Facilitating Microsoft Teams Meetings

Instructors and meeting organizers: Follow these tips to effectively lead your online class sessions or meetings.

Before the Meeting

When scheduling an impromptu Teams meeting, keep in mind that your participants may be in different time zones. Share an agenda and materials in advance to allow participants to prepare.
If a student, meeting attendee, or guest speaker contacts you about how to join your Teams meeting, see how to copy and send the "Join Microsoft Teams meeting" link.
If you are sharing documents during the meeting, have slideshows, web pages, and other files readily available — such as in a clearly named folder on your desktop.
Instructors: For pre-recorded audio or video, the Center for Teaching and Learning recommends that you share these files in advance as links via D2L, Teams channel conversation, or email.
Make a Microsoft Teams test call to confirm that your mic, speaker, and camera are working before joining the meeting. As part of the test, confirm your camera angle is good. A well-lit room helps with camera image quality. But avoid having a bright light source or window behind you when you're on camera.
To limit distractions, close non-essential applications that might prompt you with notifications.
Using a laptop? Be sure to plug it into power.

See the steps for joining a Microsoft Teams meeting.
Turn on your camera so participants can see you and pick up on non-verbal cues.
Upon joining the meeting, Teams offers a blur-your-background setting and image backgrounds for privacy (and creativity).
If you use the Mute all function, let participants know. Muting all participants quiets side-talking so all can focus. Mute all also can quickly silence loud background noises from a participant.
By default, attendees can unmute themselves after the instructor or meeting organizer mutes all. See how to prevent unmuting by attendees as the instructor or meeting organizer.
Remind participants/students to use the Raise Hand icon and watch for raise hand notifications on screen.
If appropriate, start recording the meeting. Those who missed the meeting can watch the video, and attendees can review the recording.
When others are speaking, mute your mic to prevent background noise.

Note that you can use the meeting chat to share file attachments and links.
Create polls.
Use the file sharing and editing features of Microsoft Teams to co-author content in the meeting.
Use Planner in Teams to share/assign tasks from the meeting.
When presenting a shared PowerPoint, you can prevent others from skipping ahead. Click or tap the eye icon at the top of the meeting window to keep students and participants from moving through the shared presentation on their own.

Microsoft Teams alerts you when five minutes remain until the end of the meeting. Take a moment to wrap up, covering upcoming class deadlines or staff meeting action items.
If you are presenting shared content, click or tap stop sharing.
If you are recording the meeting, stop recording. From the meeting control toolbar, click or tap the More/three-dots menu icon. From the drop-down menu, select Record and Transcribe > Stop Recording. You're asked to confirm. Click or tap Stop.
From the meeting controls toolbar, click or tap Leave.

If needed, download an attendance report.
If you recorded the meeting, access the meeting recording and spot check the video for any playback issues.
For Teams channel meetings, all members see a channel post with any recorded videos and meeting notes.