November 1, 2024

Thrive Insider

Exclusive stories of successful entrepreneurs

Hybrid Work Meetings Are The New Normal

More face-to-face cooperation and communication. With some coworkers distant or geographically dispersed, hybrid in-person/virtual meetings are becoming increasingly popular. Many teams are planning to return to work part-time using tools like Klaxoon.

Every meeting style has pros and cons. Hybrid meetings are a natural extension of a more flexible work style, but there are several aspects to bear in mind to guarantee productivity, smooth operation, and meaningful participation.

Using virtual meeting lessons, let’s look at strategies for hybrid meetings. You can plan using this checklist.

1. Set meeting goals

Do you want as many people as possible present?

Engage in-room and remote attendees?

To have various locations deliver presentations or updates?

Which elements are “must haves” if you can’t have your perfect conclusion, and which are “good to have”?

By establishing your objectives early, you may develop a successful meeting arrangement. This technique will help you select the optimal hybrid meeting format, tech, and place.

Not sure how to format your meeting? Interaction Associates provides free webinars and paid training on meeting management.

2. Determine who will attend and how they’ll participate

Even if one participant calls in remotely, you’re conducting a hybrid meeting with more distinct demands than a virtual or in-person meeting. When planning, ask yourself:

Everyone’s camera at the meeting?

Set expectations about videotaping before the meeting.

Will you record in-person meetings?

How will you support two-way video conferencing?

If you want to have in-room participants utilize their laptop cameras, ensure they bring them and have a strategy for your audio. Numerous persons playing audio from personal devices or utilizing multiple microphones may lead to echoes if not properly set up. Mute microphones and computer audio to avoid this. 

Video? In-room attendees may utilize a conference phone to be heard. Some conferencing systems offer socially-distanced setups with extension microphones.

3. Plan for distant participants initially

In-person meetings demand greater attention because participants may bounce ideas off one another, interrupt, and offer non-verbal feedback. Virtual attendees may be unable to understand body language, interrupt, etc. To fix the imbalance, favor virtual participation.

Virtual meetings are often shorter than in-person ones, so if you’re organizing a hybrid meeting, arrange it for the virtual participant (in-person attendees won’t mind). 

This applies to tech, too. If there will be numerous in-person participants, ensure remote attendees can hear everyone (e.g., multiple microphones or sitting speakers near each other) and contribute their feedback. 

Consider camera positioning if employing a video conferencing camera to capture in-room attendees. If the camera is in the middle of a conference table and in-room participants are staring at a screen, remote participants will see the sides of their faces. 

Now more than ever, sales teams must use their hybrid work meetings to workshop the best new ideas and approaches to winning and retaining new customers. This is a time of flux, and clients feel as restless as sheep without a herder, liable to bolt at a moment’s notice. So meet often and meet smart to keep this from happening.