Recommendations for Meetings in a Hybrid Company
Onsite, Hybrid, or Rather Online?
You should read this blog post if you belong to the many people who haven’t found an answer to this question yet but work in a hybrid company these days. I prepared a bunch of tips and recommendations you should consider when planning your next meeting.
Let me start by stating this: being a hybrid company does not mean all meetings have to be hybrid as well. Many times, I’ve witnessed clients asking for a hybrid meeting set up with the very good intention to create a surrounding which suits everyone’s needs and thus creates a fair starting point for everyone. Unfortunately, all (I’m serious, every single one) hybrid workshops I’ve been part of pretty much did the exact opposite: the participants were split into two groups from the very beginning and thus an unfair and very non-collaborative setting was created. I, therefore, recommend to rather plan an online meeting before you are considering a hybrid meeting and in general, you should try to initiate as many meetings onsite as possible.
In this blog post, I list all the things I’ve learned about those three kinds of meetings at the company I work at throughout the last three years. I will explain when to initiate which meeting.
Online Meetings
When talking about an online meeting, all participants meet in an online video call. Each person joins the call from their laptop, regardless, of whether several people are at the same place. Everyone sits in front of their own laptop.
What Are the Advantages?
Obviously: the independence of location. We can join a meeting from everywhere in the world, as long as there is stable WIFI. During the covid lockdown phase, an online meeting was a great way to overcome local distances and still be able to work. Today online meetings are useful for everyone who stays in a different place or can’t come to the office for other reasons.
What Needs to Be Considered?
Most social interactions we know from our everyday life, are left out of an online meeting. There is no opportunity to have a coffee break with someone you haven’t seen in a while. A joke, a movement, a look — all that is missing or can simply not be understood.
Often times participants have to talk one after the other. A natural development of a conversation, where two people talk at the same time or some might be louder than others, can simply not take place in an online meeting, since the video call software would automatically mute one person or everyone is equally loud.
In any case, the way of talking in an online meeting does not correspond to our natural verbal and non-verbal communication.
Online Meetings often tempt us to take few or too short breaks. While in fact, online meetings are usually even more exhausting than onsite meetings. Once you exceed a meeting duration of 80 minutes, I highly recommend taking a break in between.
The more participants a meeting has, the harder it gets to create an actual conversation. A professional exchange works well with up to four people. Once the number of participants rises, the number of silent people rises as well. Therefore, it should be considered well in advance, which purpose the online meeting should fulfill and whether that is possible with the number of participants.
We are more different than we think: People who are stronger when communicating non-verbally might be left out more quickly in an online meeting, thus holding back faster than others. Not because they are shy but rather because their preferred medium of communication can suddenly barely be used anymore. In online meetings, the focus lies usually on what was said and what was not, but rarely on what was mentioned between the lines. On the other hand, participants who are very strong verbal communicators might not experience an online meeting as limiting as others.
When Are Online Meetings Useful?
Online meetings make the most sense, when:
- Participants know each other already or this aspect is irrelevant in general.
- Social interaction is not relevant to help the meeting fulfill its purpose.
- The procedure of the meeting is routine and well-known to all participants.
- There will be a professional exchange with up to four people.
- There is no need for a professional exchange, and you are rather having a report, an update, a lecture, or else.
- All participants should have the same technical conditions.
Note: Meetings, which take at least 2 hours and require collaboration, should ideally take place onsite.
Onsite Meetings
We talk about an onsite meeting when all participants are at the same place.
What Are the Advantages?
You will have a natural conversation development. Non-verbal communication can be considered again, and social interactions have a big influence on group dynamics.
What Needs to Be Considered?
It does not matter if the place you are meeting at is the office, a café, or someone’s backyard. The important thing is that everyone can communicate naturally with each other. Verbal and non-verbal.
Being in the same place means that everyone can decide for themselves how much closeness and distance they want to allow. Do I want to be in the middle of everything right now or do I prefer observing everything from the side? An online meeting does not give you the chance to make that decision. You either join the video call or you don’t.
Onsite meetings promote social interactions and conversations will happen naturally. Something that needs to be initiated artificially in an online meeting (through the agenda point, a break-out session, or else).
We are more different than we think: Participants who don’t enjoy contacting others might feel very uncomfortable in an onsite meeting. As well as highly sensitive people who will perceive onsite meetings as extremely exhausting and unpleasant due to the uncontrollable stimuli that are constantly there (which can be reduced at home, e.g., noise, light, etc.). Also, there are colleagues who prefer written communication as it is easier for them to get their point across in a chat. Those people might feel more comfortable in an online meeting as well.
When Are Onsite Meetings Useful?
Onsite meetings are always useful. Especially considering the following:
- The participants want to get to know each other.
- The purpose of the meeting requires the collaboration of the participants.
- The meeting is a workshop or a training, where interaction between participants is needed.
- The meeting is supposed to create a setting that allows a professional exchange with more than four people.
- All participants are supposed to have the same preconditions for social interactions.
Note: The duration, the number of participants and the necessity of collaboration in a meeting are important indicators whether to have a meeting onsite or not.
Hybrid Meetings
We talk about a hybrid meeting when at least two participants are joining the video call in the same room through the same device (e.g., a meeting room) and at least one person joins from a different place.
What Are the Advantages?
People who are not in the office can still join a meeting.
What Needs to Be Considered?
To have a well-working hybrid meeting you need a technical setup that guarantees high quality in image and sound. The video call participants (I will call them zoomies*) need to have a very clear and loud sound to follow the conversation as if they were in the same room, otherwise they will lose track of the content and have a very hard time involving themselves. The same applies to the camera. If the picture of the participants onsite (let’s call them roomies*) is too fuzzy or too small, it is extremely hard for the zoomies to understand what’s going on and they fall into the role of an audience rather than a participant. I guess this goes without saying, still: If you are having a meeting that needs collaboration this setting is extremely counterproductive.
To prevent this from happening you should check the technical setup beforehand and ask your colleagues from IT for support if needed.
The zoomies’ auditory and visual senses are much more weakly addressed in a hybrid meeting than those for the roomies. All the other zoomies’ senses are not approached at all. This is actually a big difference since the roomies are likely to have the full experience of all their senses by being in the same room with others.
Hybrid meetings split the participants into two groups: onsite and online. The communication and social interaction between the roomies are hardly noticeable for the zoomies. Zoomies are often excluded from interpersonal aspects and might start their own way of communicating with each other (often the chat). The zoomies must be addressed specifically to be brought into the conversation or must actively demand that they be an active part of the meeting. All participants and the facilitators have the responsibility to always include the zoomies (in break chats as well). This can help ensure that the conversation and group dynamics are not overly affected by the separation of participants.
Hybrid meetings can barely assure equality between participants. Zoomies and roomies will experience the same meeting very differently. Depending on the personality that can happen as well in the other meetings (as explained above). Yet, splitting the participants from the very beginning can have a much bigger impact on the participation and thus on the quality of the results this meeting will bring.
When Are Hybrid Meetings Useful?
Hybrid meetings can be scheduled, when:
- A social interaction won’t be relevant or necessary for the purpose of the meeting.
- There won’t be any collaboration.
- It is just about a quick exchange of information.
- The split into two groups won’t be hindering to fulfill the meetings’ purpose.
Note: You should prefer shorter meetings of 50 minutes when having a hybrid set up.
Conclusion
Before you plan the next meeting, clarify its purpose first, and then check which meeting could support fulfilling this purpose.
Please remember: a hybrid meeting is not a fair trade-off to include zoomies in a meeting. It will always be a separation between participants. Try to avoid hybrid meetings and have an online meeting instead to at least guarantee fair initial conditions.
Your decision about the meeting type should always be based on the purpose of the meeting (not the availability of participants, that is a secondary consideration). There is no meeting type that suits every personality type. It is therefore helpful to check with the participants beforehand about what makes them feel most comfortable. Ideally, you consider that and at least switch between remote and onsite meetings.
This article consists of my personal recommendations and builds upon the assumption that you can have meetings in the office (respecting covid health policies).
*I snitched that idea from Judy Rees’ article How to Make Hybrid Meetings Not Suck
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