How to Do Hybrid Meetings Right | Christine vs. Work

0:01Juraj Holub:This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Hybrid work. It's a mix of remote and in-person working. It's a reality for a lot of people right now and for the foreseeable future.

0:35Actually, here at HBR, we just started working.

0:38Juraj Holub:Yeah, hybrid's happening and I'm not prepared at all. So look, last year when we were all working remotely and on video calls and stuff, we were kind of made equal in a good way in terms of visibility. But I'm worried with hybrid, it's not going to stay that way. So I have so many questions, but essentially, if you're having a meeting and you have people in the room and you have people dialing in, like, how do you make sure that everyone feels heard, everyone feels included, and no one feels like a second class citizen in this hybrid world? If hybrid's happening to you, now is the crucial time to start building those good habits before old ones start creeping back in.

1:17Let's do hybrid right.

1:29Before we start, a brief word from our sponsor. We all want better ways to work. Confluence, the leading team collaboration software, keeps your whole company in sync. Confluence is one place where you can create, collaborate, and share work, so you can spend less time meeting and more time doing. Get it free today at Atlassian.com slash meet less. I believe there is a general consensus that the future of work will be hybrid. But the funny thing is that no one knows exactly how it will look. That's Uri Holub. He's the VP of brand and communications at Slido. And he also holds the title of chief meeting designer.

2:07He thought a lot about meeting design, virtual events, and remote work culture. I like to use this phrase that there will be a 50 shades of hybrid, meaning that there will be all sorts of scenarios like bringing people back for two days or just you know coming back to the office completely optionally and using the space as a you know collaboration area but nonetheless like with any other you know work setup meetings will play a major role everyone is getting really anxious about hybrid meetings because the last thing they want to do is you know accidentally exclude people who are coming in remotely because they're not physically there, but you know, it's really easy to do, unfortunately.

2:50So on top of the human problem, there's also the technical stuff. You as a meeting host, you are, you know, three in one, you are a content creator, you are a facilitator, and at the same time, you are an AV technician. And you know, without getting the tech setup right, the rest doesn't really matter. Running a hybrid meeting feels so overwhelming, and I just want a short list of real things I can do, and that will have a positive impact. But please just tell me what the biggest bang for my buck is for hybrid. Uri, I need your help. I think it all starts with a remote first mindset. And let me give you actually like a five tips on how to actually, you know, pull this off.

3:32All right, putting on remote first mindset. Let's go. So this tip is a little awkward in person, but basically the people who are in the office, log in with their own laptop in the meeting room, and then you have the meeting. But it is, you know, with that remote first mindset, really thinking about the people who are logging in remotely because they can see everyone's face clearly, they can get visual cues. What it creates is this kind of an equal experience for everyone.

4:14Once you know what to do, it's not that bad. It is, again, like, why am I staring at my screen again? I could be looking in everyone's faces, but honestly, just try it and ask your remote employees what they think. I mean, their feedback is what you need. All right, I love this tip. It's super easy, it's pretty fun, and honestly, it's what we've been doing when we were in lockdown anyway. Basically, greet the remote people first up and say, hey, welcome to the party. Acknowledge that there are people who are attending this meeting outside of those few who are sitting actually in the room. This one is so great because it's tactical and super specific.

4:57Basically, when you're holding the meeting, look at the participants list and just keep an eye out for anyone who goes off mute. Someone choosing to go off mute is a really good indicator that they might have something to say. So if you see that, just be like, hey, I invite you to share. You're going to miss some things if you're leading the meeting, so ask other people to look out for you. And that way, hopefully, if someone goes off mute, someone is there to see it. This one is a little touchy on the subject of cameras, but basically you just want to invite everyone to turn on their cameras, even just briefly at the start of the meeting.

5:31I mean, it's great to see everyone. And you put a face to a name and it just sort of humanizes the whole experience. If people are uncomfortable, that's fine. Don't push it. It's just this imitation. I would make this optional. Like, don't push people too hard. As I said, there are definitely reasons why the person didn't turn on the camera. So you can say something like that. All right, folks, thanks everybody for joining. If possible, let's just turn on the camera for a moment that they start to see each other, to greet each other, and then turn them off. It would be just a nice gesture to see everyone.

6:02This really helps humanize the experience. It puts a face to the name, and everyone can just sort of greet each other. After that, what you do is your business.

6:13This is all about collecting feedback in real time. So whatever platform you use, there's definitely like a polling function or a chat or emojis or whatever. Bottom line is you got to use these and integrate them into your meeting. And then once you get the results, it helps drive the discussion. You act on that feedback. Can we move on? Like, give me a virtual thumb up. And if you see all those thumbs up, you know, flying from whatever direction, you can see that, okay, all clear. I got your feedback. We can move on. But then there might be a more elaborate situation where you need a deeper feedback.

6:50And I would say, like, go with the life balls. They're really an amazing way how to, again, equalize the experience for everyone. Here's a message from our sponsor, Confluence.

7:05Hi, I'm Jason Fan from Confluence with five tips to make your hybrid meetings more effective. First, ask yourself, do we really need to meet? Meeting fatigue is real, but the right team collaboration tool, like Confluence's open workspace, makes information transparent and readily available to all team members. You can keep your teams in sync and cut down on meetings. Second, use a hybrid meeting tool to give everyone equal access without any permission roadblocks and to encourage more team involvement, more knowledge sharing, and more meaningful collaboration. Next, set an agenda with contributions from the team.

7:41The best hybrid meetings are collaborative. Use status updates, to-do lists, decision-making frameworks, and other templates so that everyone can weigh in. You'll be surprised at how much shorter your meetings will be when issues are dispatched in advance. Fourth, invite only key people. Inviting too many people can make decision-making harder and can suppress participation. For a productive conversation, try to keep your team meetings to 10 essential stakeholders or fewer. Last, after the meeting, share your notes. Hybrid meetings stay useful when you post meeting notes, especially decisions and action items, and make them readily available to team members.

8:17Organize them with labels or in shared folders and spaces so that your team can easily dial into the information they need. We use Confluence's open workspace to keep our team meetings organized. Spend less time meeting and more time doing. Get Confluence free today at atlassian.com slash meet less. I almost feel like the typical office meeting. We could get away with being lazy and bad at meetings because at least we are entertained by looking at each other or something. This just sounds like we need to all step up our game to do something we should have been good at in the first place. We are not taught how to lead a conversation, how to facilitate.

8:58We are taught how to present information in a clear way, but that's a completely different skill. To facilitate, to lead a conversation means that you think cautiously and strategically about bringing people in and giving a voice to silent members and moving the conversation forward. I love these tips because five is a very manageable number. But I think the most important thing is just to keep that remote-first mindset. That's really the guiding principle. So basically, put yourself in the shoes of someone logging into that meeting. We all know what that feels like because we all have been there.

9:36And even thinking about that and considering that is more than half the battle. I like to lean towards more positive side of things that we're going to create really and environment where people will be able to thrive no matter where they're joining from. And we're going to combine the best of both worlds. If you're still watching, one, thank you. But two, I'm really curious, like, what do you want me to explore? Like, what problems do you have at work? I love to solve them. Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you have any other ideas, throw them my way. All right. Peace out.