Teach your meetings well: Backward design for better virtual meetings

Abstract

As COVID-19 continues to influence the ways in which academic libraries serve faculty and students, so too does it impact the internal communications, planning, and processes of library teams. As libraries adapt to fully remote or hybrid staffing arrangements, meetings have shifted to platforms such as Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams. Flexible work arrangements, in which some staff may be onsite while others are dispersed, are likely to persist even as campuses return to more face-to-face operations. Leading effective meetings in person is a learned skill, one that can be adapted to the remote environment with some help from best practices in digital pedagogy and, in particular, the principles of backward design. These best practices can improve meeting productivity, encourage interaction, and increase inclusion for colleagues in satellite locations.