Teams Meetings: Guide to Best Practices

Summary

This article gives you best practices on scheduling a meeting in Teams Meetings, starting a meeting, things to do before the meeting, best practices for hosting a meeting, and best practices using your camera. 

Content

Scheduling a Meeting

Here are some important recommendations when scheduling a meeting. See also Teams Meetings: Scheduling/Managing Meetings.

  • Teams Meetings is set up so that there is a a unique meeting for each and every Teams Meeting session for your class/meeting sessions. Keep in mind that recycling/reusing  meeting IDs seems to create better odds that an unwanted participant may show up in a meeting and click Save
  • When creating your Meeting, be sure to check the following boxes under More Options (if scheduling from the Teams App)
  • Set up a lobby for each class/meeting - the Lobby feature allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees one by one or hold all attendees in the waiting room and admit them all at once. The recommended setting for the most secure lobby is only organizers and co-organizers. You can read more about this setting in our Teams Meetings: Controlling Participants in Your Meetings article. 
  • Do not under any circumstances share your Teams Meeting IDs via social media or other unsecured mediums. Our research indicates that in most of these zoombombing cases, the hackers gained access to the meeting ID via a friend or on social media

 

Starting A Meeting

Teams offers you several ways to start both impromptu and your scheduled meetings.

  • Your Calendar
  • From the downloaded Teams Application
  • From your mobile device

 

Before the Meeting: Things to do

  • Test your Audio and Video
  • Make sure to choose the correct audio input and output sources and levels
  • Make sure to choose the correct camera for the meeting if more than one option is available
  • Have the content you intend to share prepared ahead of time
  • Make sure you know how to share your screen

 

Hosting A Meeting: Best practices

  • Mute your mic if others are presenting/speaking
  • Use "Gallery View" for smaller group/team meetings
  • Share your screen
  • Share specific Applications to control displayed content

 

Turn the camera on! -- Look your best

  • Lighting should come from in front of you or from the side to best light your face
  • Pay attention to hair and clothing -- people can still see you
  • Think about your background - make it interesting but not distracting
  • Put your webcam at eye level or higher -- experiment for best angles
  • Use the gestures and mannerisms that you would typically use in person
  • Make Eye Contact - Try to look at your webcam versus the screen

Here are some great resources to take a deeper dive into using Teams Meetings 

 

Further Readings 

Teams Meetings: Scheduling/Managing Meetings

Teams Meetings: Controlling Participants in Your Meetings

Microsoft Support - Permissions for Audio and Video in Teams Meetings ​​

Microsoft Support - Teams Meetings Support 

 

Need additional help?

For assistance concerning site creation, content sharing, file synchronization, or other common SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, or Office app activities, we recommend our Microsoft 365 Learning sites:

Learn more about the great tools our Microsoft 365 Learning sites offer!

Visit the Technology Help Desk Support page to locate your local campus contact information or to submit an online technology support request.  For password issues you must call or visit the Help Desk in person.  

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