Review these weekly telework transition emails to make sure you have the information you need on hotel cubes, equipment, and more.
Along with our Councilwide guidance, divisions or departments might have additional or slightly different guidelines for their teams, and staff should stay up to date and follow those as well. Leaders should clearly communicate their expectations with their teams so everyone is planning accordingly.
Teleworking staff should also regularly check the Telework Transition FAQ page on MetNet for answers to questions we are receiving or unique details for this return-to-office transition. The long-term site for teleworking information is the Teleworking Hub.
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At a glance
What you need to know or work on this coming week (see below for more about these updates):
- Employees should stay home if they are sick – and not just with COVID-19.
- Hotel cube reminders:
- Check out the Hotel Cubes page for details, including reservation instructions.
- You must reserve the hotel cube if you want to use it.
- Hotel cube equipment must stay in the hotel cubes. Please do not move, swap, or take the equipment.
- Hotel cube users can follow new instructions for help adjusting display settings with hotel cube monitors. Also, please do not unplug monitors from hotel cube docking stations.
- Please share your experience with teleworking at the Met Council or the hybrid workplace and submit questions, concerns, or suggestions you have in the Teleworking Feedback form.
- Check out these key resources for important details on the transition period and teleworking:
- Review these resources for hybrid meetings:
- How to join a Teams meeting from a video conference room
- Guidelines for conducting successful virtual and hybrid meetings
- Complete your telework agreement, complete the two required trainings for teleworkers, and make sure you have the computer equipment you need.
Stay home if you are sick
It was always true prior to the pandemic that employees should stay home if they are sick, but now that more employees are going into the office more regularly, it's becoming more clear how important it is to stay home if you are sick – and not just with COVID-19.
Now that we have more experience with and resources for working from home, employees should stay home if they are sick.
It is very important that managers set this expectation with their teams and support staff who stay home when sick.
Employees should work with their manager to determine if they can work from home while they are sick. If they are able to telework and feel well enough to do so, they should work from home; otherwise, they should take annual or sick leave.
Review these hotel cube reminders
All hotel cubes are set up and available for reserving in Outlook. Note that department-only hotel cubes are not reservable in Outlook and are instead managed by work areas.
Check out the Hotel Cubes page for details, including:
- Guide for knowing which docking station(s) you need for your laptop
- Floor plans showing the locations of hotel cubes
- Instructions for reserving hotel cubes in Outlook
- Rules and best practices when reserving and using hotel cubes
Don't use a hotel cube without reserving it
You must reserve the hotel cube if you want to use it. If you are onsite already and looking for an open space to work, do not start using a cube until you have confirmed it is available and have reserved it. Please be conscientious that some work areas deal with more sensitive information and you should not just occupy open cubes.
- For open hotel cubes, that means reserving the hotel cube in Outlook.
- For department-only hotel cubes, that means following that department's or work unit's process for reserving hotel cubes. These hotel cubes are not in Outlook.
Don't move or swap hotel cube equipment
Unfortunately we are already seeing equipment in hotel cubes being moved, swapped, and taken. Moving equipment will result in problems in hotel cubes and a poor hotel experience for employees. It also creates challenges for Information Services to track, manage, and service the assets in these hotel cubes.
Hotel equipment must stay in the hotel cubes, even if they are department-only hotel cubes. Thank you for your help and understanding.
If a department needs a different type of docking station for a hotel cube, the department should submit a request to the Service Desk with the hotel cube ID and the type of docking station needed.
Adjust display settings to use hotel cube monitors
If you are using hotel cubes, make sure you know how to adjust the display settings on your laptop to create your preferred setup with the hotel cube monitors. You might need to change the setting so you can extend your laptop display to the hotel cube monitors, or you might want to change the direction of how your cursor moves across your laptop screen and the monitors.
Follow these instructions to adjust display settings for hotel cube monitors (PDF).
Don't unplug monitors from docking stations
Some employees are running into problems because previous hotel cube users have unplugged monitors from the docking station. Please do not unplug monitors from the docking station, but if you do, please plug them back into the docking station before you leave the hotel cube.
If you arrive at a hotel cube and connect your laptop the docking station but the monitors don’t appear to be connecting to your laptop, make sure the monitors are plugged into the docking station.
Share your experience in the feedback form
We want to know how teleworking, the return-to-office transition, and the hybrid workplace are going for you. Please use the Teleworking Feedback form to share your experience and submit any questions, concerns, or suggestions you have.
Share your experience through the Teleworking Feedback form.
Staff who support the teleworking effort for the organization are reviewing submissions and will use this feedback to help improve processes, fix issues, and update resources on MetNet as needed. Other employees may be experiencing the same issues, so please share your thoughts.
- If you have a question, make sure it is not already answered on the Telework Transition FAQ page or in the Teleworking Hub.
- If your question was not answered or you need assistance, talk with your manager or supervisor.
- If your issue is still not resolved or if you have feedback, fill out the Teleworking Feedback form.
Do not use the form to report equipment issues
If a hotel cube has malfunctioning technology equipment, do not use the feedback form. Report it to the Service Desk at ServiceDesk@metc.state.mn.us and include the name/ID for the hotel cube.
Find answers to your questions
Check out your teleworking resources for details and guidelines!
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Telework Transition FAQ – Answers to common questions for this return-to-office transition period.
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Teleworking Hub – Long-term home for teleworking information, including pages with details on computer equipment, hotel cubes, and tips for managers and employees.
- Telework transition town halls – Leaders hosted town halls in March and April for teleworkers and their managers to learn more and ask questions:
A few additional Ask HR sessions will be scheduled for the coming months to address issues that arise during the transition and help our staff adjust to the "new normal" of our hybrid workplace.
Technology resources for the hybrid workplace
Review virtual and hybrid meeting guidelines
In the new hybrid work culture, it is important to recognize and implement guidelines for virtual meeting professionalism and inclusiveness for both internal and external meetings.
Please review our organization's Virtual and Hybrid Meeting Guidelines.
Watch the recording of a training session on these guidelines.
Contact the Service Desk at ServiceDesk@metc.state.mn.us or 651-602-1498 if you would like dedicated training for your department.
How to connect to a Teams meeting from a video conference room
The best approach is to add the room to the meeting invite as an attendee, and when you arrive in the room simply click the "Join" button on the in-room console to join the Teams meeting.
Follow this guide for step-by-step instructions:
Instructions: Joining a Microsoft Teams Meeting in a Video Conference Room (PDF)
The guide gives you instructions for both scenarios:
- If the room was invited to your Teams meeting, or
- If you need to manually connect the video conference system to your Teams meeting.
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Complete your telework agreement
If you haven't already and your new schedule includes teleworking, make sure you complete the Telework Agreement form in coordination with your manager.
If you need assistance, review the Telework Agreement Form Job Aid (PDF).
Complete the two required trainings
All teleworking staff are required to complete two trainings in Learn before their teams implement their new schedules. The trainings are not assigned in Learn, so staff must use the direct links provided here or locate the trainings in Learn by using the search bar.
Make sure you have the equipment you need
Each employee is issued one set of equipment, which is located in their primary work location, either onsite or remote.
Review the Computer Equipment page in the Teleworking Hub for more information on personal and work equipment and home office support.
- If you are working a hybrid schedule A (primarily onsite), as an option you may choose to keep one of your Met Council-issued monitors in your cube and one at home.
- If you are working a hybrid schedule B (primarily remote), you need to bring your laptop and headset when you work onsite. Hotel cubes have a docking station, two monitors, keyboard, mouse, and web camera.
Review the FAQs or ask questions
For the most current information and details for teleworking staff, visit the telework transition FAQ page on MetNet. This page is updated as we have new information to communicate about this transition period.
If you have questions after reviewing the FAQ page, please first talk to your manager or supervisor. If you still cannot resolve the issue, or if you have a concern or feedback, use the Teleworking Feedback form.
Are you not teleworking? Let us know!
These emails are intended for Met Council staff who will be teleworking at least part-time during the telework transition (hybrid A, hybrid B, or 100% remote) and their managers or supervisors.
If you are not currently teleworking, and this email was sent in error, or if you will not be teleworking once you begin your new schedule (in other words, you will be 100% onsite), please tell us through the online Teleworking Feedback form and we will remove you from the list for these emails.
If you know of a coworker who will be teleworking during the transition and did not receive this email, please remind them to complete their Telework Agreement form! That is the main way we can build an accurate email list of teleworking and hybrid employees.
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