Holding Office Hours in Teams

The instructions in this article will go through the steps to create recurring or unscheduled Virtual Office Hours using Microsoft Teams. Information in this article will address the need to apply confidentiality and privacy when addressing the questions that students may have about course-related issues.

The instructions in this article will go through the steps to create recurring or unscheduled Virtual Office Hours using Microsoft Teams. Information in this article will address the need to apply confidentiality and privacy when addressing students' questions about course-related issues.  

Contents: 

Click the link below to jump to the section.

Schedule Office Hours in Teams	Unscheduled Office Hours in Teams

Schedule Office Hours in Teams 

1. Click on the Calendar tab within Microsoft Teams.
    
    

2. Once in the calendar, in the top right corner select New Meeting.

   

3.   Add a title to the meeting.
   
    

4. This step will generate a link to share with students to join as +OptionalAlso add at least one attendee (does not need to be a student in the course, could be a TA and even you, via your email address).
   Note: Anyone you add, even as +Optional, will receive email reminders and an event in their Outlook calendar. 

5. After the email address is entered, press Enter (or return). If you are using your email address, it will show after you navigate to the next field in meeting details.
   

6. Select the first date and time of the office hours.
     

7. Change the Does not repeat to Custom to set the day(s) when the meeting is going to re-occur.  

8. Set the last date of the office hours, which will be the End date for the re-occurring meetings.
     

9. Add additional information in the description section.
     

8. Send the meeting.
   

9. If you go to the calendar, you can see the meeting scheduled for the days you have previously chosen. When you schedule a meeting for the future, all students in your Team will receive an email invitation and it will show up on their Teams/Outlook calendars.   

10. When scheduling a recurring meeting (office hours) Microsoft Teams will generate and keep a chat record that any attendee may access from the main room.

    1. During the meeting, by creating a Breakout room the organizer can provide a private and confidential room with which to chat that will only be accessible to that particular participant and the organizer.
       Note: A direct link to a previous breakout room cannot be provided to participants. 

    2. The organizer will need to remove the participant from the meeting to "clear" the breakout room after the meeting has ended to maintain confidentiality.

Note: Organizers may only remove the participants during the Meeting by going to participants, clicking on the participant, then clicking on remove participant. Removing the participants prior to the meeting won’t be an ideal option as it will remove the participants from the team as well.

 

Tip: Make everyone aware of the virtual office hours by listing the meeting link in the syllabus and in Canvas on the announcement and/or home page.   

⬆️ Return to top 

Unscheduled Office Hours in Teams

Use the Meet Now option in Teams Calendar to create/start a meeting. Once the meeting has begun the same options apply for creating a meeting link to be shared as well as, breakout room(s) to maintain confidentiality and privacy when addressing sensitive questions that students may ask about grades and their work.

Please see the article "Start a Meeting without Scheduling in Advance."

⬆️ Return to top 

For More Information

• To get further information contact:
  • Instructional Design and Technology
  • Help Desk

⬆️ Return to top