hello · web viewprocess and guidance for all remote meetings there are a number of options...

Introduction

This guidance document has been created to ensure that we are able to continue to hold meetings and hearings in respect of employment matters, in a safe and secure way for all attendees. We encourage all employees and managers/headteachers to hold meetings remotely in the present climate, using a variety of communication tools where possible, to ensure social distancing measures are maintained to minimise the spread of the COVID-19.

The reason and purpose of each meeting should be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account individual circumstances, when making arrangements and these must be suitable for parties to be able to fully participate.

Where employees are concerned about attending a meeting remotely, the manager/headteacher chairing the meeting should look to support them to develop confidence with the meeting arrangements and tools in the first instance, and treat face to face meetings as an option of last resort.

Responsibilities

Task Responsibility 1. Arrange meeting details and supply

relevant documentation to all parties electronically (where possible) in advance.

Manager/Headteacher/Governor (chair)

2. Confirm attendance (including any representative) and understanding of meeting arrangements

Employee

3. Provide guidance and support the facilitation of the meeting

People Management

4. Chair and facilitate the meeting using the appropriate platform

Manager

Holding Remote

Meetings

HR Guidance

Cumbria County Council

ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Responsibilities........................................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Process and guidance for all remote meetings.............................................................................................3

Appendix 1 - Video Conferencing guidance................................................................................................................4

Invite to Meeting................................................................................................................................................. 4

Prior to the Meeting............................................................................................................................................ 4

Joining the meeting............................................................................................................................................ 6

Loss of Connection............................................................................................................................................ 7

Background Displays......................................................................................................................................... 7

Operation of Cameras and Microphones...........................................................................................................8

Adjournments..................................................................................................................................................... 9

Appendix 2 - Telephone-conferencing...................................................................................................................... 10

Invite to meeting............................................................................................................................................... 10

Participating in the meeting.............................................................................................................................. 10

BT Tele-conferencing:...................................................................................................................................... 10

Dial-in to host the meeting as a chairperson....................................................................................................10

Dial-in to join the meeting as a participant........................................................................................................10

Touchtone commands...................................................................................................................................... 10

Appendix 3 - Face-to-face meetings......................................................................................................................... 12

2 Serving the people of Cumbria v1.0/June2020


1. Process and guidance for all remote meetings

There are a number of options available when arranging to hold meetings remotely, using the technology available. Choosing the appropriate platform to use will depend on the purpose of the meeting, the level of participation required from attendees (e.g. presenting working documents) and the technology and equipment available to all attendees. The chair should take into account the employees access to computers, phones etc. when making arrangements; this may including seeking support from the ICT service to provide a laptop or phone for the employee to use to enable to the meeting to proceed.

The following sections are in order of preference for use for meetings within the Council. Video conferencing is the most desired option as it is easily accessible to many individuals, even those without council laptops and mobile phones, and has all the necessary tools to allow meetings to run effectively. Should video conferencing not be suitable, telephone-conferencing is also an option. Attending meetings in person should be a last resort, but may be appropriate in some cases.

The chair can print off the relevant appendix within this document to share with all parties ahead of the meeting. Depending on the chosen format, it is always advisable to have a ‘Plan B’, i.e. another platform or communication tool to use should there be any technical difficulties on the day; similarly, it may be appropriate to have a test run of using e.g. Microsoft Teams before the meeting and managers/headteachers are encouraged to arrange this with employees who may be unfamiliar with the software.

v1.0/June2020 cumbria.gov.uk 3


Appendix 1 - Video Conferencing guidance

The council’s preferred video-conferencing tool is Microsoft Teams (referred to as ‘Teams’). Even those without Teams on their device can access it through the link in the meeting invite at no cost. The following guidance is how best to arrange and facilitate a meeting using Teams.

Other video conferencing software is also available such as Skype for Business. Microsoft Teams was introduced to take over from Skype as it allows more functionality and it is anticipated that Skype will be phased out of use in the near future.

Zoom is also a video conferencing application. Whilst Zoom receives positive usability feedback, it is designed for personal use not business use and is not secure for the business needs of the County Council.

There are serious concerns reported globally about the use of Zoom as a number of serious security flaws have identified evidence of Zoom meetings being hijacked and inappropriate content streamed into the meeting.

Therefore, it has been agreed that all staff must avoid using Zoom for any video conferencing where discussions relating to council business, especially confidential, personal information or commercially sensitive content are taking place.

At this time, the only approved exception to this is for the adult education courses in the Community Learning and Skills Team where these training sessions are hosted externally and do not contain discussions where content risks are high given the training content has been prepared and considered in advance.

It is appreciated that some service teams may be invited to a Zoom video conferencing meeting by an organisation external to the County Council. Whilst every effort should be made to avoid Zoom, where it is not possible due to the platforms being the only option used by the external organisation, then the meeting should only be joined by pasting the meeting invite into the web browser to join the meeting via the internet, not though the Council infrastructure, as this will further reduce any risks.

In any event, Zoom software should not be downloaded and installed onto County Council issued equipment, as this will help control the known risks and help to ensure the Council estate remains secure and protected.

If you have any queries or points of clarification please contact the ICT Service Desk on 01228 226000.

Invite to Meeting1. The chair will email a meeting invitation to all attendees. If attendees do not accept this invitation

they will not be able to attend the meeting.

2. The invitation contains a link to the meeting. Once the meeting has been accepted, attendees will be able to join the meeting by clicking the link in the outlook calendar entry. It is important to join the meeting through the outlook invite rather than the Microsoft Teams App for technical reasons.

Prior to the Meeting3. Please remember that the online meetings are formal meetings of the Council and should be

treated as such.

4. Therefore attendees should:



a. Dress accordingly as you would for physical meetings

b. Sit in a room with a good source of lighting (in front of you, not behind so that you can be clearly seen). Electric lighting is better than natural daylight as it retains constant brightness, sitting facing a window could mean the view of you is obscured online if it is bright with sunshine or you may not be clearly visible if it is cloudy

c. Ensure any TVs, radios, music devices and mobile phones are switched off or on silent. Place your mobile phone away from any connected speakers to limit audio interference

d. Keep your laptop at least arm’s length away to ensure that you can be clearly seen on screen by the other meeting participants and those watching online

e. Ensure that the volume on your laptop is turned up high enough for you to hear the other participants in the meeting. The volume can be adjusted by clicking on the speaker at the bottom of your laptop screen

f. If you are to be accompanied by a Trade Union representative, decide beforehand with your representative how you will communicate with each other and advise People Management beforehand where possible so that this can be facilitated where necessary. You may want to arrange a separate pre-meeting with your Trade Union representative if required.

g. Test the facility - you will be provided with the opportunity to do this in advance of the actual hearing.

h. Join the meeting without any discussion at the start and wait for the chair to begin the meeting. Request to join the meeting approximately 20 minutes before the time at which the meeting is due to start. This is to allow for time to resolve any technical issues.

i. If you are unable to join the meeting, please contact the People Management representative named in the invite letter, who will indicate the difficulties to the chair of the meeting.

j. If you wish to speak at a point other than when invited to do so by the chair, please indicate by using the button on teams to raise your hand. Similarly if you need to leave the meeting at any time, please indicate to the chair by raising your hand

Just select Raise your hand in the meeting controls.



k. Mute your microphone when not speaking (and remember to unmute when speaking)

l. It is possible to ‘mirror screen’ or ‘share screen’, or send a document or attachment. All attendees should have a copy of the relevant documentation to hand before the meeting. However, this function is available if required.

m. There is also an option to use a side panel (the chat facility) that can be viewed by all

attendees. This function may also be used if required.

n. Re-join on same invitation link if, at any time or for any reason, you are cut off, other than if the chair has ended the session

o. The meeting must not be recorded by anyone present. Notes will be taken by the note taker in the usual manner which will be the record of the meeting.

Joining the meeting

5. To attend the meeting:

a. Go into the calendar entry in Outlooki. If using a personal device, you may need to copy the link provided in the invite into

your internet browser.

b. Click on the Join live event link



The link will take you to the following screen, (you should be able to see your face on this), click on join now:

Loss of Connection

9. If you lose connection during the meeting, try to reconnect immediately – simply go back into the diary entry in outlook and repeat the process. Participation will be monitored by the People Management representative.

10. You are advised to ring the named People Management representative, should you be unable to re-

join the meeting.

11. If it is established that an attendee has lost connection the meeting will be adjourned for 5 minutes to enable them to re-join.

Background Displays12. It is advised that you blur the background on your screen so those in the meeting and watching

online cannot see your home.



To blur your background, click on the three dots on the bar that appears on your screen

Click on Show Background Effects

Select the blurred option then ‘Apply’ at the bottom of the options.

Operation of Cameras and Microphones

13. When the meeting begins all participants will be asked to switch their microphones off, until they are invited to speak by the chair. This is to prevent any unnecessary noise interrupting the meeting and to stop the view on participants’ screens switching from the person who is addressing the meeting to someone who has coughed or sneezed. You will only speak in the meeting when invited to by the manager.

14. The chair should try and look into the camera when speaking, rather than at the screen, as this will support a feeling of connection and conversation between them and the other attendees, in the absence of eye contact and body language.

15. Instructions for switching cameras and microphones on and off are below.



This buttons below shows members how to switch the camera on and off and mute and unmute their microphones. Camera Microphone

16. When you are asked to speak you must switch your camera on and unmute your microphone. It is beneficial for participants to have their cameras on during the meeting in the absence of being face-to-face. However, it is recognised that there may be some situations where attendees may not wish to/be able to use their camera .

17. The manager will introduce the meeting and will work through the standard items on the agenda.

Adjournments

18. Regular breaks can be facilitated throughout the meeting however if needed, an adjournment can be requested by any attendee by raising their hand.

19. When an adjournment is required the employee and their support plus management witnesses will be asked to leave the meeting. People Management support will monitor those present and will be the only individual to ‘admit’ attendees back into the meeting. There may therefore be some waiting in the virtual lobby for those attending.

20. When the meeting is to be reconvened People Management support will telephone the employee / support and any other required participants and request that they re-join the meeting. Attendees will re-join on same invitation link.

21. You are advised to ring the named People Management representative in the invite letter, should you be unable to re-join the meeting.



Appendix 2 - Telephone-conferencing

Telephone conference calls are an alternative way to hold meetings remotely, but does not have the tools to facilitate the meeting as effectively as video-conferencing. The majority of services within the council have a BT tele-conferencing number available for them to use, People Management also have access to this facility. When making arrangements, managers are encouraged to discuss with People Management the best platform to use.

Invite to meetingAll attendees will receive an invite to the meeting, which will contain a telephone number to dial into at the specified time; the letter will also include a PIN code, which will need to be entered when joining the call. The chair of the meeting will have a separate PIN code to use; until they have entered the call with that PIN, no other participants will be able to join. It is therefore advised that the chair join the call 5 minutes before it is due to start.

Participating in the meetingAttendees should mute their call until invited to speak by the chair of the meeting, who will do so at regular intervals to give participants the opportunity to speak. This is to prevent attendees speaking over each other and interrupting one another.

BT Tele-conferencing:

Dial-in to host the meeting as a chairperson

Invite the people you wish to meet with and provide the meeting date, time (including time zone), participant passcode, and dial-in numbers

At the start of your meeting, dial into the conference, and follow the voice prompts:

Enter your chairperson passcode, followed by # Record your name and press #

Dial-in to join the meeting as a participant

1. Receive an invite to join a meeting2. At the start of the meeting, dial into the conference and follow the voice prompts:

a. Enter the participant passcode (provided to you by the host in the invite), followed by #b. Record your name and press #

If you or your participants have difficulties connecting to an in-country dial-in number – or a number is not available for the country you are calling from – please try an alternative in-country number. These rare difficulties can be due to telephone network issues which are outside of our control.

Touchtone commands

Chairperson & participant commands

Operator assistance: Connects you with a live conferencing operator

Conference help menu: Lists all of the touchtone commands available to you

Mute your line: Reduce background noise on the call if you are in a noisy environment; to unmute your line, press * 6 again



Chairperson-only commands

Play roll call: Plays back the recorded names of the participants on your call

Participant count: Counts the number of participants on your call

Stop message: Interrupts any audio prompt or recorded announcement

Initiate dial-out facility*: Allows the chairperson to dial out to a new participant

Mute/unmute all: (Presentation mode) Allows you to mute the lines of all participants when making a presentation. To unmute all lines, press * 5 again.

Mute your line: Reduce background noise on the call if you are in a noisy environment; to unmute your line, press * 6 again

Lock/unlock your conference: To control your meeting and ensure no one else can enter you can lock your conference call; to unlock your line, press * 7 again

Conference continuation: Allows participants to remain in a conference once the chairperson hangs up

End conference: At the end of your conference press # # and then hang up. This ensures that all participant lines are disconnected, preventing unexpected charges and enhancing the security of your account.



Appendix 3 - Face-to-face meetings

When arranging meetings it is important that the chair understands and adheres to the directions and measures that in place within the particular building that they are using for the meeting; and ensuring that these are adhered to by all attendees.

It is important that social distancing measures are implemented to keep all of those involved in the meeting safe at all times. The meeting space should be large enough to accommodate this. The following are the measures that need to be implemented in order maintain the appropriate protective measures:-

1. All attendees to arrive separately at the designated times

2. Gloves, masks, hand sanitizer or hand washing facilities to be available at the entrance to the building.

3. All attendees are to bring their own writing materials – pens, paper etc.

4. All attendees to bring their own refreshments and lunch if required.

5. All seating is to be set up 2 meters apart

6. There are to be two separate spaces to be set up for adjournments – one for employee and their representative, if applicable, and one for the investigating officer and any witnesses, if applicable (all to maintain a 2 meter distance)

7. Keep the exposure to each other short – this may mean taking more regular breaks throughout the process.

8. Social distancing to be maintained in corridors, toilets etc.

9. All individuals to leave at separate times – employee first.

If you have any specific queries in relation to this advice you can contact the People Management Team using the new People Management portal or by telephone on 01228 221231.


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