Remote Work Best Practices

Remote work environments are different from the BGSU on-campus work environment. Thus, it is important to keep these best practices in mind when working remotely.

• Block your time in your Outlook calendar when you will be out of the office or have scheduled meetings and appointments.
  • Use Outlook's Show As feature to mark yourself as Busy for meetings or Out of Office for vacation, sick and personal time off.
• Set your calendar availability status to "Working Elsewhere" on dates you are working remotely.
• Use Out of Office automatic email replies when out of the office.

The above are best practices even if you are not working remote. 

• We do not recommend scheduling hybrid meetings (some attendees in person/some remote) for LARGE group meetings in which several attendees will be in person and several remote because these can be difficult to manage and facilitate engagement. Instead, consider making these meetings fully remote.
• Include a link to the online meeting within the meeting invite. 
• When sharing documents during the meeting, plan ahead and send files to coworkers who will participate remotely, or set up a virtual collaboration room in Zoom or a Microsoft Teams chat or channel. You could also share your screen to show documents.
• Use your webcam during smaller meetings/when the environment allows to facilitate engagement and add a personal element to the meeting.
• Avoid having additional people/noises in the room to minimize distractions for attendees.
• Mute your microphone during periods where you are just listening/not speaking during a meeting.
• Be fully engaged and give the online meeting your full attention. Avoid multitasking or reading emails.

Additional Resources

"How To Run A Hybrid Meeting And Avoid Treating Remote Employees As Second-Class Citizens" - People Managing People

Mircorosft Teams Self-Help Articles

Zoom Self-Help Articles

Cisco Telepresence Self-Help Articles

• Be available via Microsoft Teams or Cisco Jabber during your workday as a means for quick questions and answers. Despite the informal nature of IM, always begin with a greeting, and remain courteous and professional.
• Consider establishing communication guidelines to set a common expectation for responding to queries and emails
• Be mindful of different time zones and working times.