“Can you see my screen? You’re on mute. Unmute. No, still muted…”

Virtual meetings saved the day when lockdown happened. Staff meetings just wouldn’t have happened without our good friends Zoom, Teams and Google Hangout.

But does that mean we should ditch our video-conferencing friends now that we’re all back in the building?

The guidance for schools reopening doesn’t outlaw meetings - it just doesn’t give any guidance for school meetings at all, other than the general advice of maintaining social distancing and staying two metres away from other children and adults.

However, in the guidance for offices to reopen, it states meetings should be:

“1. Using remote working tools to avoid in-person meetings.

2. Only absolutely necessary participants should physically attend meetings and should maintain social distancing (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable).”

For some staff, the risk of transmission is greater due to their vulnerable status, or them living with a person who is more vulnerable to the coronavirus. For these staff members, having this option will ensure that they still feel involved in the running of the school, whilst also protected and cared about by the leadership team. By creating an “open to all” system, you allow staff to opt in without being singled out for special treatment, which builds a more inclusive working environment.

Coronavirus: How to run school staff meetings

So it seems clear that meetings should not be going ahead as normal. But how can you do them in a socially distant but effective way?

1. Blended meetings

To reduce the number of people in a room, it can help to make meetings semi-virtual. 

For these to work, you need to consider the set-up of the meeting. If it is a meeting with just a small number of staff addressing an audience of many, then a webcam and microphone can stream the meeting live online for school staff members to watch.

However, if it is a meeting where a number of people will be contributing, then all participants can be sat in front of a laptop with a camera and microphone, and then people can join virtually and contribute to the discussions.

2. Totally virtual

Online meetings have been a proven success during lockdown, so it makes sense to continue with them now that we’ve returned. Most staff are already au fait with the software, and it gives the freedom to run them on-site but socially distanced at separate computers, and/or allow teachers to join from home.

Read more

• Schools reopening: Should teachers and pupils wear face masks?
• Coronavirus: The science of school closures
• Back to school: Can we close the attainment gap?

3. Move to pre-recorded meetings

If the meeting is a matter of delivering information or news, and doesn’t require immediate discussion or input from the participants, a school may decide to move to pre-recorded audio or video. 

This might be particularly advantageous if the meeting is for a large number of staff, and gathering together whilst maintaining social distancing would be exceptionally difficult. For part-time staff, this option may appeal due to the restrictions of fixed working hours and missing meetings. Pre-records give you the freedom to choose when to watch or listen to the meeting. 

4. Trickle-down meetings

It is much easier to socially distance when there are fewer people in the room. Therefore, it might be sensible to move to a “trickle-down” system where the headteacher meets with his or her leadership team, who then, in turn, meet with their middle leaders, who then meet with their faculties or year groups. 

This approach isn’t without its drawbacks. There is, firstly, the risk of a dilution of the information being passed down or a misinterpretation of a message being spread to staff. In order to counteract that, messages should be as clear as possible, and accompanied by written communications, too. 

You may also find that using this method becomes more time consuming as feedback is then passed back up the chain. This can be easily pre-empted by deciding a method of feedback beforehand that bypasses unnecessary steps, and means that problems can be promptly dealt with. For example, all feedback can be collated and recorded on a single email that is then sent to a single person, to remove as many intermediary people as possible.

Ventilation is what matters

Whichever option you choose, what matters most is that any in-person contact doesn’t put your staff members at unnecessary risk.

Choosing a meeting room with good ventilation is the safest option, and it would be sensible to even holding meetings outside where facilities and weather allows for that.

Read more about ventilation in our article about how ventilation can help to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in schools.