Since the pandemic we all regularly participate in virtual meetings. As of now the future of work and therefore of meetings is hybrid. In almost all meetings there will be at least one person working remotely.
What does this mean for our way of facilitating meetings? We will have to try to involve everyone – on site or online – and to enable them to participate productively. This means that meeting moderation becomes more important.
So, how do you facilitate a hybrid meeting? Here are some tips.
BEFORE THE MEETING
1. Share as much as possible before the online meetings
If part of your team is in the office while the others are working remotely, decisions might be made in the corridors with the result that remote colleagues risk feeling left out. To avoid this, it is best to share as much as possible asynchronously (e.g. documents on cloud platforms) and use the video conference to align and decide with the whole team.
2. Keep dashboards up to date
Keep your internal dashboards constantly updated so everyone is aligned with the status of each task and each other's priorities.
3. Post work documents online
Use cloud-based documents in common folders to share working documents so that everyone can keep track of progress, contribute or provide feedback.
4. Keep every important conversation online
Try to have a short casual online chat with your team a few times a week so that everyone feels involved. If that's not possible, update the team right after the discussion to keep everyone updated on what's going on in the organization.
5. Make sure your audio is flawless
The quality of audio can really make or break the meeting for your remote participants. If they can't hear what's going on in the room, they'll have a hard time participating in the discussion. To avoid this, make sure all your meeting rooms are equipped with high-quality external microphones and speakers. Before the meeting, always check whether people can hear you properly online. Everyone needs to hear everything, and feel like they're being heard.
DURING THE MEETING
6. Make sure everyone turns on their camera
In a conference room, try to make sure everyone is in the picture and looking at the camera. This is important because it can be confusing for your remote colleagues if someone is talking in the room and people online can't see them.
7. Welcome the online colleagues
Greet your online colleagues at the start of your meeting, preferably individually. If you have a large team and this isn't possible, at least send a general greeting like, "Hey people in London, how are you?"
8. Use an icebreaker to create the stage
You can use all kinds of icebreakers to make your colleagues feel like they are more than just a passive listener right from the start. For example, use a quiz or word cloud survey, such as, "How are you feeling today?"
9. Keep all conversations in one universal language
Avoid speaking a language with the people in the room that the colleagues at a distance do not understand.
10. Avoid parallel conversations
Try to avoid conversations in the conference room, as they can be confusing for your remote colleagues. This also applies to jokes. When the whole room bursts out laughing, your online colleagues may feel left out. If such a situation arises, keep your outside colleagues informed of what is happening. Just make sure everyone can follow the conversation and have enough context.
11. Keep eye contact with everyone in attendance
When someone speaks in the room, make sure they try to maintain eye contact with the online attendees. Look into the camera often, not just the people around you.
12. Watch out for people who turn themselves off
One tactic to make sure your remote participants feel heard is to look for cues. You can then say something like: Paul, you turned the mute on yourself again, do you have any questions?"
13. Keep an eye on the behavior of participants
If your remote colleagues have their cameras on, keep an eye out for facial cues such as inhalations or questioning facial expressions. Reply to that, e.g. "Peter, I see you look surprised, do you want me to clarify something?"
14. Make sure everyone feels involved
If you plan to engage in interactive activities during your meeting, pick one that even your online colleagues can participate in.
15. Ask one of your online colleagues first
Especially when there are multiple people joining your meeting online, give them space to be the first to respond or join the discussion. It means you don't automatically turn to someone sitting across from you when you ask a question.
16. Make silence your ally
In hybrid meetings, silence is a powerful asset for your remote teammates. For example, give your colleagues two minutes to think about the main discussion points before jumping to the discussion itself. In this way you also give all your colleagues the opportunity to ask additional questions or make suggestions.
17. When presenting, be brief and get straight to the point
Take a short break after each mass of information so that everyone — on the ground, but mostly online — can jump in if they want to. If someone in the conference room is engaging in the discussion all the time, your remote colleagues won't get a chance to join in.
18. Remind people of the rules
It's good practice to repeat the ground rules at the beginning of each of your hybrid meetings. It will help your colleagues to familiarize themselves with these principles and very soon they will be self-evident to everyone.
19. Alert participants if they break the rules
For example, agree on a funny word that you shout when someone "breaks the rules".
ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES
20. Participants in the room are also online individually
Think of a hybrid meeting as an online meeting. Meeting room participants should also go online to view shared screens, participate in the chat, etc. in the same way, yet while muting their microphone and loudspeaker.
21. Use the chat function for Q&A
Everyone is not comfortable interrupting the speaker and asking a question, especially if they participate online. Give them the opportunity to ask questions via the chat function.
22. Organise Brainstorming Sessions
Instead of using a real flip chart and post-it notes, have all your colleagues write their ideas on a virtual whiteboard or in a Cloud document.
23. Ask the participants to vote in a poll
Instead of asking your colleagues' opinions out loud, use polls for more democratic decision-making.
CONCLUSION
Hosting hybrid meetings doesn't have to be rocket science, but you do need some smart facilitation tactics to bridge the gap between your online and on-site colleagues.
