A number of measures were approved by the then University Management Team for dissemination during Covid within the university which continue to be as relevant today. These cover:

Meeting Timings 

• Reiterating core hours under Athena Swan for meetings (10am-4pm), while appreciating that this may create challenges currently for colleagues working from home - hence the need for local discussions to support these colleagues at the present time.
• Making arrangements locally for identified “meeting-free afternoons/mornings” to give the opportunity for planning and preparation work.

Meeting Duration

• 45 minutes rather than a standard hour, with the opportunity for 15 minute breaks prior to the next meeting.
• Focus and encourage a more decision-focused culture in meetings.

Meeting Agenda

• The incorporation of a discussion in team meetings around “staff wellbeing” - what is working well locally and what tweaks or improvements can we make to support our wellbeing.

Email Protocol

• Introduce email protocol - for colleagues who wish to catch up on email out of hours – it is recommended that they leave the emails in draft to send the following day or employ the “work offline” / delay delivery function.