March 16, 2020

Hosting a meeting during COVID-19…Precautions

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Key things to do when hosting a meeting during COVID-19

This is about how to host a safe meeting during the COVID-19 crisis. This is not a medically sanctioned list (none currently exists), but a list of common sense measures based on all the advice coming from experts.

Also, remember that this list will be outdated soon as most meetings are being cancelled all together, and in some places such as the City of Ottawa, people are asked not to go out at all.

This list applies to meetings where people come together just for a meeting, or takes place within a workplace, such as a staff meeting.
(Very soon we will all need to move to phone and online meetings of various kinds.)

The principles governing these suggestions are:
– social distancing,
– minimal touching of surfaces and objects.
– minimizing busy public transit usage.

1. Keep it small. Many governments are saying no meetings over 50 or 10 people, but you decide how big you can go under that number. Many people are not attending meetings these days.
2. Keep it short. Keep the meeting as short as possible to minimize the time of contact and also reducing the need for food and drink.
3. Confirm the health security measures you will take in the invitation to the meeting. People need to be assured upfront.
4. If possible, offer your invitees the option of participating via phone or skype.
5. Schedule the meeting such that people do not have to travel during rush hour or public transit.(unless it’s a local community meeting and people will walk or cycle there)
6. Send out materials online and tell them you will not have materials to distribute.
7. Speakers who have on-screen presentations, should send them to you online ahead of time to minimize exchange of USBs or other equipment.
8. Host the meeting in a room – larger than needed. Once the weather is warmer, openable windows will be nice, as will outdoor meetings!
9. Wipe down the tables and chairs in advance with disinfectant (which are hard to get these days), and preferably use several disposable wipes rather than one cloth to wipe all the surfaces with. Feel free to wipe down the podium in between speakers.
10. Arrange the chairs in advance so they are spaced out around a table(s) or through the rooms.
11. At the start of the meeting, and through the meetings, the hosts should remind the audience of the measure you have taken, and remind them not to shake hands. It makes it a lot easier for people to follow if those are clearly stated the rules of engagement
12. Do not share microphones, laptops or other equipment.
13. If you are showing someone else something on your phone, let them see the images without handing it to them. Don’t hand around your phone to take pics!
14. Food. Preferably, tell invitees that you will not be serving food and encourage them to bring their own food, but do remind them of the popular allergy groups, like nuts/peanuts. If you are providing food, make sure it is pre-packaged and can be obtained with minimal touching, for example, packaged cookies or sandwiches. Also provide the packaging such that they can be held in the packaging, while eating and people do not have to touch the food at all. Muffins are a complete no-no these days as they require ten bare fingers to eat!
15. In the case of a plated lunch, think through the process of serving to ensure there is minimal touching.
16. Buffets generally are not a good idea, unless servers are the only ones to serve people, and the food is behind a glass screen, so people do not breathe , cough or sneeze over the food. (Yes plan for the worst possible situations.)
17. For coffee, have a server with gloves pour the coffee from the urn or jug, such that people do not have to touch a faucet on the urn or the jug. Cream is better in disposable containers. (This is temporary.)
18. Have big signs up all over that attendees should all wash their hands upon arrival, and that remind people not to shake hands or hug, When you put up big signs it becomes easier for everyone to remember without feeling awkward. Use humour if you can – albeit carefully, such as “Welcome to this handshake-free venue”.

This is a common sense list of things to do, not a medically prepared guideline. We are happy to receive your ideas to adjust this list at info@thepearsoncentre.ca .