How to Successfully Host Hybrid Meetings?

Did you know that businesses can save $11,000 per year for every remote-working employee? This is only one of the numerous benefits of remote work, bringing hybrid meetings to the forefront of the economy today.

A majority of companies now combine working from home with working at the office. Sessions must embrace both types of workers at the same time. How can managers effectively facilitate hybrid meetings and events? Read our guide below.

What is a Hybrid Meeting?

A hybrid meeting is any meeting that features at least one remote participant. Hybrid meetings can be tough to coordinate because of the physical locations of the attendees. One group is together in one area, such as an office setting. On the other end, the other group joins in virtually from their homes, either through video or voice-only conferencing.

A hybrid meeting gives all participants an equal opportunity to engage and brainstorm from anywhere.

Types of Hybrid Meetings

You can apply a hybrid meeting in many different contexts, as long as there is a mix between an in-person audience and a virtual audience. If you consider the location of the presenter versus the audience, there are three main types of hybrid meetings:

• In-person presenter + virtual-only audience
• In-person presenter + virtual and in-person audience
• Virtual presenter + virtual and in-person audience

Example 1:

A moderated meeting of in-person and remotely located thought leaders, presenting to a small live audience and a host of virtual attendants.

Example 2:

A CEO can be addressing an annual meeting with the C-suite team at the office. At the same time, department heads join virtually from different branch locations.

What Do You Need for a Hybrid Meeting?

You certainly need the right technology for hybrid meetings, to begin with. Think about the size of your organization and the goals you want to achieve, then choose the best technology for your budget.

Ideally, hybrid meeting technology like Interactio integrates with video conferencing apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. They are also accessible on a range of devices, such that members can join in from their laptops, desktops, or smartphones.

Hybrid meeting technology should also feature innovative engagement tools like;

• Virtual whiteboards
• Polls or Surveys, and
• Q&As

Also, consider the space in which you will hold the virtual side of the meeting. This determines the type and quality of cameras and audio equipment for your hybrid meetings.

Your remote attendees should clearly see the visuals in the conference, such as videos, lists, and charts. At-home attendants should also have plenty of lighting and a good microphone to participate in the hybrid meeting.

What are the Benefits of Hybrid Meetings?

As organizations restructure their schedules to cycle between on-premise and remote workers, hybrid meetings help them to:

• Allow participants to attend events virtually if they can’t do so in person
• Create a collaborative environment, since remote participants are more comfortable in their locations; and
• Streamline meetings and engage all parties effectively using an affordable tech solution

How to Facilitate a Hybrid Meeting

Here are the top 3 hybrid meetings best practices for a successful meeting:

1.     Set Ground Rules

Establish some basic guidelines that all attendants should follow, whether they’re in-person or joining remotely.

For example, everyone in the physical meeting room should face the camera, while those attending virtually should use the best possible camera to see and appear clearly. Also, agree on the language used during the hybrid meeting, or use aRSI solution to support multiple languages.

2.     Try Different Engagement Strategies

Your hybrid meeting must be interactive to get the most out of the participants. Try a varying format like starting with a general talk, presenting videos or slideshows, taking a poll or quiz, or changing topics. Be mindful to include remote attendants—it’s easy to pay more attention to the in-person members.

3.     Acknowledge Your Remote Attendants

Where possible, greet your virtual colleagues individually,and encourage them to keep their cameras turned on from the start. Use icebreakers to check in with the virtual team and to promote their participation. Also, pay attention to anyone who unmutes their connection since they may have something to share with the rest of the group.

Conclusion

Hybrid meetings offer all businesses a balance between on-site and remote work toadapt to the Covid-19 pandemic. Platforms like Interactio have multi-language support, user-friendly and secure hybrid meeting solutions to power hybrid meetings from anywhere in the world. Business meetings, conferences, and government sessions can all enjoy seamless integrations with existing hardware and software to enable hybrid meetings.