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Good Practice

Meeting Charter

To deal pragmatically with the difficulty of controlling time, which sometimes affects the quality of life at work, the City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg sought to improve the management of collective working time.

Strasbourg City Council
France
Local policy

 POLICY OBJECTIVE

  • Respect everyone’s time by scheduling internal meetings to ensure a better balance between professional and private time (family, civic, associative, leisure, etc.)
  • Save time by keeping meetings short and efficient
  • Reduce travel time through new remote meeting practices and the use of available tools (videoconferencing, conference calls, etc.)

 CONTEXT

The time slots chosen for meetings have an immediate effect on how workers balance time between professional and private life (family obligations, associative commitments, civic activities and personal well-being).

The community expects each employee to perform his/her work time and to firmly commit to accomplishing public service missions entrusted to him/her. It also wishes to better organise collective work periods to ensure that works can better integrate their professional and private time.

 POLICY DESCRIPTION

The meeting charter is the result of transversal work carried out internally. It is a guide to good practice for internal working sessions, which applies to everyone and fulfils the following objectives:

  • Respect everyone’s time by regulating meeting times
  • Save time by keeping meetings short and efficient
  • Reduce travel time through new remote meeting practices and the use of available tools

The proposals put forward are essentially common sense and help people learn how to live and work together.

Each of the employees is invited to try to put them into practice, taking into account the needs of the service and the goal of quality public service.

 KEY ASPECTS

  • Connected to time and sustainability policies
  • This tool to modernise our administration has three components:
    • Timetables
    • Rules for facilitators and participants aimed at professionalising how meetings are conducted
    • Available logistics and tools to conduct meetings in the best working conditions, including at a distance

 RESULTS

Although there are times when the meeting charter is not respected, today it is broadly accepted that proposing meetings before 9.00am or after 5.00pm is likely to hinder employees’ ability to organise and reconcile personal and professional time in their life.

A revision of the charter is being considered in order to include the right to disconnect as well as good practice in terms of remote meetings

Policy's Website

Joana

Levy

Meeting Charter

joana.levy@strasbourg.eu

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