
The best meetings are purpose‐driven, and hybrid meetings are no exception (Mroz, Allen, Verhoeven, and Shuffler 2018). Make sure everyone knows why you are meeting and what the desired outcome is. In fact, having a goal for the session might be even more important when so much effort needs to be taken ahead of time to make them effective. Not expressly stating a desired outcome is like setting off on a trip without a destination in mind. That's a perfectly fine approach if you have all the time in the world and simply want to enjoy the ride. However, if you want to get to a particular destination, you need to set that end point and then stay laser‐focused on your GPS.
So far, we've focused on what it takes to set a team up for success prior to the meeting taking place. However, all of that work leading up to the meeting can be worthless unless meeting expectations and norms for behavior during a meeting are established. It's time to talk about the “how” from the perspective of meeting leaders and attendees.
Both virtual and hybrid meetings rely on communication networks that are only as strong as the internet service that carries them, and when attendees can work from anywhere, that means the responsibility for the stability of the connection often falls on the individual. Wonky Wi‐Fi is not okay if you want remote work to be a viable option for you.
Remember Envato, the Australian company that allows its employees to work from anywhere for up to three months? That perk isn't without parameters. Workers who want to exercise that option need to present a plan to their team that includes a guarantee that they will have a solid internet connection to support their continued contributions. Visions of an afternoon spent Zooming on a beach in Tahiti may not be plausible if you are getting internet speeds under 20 megabits per second.
Adequate bandwidth is a must. While some companies have invested in shoring up home internet for employees, many have not; but either way, it's no longer okay to make others suffer from your bad Wi‐Fi. Technology is fickle, so occasional issues are bound to crop up, but regular and frequent internet issues can't be tolerated in a hybrid setting. Frozen screens, audio drops, and cryptic conversational snippets hurt everyone's meeting experience.
Creating “presence” regardless of whether participants are remote or in the office is one of the great challenges in a hybrid setting. It's a challenge made infinitely worse when remote individuals choose not to show up on camera at all. That's why we strongly endorse creating a camera‐on culture and including it in the team meeting agreement. Of course, there will be exceptions to the rule – say someone is eating lunch and doesn't want to gross out fellow attendees, or their normally stable internet connection is having an off day, only allowing enough bandwidth for audio alone. However, exceptions like those should be few and far between.
But just turning the camera on isn't enough, especially when remote. An imbalance in creating “presence” is even more exaggerated when remote workers don't put any thought into how they are showing up on the screen.
For in‐office attendees, presumably much of the work will be done for them provided an investment has been made in equipping meeting rooms with high‐quality cameras and high‐fidelity microphones and speakers. However, remote attendees are in charge of their own personal production values, and here's where many fall short.
How you “show up” in the box on the virtual meeting screen matters – it matters to you, but more importantly, it matters to the people on the call with you. We can make the case for why you should care about looking as professional as possible. (Yes, people will judge you if you are lounging on your bed as if you were chatting with a friend about what you binge‐watched last night.) But the argument that holds even more weight is related to respect – respect for your fellow attendees.
When participants join virtually, it is not as easy for others to read their nonverbals. The number of signals they can send is limited by the screen size, so it makes sense that remote attendees would want to maximize what body language they can convey. That's why it is mindboggling to see people show up with their faces entirely in shadow or with parts of their body cut off by the frame. (“I thought Jim had a chin but perhaps he doesn't?”)
The job of a remote attendee is to make it as easy as possible for people to receive whatever message they're trying to convey. Not paying attention to how you appear on the screen or how you sound to others in attendance shows a disregard for the needs of your fellow attendees and a level of carelessness that reflects poorly on your commitment to the meeting itself.
During the pandemic, many people discovered how to amplify their virtual presence by adopting best practices for lighting, framing, and backgrounds. Many people, through personal or company funds, invested in external webcams and audio options that provided professional polish. But there are still many people, including some who desire the flexibility of a hybrid schedule, who continue to miss the mark. This is no longer tenable.
If you plan to attend a hybrid meeting as a virtual attendee, here is what you need to focus on to show respect for everyone in your meeting:
In a hybrid meeting, a conversation free‐for‐all will not work. If everyone is in person, talking over each other may not be a best practice, but it can be managed. When some people are in person and others are joining virtually, talking over each other creates inequities. Those who are virtual will only hear snippets of sentences while in‐person attendees will likely only hear themselves talk. That's why it's imperative to establish a turn‐taking ritual that everyone abides by.
What that ritual is needs to be established by the team, but there are a variety of options. Maybe it's raising an emoji hand, or if the group is small enough, raising a physical hand and waiting to be called on by the meeting leader. Some teams prefer to have a question or comment put in chat, and then allow the leader to weave it into the group discussion. In that case, the leader can read the chat comment out loud and then call on the author to expand upon it.
Whatever process chosen by the group, it needs to be agreed upon and understood. Including it in the team meeting agreement will help to provide accountability, but it's also wise for the leader to reinforce it with a reminder at the top of each meeting about how to get in the conversation queue.
The mute button is one of the most vexing tools in the virtual and hybrid meeting arsenal. Mute etiquette for virtual meetings is a bit clearer because the rules apply to everyone, but in hybrid, there is no mute button for individuals gathered around the conference room table (as much as some might wish there was). As a meeting organizer, you may appreciate the ability to mute the microphones of all virtual attendees in one fell swoop, especially when a remote employee's dog decides to loudly greet the UPS driver who just left a package at the door. However, muting just the virtual attendees creates the potential for inequality. So, what is the best way to approach muting in a hybrid meeting?
There may be times everyone should be on mute, save for the person speaking. If someone is giving a five‐minute presentation, there's no reason for anyone other than the presenter to be off mute. However, in a dynamic discussion, having people off mute allows for a more natural flow, provided that people follow the turn‐taking process and don't interrupt, but if the number of attendees is beyond a handful, this becomes unwieldy.
The best advice is to decide as a team on what muting policy makes the most sense. Consider the size of your team, how much back‐and‐forth dialogue typically occurs, and how likely serious audio interference may occur. Remote collaboration expert Lisette Sutherland offers these insights:
I personally like when people are not on mute because it feels like more of a conversation. You can hear people laugh at your jokes or when they take an intake of breath before they're about to speak, but that means everyone has to have a quiet background. So, if you don't have a quiet background, you have to be conscientious about muting yourself.
We've already established how important it is to take breaks when virtual attendees are present. A meeting is more taxing, mentally and physically, when joining remotely via videoconference. In a hybrid meeting, especially one where the majority of attendees are colocated, it can be easy to forget to take breaks, as we demonstrated in the example from Chapter 6 where the meeting leader decided to press on because as an in‐person attendee, she didn't feel the need to stop. That's why it is valuable to have established guidelines around how often breaks are taken.
The general rule is if you are going over an hour, you need to take a full break, with enough time for everyone to stretch, go to the restroom, or simply do a mental reboot. In fact, the science suggests that meetings that go longer than an hour should have refreshments (Cohen, Rogelberg, Allen, and Luong 2011). At about 45 minutes in, remote attendees will likely feel their energy start to flag. A 10‐minute break can make a dramatic difference in their ability to focus and continue to contribute in full.
Taking minutes during a meeting is a traditional tactic used to keep track of the discussion highlights, action items, and the people assigned to complete those items. Organizations have different policies relative to taking notes, and some even opt out of doing so. However, most organizations at a minimum record next steps.
In some organizations, recording meetings is a norm by using the built‐in feature of their video collaboration platform of choice, and, as mentioned in Chapter 7, this method is gaining in popularity. However, there are legal considerations around using this functionality that vary by industry and corporate culture, so make sure to consult your legal team for guidance.
What occurs after the meeting is as important, if not more important, than what happens before and during the meeting. After all, the purpose of a meeting is to move business forward, so everyone in attendance should come away with a sense of accomplishment and a clear vision of what happens next. If it was time well spent, the meeting should be the spark for a series of next steps that have been assigned and need to be acted upon. For guidance in establishing the after‐meeting team policies, we turn again to the five Ws, lumping the first three Ws into this next team meeting agreement suggestion.
Assigning action items is part of any meeting, no matter the modality. When hybrid, it is important to have a process in place that ensures that everyone knows what those next steps are and who is responsible for them. Conversations in a hallway can't be heard by remote employees, so any minutes, action items, or follow‐up discussions related to the meeting need to be documented, not simply verbalized. How they are shared will depend on the collaboration platform of choice. (In Part Four, we will share expert advice on what to look for in a collaboration platform to help you assess what is currently on the market.) However, regardless of the software chosen, the key is making post‐meeting information visible to all.
Here is where we take yet another cue from GitLab's Darren Murph:
The thing you want to avoid is the “song in the shower” problem. Say you're a songwriter and you're standing in the shower, and this lick comes to mind and you think, “That is a billion‐dollar song,” but you don't hum it into the phone. You don't write it down. You think, “I'll remember it later.” You'll never remember it later. That is the problem in an office where you only verbalize and documentation is not a part of your culture.
The speed of business usually dictates as quick a turnaround as possible for any information gathered during the meeting, so those who are responsible for the action items can get to work right away. If a meeting has been recorded, that video file only takes minutes to be converted, and access to it can be granted immediately. Minutes or a list of to‐do's can be circulated quickly as well.
Some organizations opt for note‐taking using shared document software, like Google Docs, which allows meeting attendees to view and add content simultaneously for real‐time collaboration. In this case, the post‐meeting information is being created during the meeting, and there's no lag time for access afterward.
Disseminating information after the meeting is time‐sensitive, meaning the longer the wait, the more potential for missteps that run counter to what was decided in the meeting. Don't leave the time for release to chance. Create accountability by explicitly stating how quickly post‐meeting information will be available to all stakeholders.
Perhaps we should have answered this question first, because often people won't get on board with the “what” until they understand the “why.” As we wrap up this step‐by‐step guide for creating a team meeting agreement, let's discuss why this seemingly ponderous process is worthwhile.
The “why” behind the team meeting agreement stems from the hybrid environment itself. What might seem like granular documentation is a necessity when people are not sharing the same physical space because the potential for communication silos created by the dividing line between in‐office and remote teammates is high. Remember how a coworker might remind another of a deadline when passing them in the hall, or simply seeing a person in the office can provide a cue to accomplish a task? Those cues are greatly reduced in a hybrid environment where between‐meeting interaction may be limited. A team meeting agreement sets a standard of operation that helps break down those silos and foster inclusion and team cohesion. If you have your doubts, consider what Lisette Sutherland has to say: “Whether you're starting with a fresh team on a new project, or whether you've been working together for a long time, creating a team agreement helps form the glue that binds your team together.”
To make it easier for you to create your own team meeting agreement, we've included a checklist at the end of this chapter with a list of all the items we've covered.
Making hybrid meetings work will require effort from everyone who will collectively agree to adhere to the policies and procedures outlined in the team meeting agreement, but that will only get you so far. In order to operationalize the agreement, we suggest assigning meeting roles so the burden is shared across the team as a whole. Some of these roles may be familiar to you, but others may be new, especially since some were created as a direct result of the additional complexities inherent in hybrid meetings.
Leading a meeting is challenging even in the best of circumstances, but in a hybrid environment, the complexity of working through an agenda, driving productive dialogue, and monitoring participation can become overwhelming. The cognitive load can be too much for a meeting leader to manage, especially if that meeting leader is also the one who ultimately has to make a decision at the end about the topic at hand. When that is the case, adding a meeting moderator to the mix can be beneficial.
The meeting moderator should be someone who is familiar with what is being discussed but does not have a direct stake in the outcome of the meeting. Their primary job is to track participation to ensure that everyone's voice is heard and no one is forgotten. For example, if a meeting leader is in the office, there is always a risk for in‐person bias, so the meeting moderator's role can include reminding the meeting leader to ask for input from those who are remote, and keeping tabs on any virtual hands that might be raised.
The meeting moderator can also take on administrative tasks that can be overly burdensome for meeting leaders. Perhaps someone has already been put in charge of taking notes during a meeting, but if that's not the case, a meeting moderator can take on that duty and log action items as the session progresses. In addition, the meeting moderator can keep an eye on the clock and the agenda, making sure the meeting stays on track and breaks are taken when required.
Ultimately, the meeting moderator shifts some of the administrative tasks away from the meeting leader, allowing them to focus on making the best decision possible by carefully listening to the content being presented without, for example, wondering if they've heard from Jane yet.
Everyone has experienced a virtual meeting where at least one person has had challenges with the videoconferencing platform. Maybe they can't connect to audio or their camera isn't being recognized. Rather than halting the entire meeting to troubleshoot, consider assigning a technology lead who can handle any challenges that crop up during the meeting. The meeting leader (or moderator) can put the technology lead and the person who is having trouble into a breakout room where they can work on the problem without disrupting the meeting flow.
Not only can the technology lead serve as basic tech support, but they also can help manage any tools that are being used during the meeting. They can launch and display polls, or assign participants to breakout rooms when appropriate. While some meeting leaders are adept at doing these tasks themselves, others will welcome the extra help.
Trying to facilitate the verbal conversation flow and following a separate communication flow on the chat channel is challenging and sometimes impossible to do well. Remember the myth‐busting we did in Chapter 3 about multitasking? It doesn't work. That's why it can be helpful to assign a chat monitor to keep track of the comments and questions that are coming in through that valuable stream of text.
The chat monitor's job is to be on the lookout for any input that should be incorporated into the verbal discussion. Funny side or off‐topic comments can likely just be consumed by those reading the chat, but pertinent questions or salient commentary should be brought to the attention of the meeting leader and woven into the ongoing dialogue.
Even if a meeting leader stops periodically to check the chat, it can be inefficient and ineffective to try to scan through all of the text, especially if it's been an active written conversation flow. A chat monitor can help cut through the noise and elevate what is relevant to the discussion in real‐time.
Despite best efforts by the meeting leader or moderator, sometimes it can be difficult for a remote attendee to break into the conversation. In that case, a meeting buddy can make all the difference. A meeting buddy is an in‐person attendee who serves as an in‐room advocate for a remote attendee. Sometimes raising a virtual hand or putting a comment in chat isn't enough to get the attention of the meeting leader. An in‐room voice that is tethered to a remote person can raise awareness that the remote person has something to add. Some teams might prefer that individuals seek out their own meeting buddies, but others might want to formalize the process, notifying teams of the in‐person/remote pairings before each meeting.
You might look at this list of roles and think this is overkill. Is this really necessary? It depends on your team culture and processes. What is universal is the fact that hybrid meetings require a more intentional approach to be successful. Expecting a meeting leader to run the meeting, adhere to the agenda, keep track of time, pull out participation from everyone in the physical and virtual room, and make the right decision seems unreasonable. Soliciting some help from attendees themselves seems like a smart move to avoid issues that can legitimately be anticipated.
Hybrid meeting success demands careful planning with inclusivity at its core. Many of the suggestions discussed in this chapter focus on shifting the mindset of those who will be taking part in the meetings and codifying practices that manifest that mindset. However, hybrid meetings can't happen without the proper technological underpinning that this modality requires. The wheels of innovation continue to turn rapidly as the hardware and software industries respond to the call for hybrid meeting solutions. In Part Four, we will offer you some expert advice on what to look for when assessing your options.
Team Meeting Agreement Items
| As a team, we agree to the following meeting practices: | Yes or No |
|---|---|
| 1.The only people on the meeting invite are those who need to be there. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 2.All meetings will have an agenda that is sent out in advance of the meeting. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 3.Pre‐work will be assigned to allow attendees to prepare for the meeting. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 4.All attendees will come prepared by reviewing the agenda and accomplishing assigned prework. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 5.Participants will let the organizer know what modality they plan to use to attend, in‐person or virtual. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 6.Meetings will start and end on time. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 7.All meeting participants will show up on time. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 8.Meetings will be scheduled at times that do not favor just one time zone. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 9.The purpose of the meeting will be explicitly stated. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 10.All remote participants will have a solid internet connection. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 11.All participants will attend the meeting with video on. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 12.All participants will be easily seen and heard without distraction. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 13.All attendees will adhere to the turn‐taking ritual agreed upon by the team. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 14.All attendees will follow the agreed‐upon mute policy. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 15.We will take breaks every 45 minutes during meetings scheduled to be longer than an hour. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 16.We will document/record what happens during the meeting according to our team policy. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 17.We will make all information recorded in the meeting available to all attendees on the collaboration platform of choice. | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| 18.Post‐meeting information will be available (within x days/immediately). | [ ] Yes [ ] No |
| TOTAL YES | ____________ |
| Meeting Roles | Names |
| Meeting Moderator | ____________ |
| Technology Lead | ____________ |
| Chat Monitor | ____________ |
| Meeting Buddies | ____________ |