Hybrid Meetings Are Hard. Here's How to Make Them Better
Hybrid work is here to stay. In spite of return to office mandates, 28% of full-time employees in the US are operating on a hybrid basis and an additional 12% are fully remote, according to the most recent Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes. And while these flexible work arrangements bring a lot of upsides, companies are still working through some of the challenges, including how to best handle meetings when some people are in the office and others are remote.
Hybrid meetings typically involve remote workers joining via video while those in the office sit around a conference table. This type of setup may initially seem ideal, as it allows all team members to communicate regardless of location, but the result is awkward at best.
According to a 2022 study by the National Library of Medicine, the split between virtual and in-person attendance hinders non-verbal communication, making it more difficult for employees to understand their colleagues. Another study by Nokia Bell Labs noted that hybrid meetings “create asymmetries of interactions stemming from social and cultural contexts,” meaning remote participants often feel isolated because their voices are drowned out by in-person attendees.
So what will make hybrid meetings more effective? We talked to two digital workplace experts who offered tips to foster more fruitful conversations.
Don’t Have a ‘Butts-in-Seats’ Mentality
The people who miss out the most in hybrid meetings are those who are expected to attend, but have little agency in improving or changing the way it’s conducted, said Jennifer Dennard, co-founder and COO of Range Labs. Unlike senior leaders, most employees can’t skip team meetings because they’re an integral part of their job, even if they aren’t learning anything important. But poorly-conducted hybrid meetings often result in double-working, where an employee uses non-meeting time to get the information and help they should have received during the meeting.
“I think proximity bias comes into play with leaders who manage people through live communication.” Dennard said. “Leaders who can use writing and asynchronous communication effectively are able to recognize that in others — meaning they don’t have a ‘butts in seats’ mentality for who’s doing the most work.”
But many leaders, Dennard warned, have a style that relies on real-time communication to convey their needs and confirm the work of others. Leaders with this style struggle to understand and gauge the effectiveness of their team outside of meeting time, which may lead to their believing employees that are physically present are working harder. This is bias coming into play. Whether they’re virtual or in person, going into a meeting with the assumption that everyone possesses an equal work mentality is key to allowing for evenly distributed communication and collaboration.
Related Article: Digital Fairness Should Be a Top Priority for Every Workforce Leader
Unclear How the Hybrid Meeting Went? Ask People to Rate It
One way to judge the effectiveness of hybrid meetings is to rate them after they're finished, said Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics. Managers can then use that feedback to improve future meetings. Lister shared a personal experience where she had to present during a hybrid meeting, and said that communicating her frustrations afterwards was the only way to spark real change.
“There was only one screen in the room so [the participants] could either see my presentation or me, but not both, so they didn’t get the benefit of any body language. There was only one camera in the room, and it was in the ceiling behind one end of the rectangular table. Only one microphone was overhead. The result was that I couldn’t see who was talking, so I was blind to feedback on their end.”
During the discussion, someone raised a question that Lister could have easily answered, but she was unable to break into the conversation because they weren’t using chat or hand-up signals. She wound up texting the Chairman of the Board to share her thoughts, rating the meeting a three out of 10.
Learning Opportunities
Having employees rate their experiences and explain the basis of their scores is key to exacting small improvements. Encouraging everyone to leave their video on, using live translation and transcription, assigning an in-room buddy to each remote participant and doing round-robins to make sure all voices are heard are a few examples of how to make hybrid meetings more successful and effective for everyone involved. Leaders may not recognize the special needs required for those participating virtually, so conducting a poll or ranking system can make them more aware.
Related Article: Mastering Asynchronous Collaboration in the Digital Workplace
Understand What Works Best Where
A common gripe with hybrid meetings is the lack of shared experience. For example, those over Zoom can’t easily turn to a colleague to ask a question — instead, they have to use an alert button or unmute and holler to get someone’s attention. Although this is often the case, Dennard said it doesn't have to be — there are ways to create similar experiences without requiring everyone to be in person or online.
“I do think it’s important to understand what works well in-person vs. online vs. hybrid. Calling in folks online for a team lunch might not be a great use of time as folks may have trouble hearing one another or feeling connected. That said, there are great ways to build connections that are hybrid — like creating small breakouts where some are in person and some are via Zoom.”
Related Article: Don't Let Your Hybrid Work Model Be the Worst of Both Worlds
The Bottom Line: 'Hybrid Takes a Lot of Work'
Ultimately, the crux of conducting an effective hybrid meeting is keeping the needs of everyone in mind. As Lister noted, hybrid meetings can bring new voices to the table and make for a more egalitarian experience. One easy way to level the playing field is to require everyone to dial in virtually; everyone's the same size on their computer screen, which helps diffuse hierarchy. They also present the opportunity to make the meeting space more inclusive for those who wouldn't normally speak up — introverts, employees with language barriers, the neurodiverse, minorities and women — can feel more comfortable contributing through polls, recorded meetings and having less pressure to think on the spot. However, this can only be achieved through continual improvement, perhaps via trial and error.
Returning to her bad hybrid meeting experience, Lister said it ended with the Chairman of the Board making a joke about the failed meeting after a consultant came in to offer tips. “We all laughed,” she explained, “but the point was made. Being good at hybrid takes a lot of work.”
About the Author
Sarah Butkovic is an Editorial Producer for Simpler Media group, editing articles and researching and recruiting new community members to create fresh content for SMG. She received her B.A. in English and Journalism from Dominican University and recently received her M.A. in English from Loyola University Chicago.
Connect with Sarah Butkovic:
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