Getting the Most Out of Your Hybrid Meeting

First published: July 27, 2022 @ 6:00 pm

There are many approaches to hybrid meetings. It is easy to get carried away and think that a hybrid meeting is all that there is.

However, it is important to remember that a hybrid meeting is just one part of the overall picture of delivering on the future state vision.

In this post, we will take you through the core elements of what a good hybrid meeting looks like and why it matters.

We will also provide a framework for helping you deliver the best possible hybrid meetings with minimal effort and maximum results.

Why Do We Need A Hybrid Meeting?

The purpose of any excellent project should be to achieve results (see our post on value creation).

In many projects, we will achieve these results through some form of communication between teams or departments.

A successful project team has to communicate with their stakeholders effectively so that they can take action on important items, such as new features, design changes, technical decisions, etc.

This is where we come across another problem: time!

The current time pressure in IT means that we have less time than ever before to communicate effectively between teams or departments within our organization.

As an industry, we need more effective ways of communicating our vision and requirements between different groups within an organization so that we can move the project forward.

Besides this, the size of our projects has increased. With the increased workload, we are looking for ways to optimize our time and reduce communication overhead.

This is where a hybrid meeting comes in.

What is a Hybrid Meeting?

A hybrid meeting combines elements of both face-to-face meetings and webinars. It provides a flexible format that can achieve maximum results in a minimum time with minimum cost.

A hybrid meeting will save you time by eliminating some of the logistics associated with traditional meetings. It will also save you money by reducing travel costs.

The hybrid meeting format also helps keep your team focused on achieving results by allowing them to see the other teams’ input during the meeting.

However, it does not require them to sit in front of their computer screens for hours on end.

Instead, they can easily turn off their computers and continue working after the meeting is over!

Getting the Most Out of Your Hybrid Meeting

1. Get the right people together

When planning a hybrid meeting, it is important to have the right people in the room.

The best way to do this is to plan your meeting in such a way that you invite all of your stakeholders.

Besides this, try to have people with different backgrounds and experiences in the room so that you can get a wide range of views on what is happening.

Having multiple perspectives can help you get more ideas and input on how to achieve your vision.

This also allows you to see if any opposing views are valid or if they are simply opinions that need to be challenged.

2. Prepare Your Stakeholders

Before your meeting, it is important that you think about who will attend and prepare them for what they will experience during the meeting.

This may sound obvious, but it is easy for people’s expectations of a hybrid meeting to get out of hand.

You should try to educate your stakeholders about what a hybrid meeting looks like.

Explain why it is better than traditional meetings (e.g., more focused on results rather than process) and why they should be involved.

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3. Create a Vision for Your Meeting

The first thing you should do at the start of your meeting is to create a vision for the meeting.

You should have a shared understanding of what you want to achieve from the meeting and why it is important for you to get there.

In addition, communicate this vision with your stakeholders so that everyone can see what is going on.

To help you with this, try creating an agenda or document which lists all the topics that are going to be discussed in your meeting.

This will also serve as a record of what you discussed. The agenda should include key milestones or goals so that people know where they are in relation to those goals.

If people know where they are, then they can start working towards achieving those goals right from the start!

4. Prepare Your Meeting Format and Tools

The first thing you should do when preparing your meeting format is to decide what the main purpose of the meeting is.

Is it to create a vision, to decide on a new product, to decide on a new technology, or are you simply having a status update?

Once you have decided on the purpose of your meeting, you can then prepare the tools and resources that you will use.

For example, if your purpose is to create a vision for your organization, then you will need to have something visual (e.g., diagrams) which help people visualize what they are trying to achieve.

In addition, there may be some work which needs to be done behind the scenes (e.g., creating documentation).

Here, use some digital tools such as Trello or Evernote, which allow people to share information and comments in real time.

This way everyone can contribute and help each other out during the meeting!

Struggling With Your Hybrid Projects?

As you can see, there are many ways to deliver on your vision. The hybrid meeting is just one of them and there are many others.

It is important to understand that not all meetings need to be the same and that you should use the format for your meeting.

If you are struggling with your project and you need help, then get in touch with us at WorkDeputy!