7 hybrid meeting solutions
I’ve missed in-person meetings. The energy, creativity, and natural human interaction they bring cannot be matched on a Zoom call. But mixing in-person with virtual can be unproductive. Here are 7 practical hybrid meeting solutions.
The pandemic may (or may not) be over. The likelihood is that Covid will become an endemic similar to Flu. Many commentators believe we will just have to live with it and get annual jabs.
Politically and economically, the implementation of regular national lockdowns cannot be sustained. Offices are re-opening, but possibly not with the same number of people every day. Remote working has proved itself and it’s time for hybrid working to have its day.
Hybrid working means more hybrid meetings. You may have already experienced the disjointed dialogue of a hybrid meeting. Perhaps as a virtual attendee, you’ve also felt second class and excluded from the conversation.
When we asked executives “What concerns you about operating a hybrid workforce?” they said their biggest challenge was organising office meetings. More survey results are in our report Hybrid Working; Manager’s & Employee’s View.
It’s time to rethink what makes an effective meeting and adapt the formula for hybrid working.
#1 Not everyone needs to be in the room
Accept there are some participants that only need to observe rather than contribute. Finding a suitable day when everyone is in the office can be almost impossible when you operate a hybrid model. Somebody is always likely to be working from home.
So be bold and decide who out of the 10 people on the list must be in the room. Select the leaders, creative problem solvers and fact-finders; ensure they get a seat at the table.
#2 Keep it short
Zoom fatigue is a real thing. You’ve probably experienced it. People in the room can feed off the energy and enthusiasm they each generate. That’s difficult when you are alone and at home.
Recognise that spending more than an hour concentrating on a screen is tiring (as well as unhealthy) and keep your meetings short.
I suggest 45 minutes as an optimum. If you need longer, split the agenda into bite-size chunks — with a decent gap between each meeting.
#3 Give remote colleagues a physical presence
Allocate a person in the room to represent a remote participant. One in-person champion for each remote visitor.
The remote attendee can text questions to their in-person representative if they feel their voice is not being heard. When discussions get heated or move at a fast pace it’s easy for remote colleagues to get left behind. Having a physical representative that can wave their hands (or even bang the table) can really help.
Always issue an agenda. Besides being a good habit, it will give remote workers an opportunity to send questions in advance. They may even want to send the questions to their in-person meeting representative.
#4 Design meetings for everyone
Think about how remote participants will engage and how to keep the energy high in the room. Technology has an important role to play.
For example, if you need the group to vote on an issue don’t ask for a show of hands or a verbal Yes or No. Use a phone-based survey tool (like Slido, VoxVote or Coda) to collect opinions in real-time. This puts remote and in-person attendees on the same level.
To capture meeting notes, use an online whiteboard (just Google “online whiteboards” for a list of providers) or focus a smartphone/laptop on a flip chart. Try to ensure everyone can see what’s being written as it happens.
Don’t fall into the trap of organising an ‘in-room virtual meeting’. This is where people in the room open their laptops and join the video call (on mute). It’s a pointless exercise. You are removing all the advantages of a face-to-face meeting and the people in the room could have stayed at home.
#5 Regularly check for new meeting tech
Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom are just some of the remote meeting technologies that have boomed in the last few years. They will continue to advance and may be joined by newcomers.
Their features are constantly evolving and supporting software will forever be developed. To ensure you (and your organisation) don’t get left behind, regularly search for ‘meeting solutions’ or ‘meeting saas’ to stay ahead of the curve.
#6 Test, test and test again
Ever been to a meeting where the technology has failed and caused a delay. I certainly have.
Fixing a glitch in the audio or video will kill the energy and momentum in the room. For a hybrid meeting, it could also mean half the attendees cannot take part. You need to test the audio-visual before the meeting begins and give yourself (or the tech team) time to fix it.
#7 You need a Mother
Mother, facilitator, coordinator — you decide on the name. Hybrid meetings need strong management, or they can descend into unproductive chaos.
Managing a hybrid meeting is harder than many people think. Agree on who should be Mother (it doesn’t have to be the meeting organiser) and give them the power to guide the conversation and keep the meeting on track.
Generally, in-person attendees will dominate. So it’s important that someone pauses the conversation occasionally to get input from the virtual participants. All voices need to be heard.
Here’s the good news
Our latest module, Schej Meet, is almost ready for launch. It will make organising hybrid meetings so much easier. To get notified on the day we launch check our Schej Meet page and add your email address.
Author: Graham Smith, Marketing-founder at Schej
Photo: Jason Goodman and Visuals