What can we learn from the medical community about running effective hybrid meetings?
To respond to the pandemic, scientists had to use virtual meetings extensively. They found out that virtual meetings provided the ability to include experts from further afield without incurring significant costs in time, money, or travel.
According to scientists, the benefits of including experts in the field who otherwise may have been unable to attend cannot be understated. This led to multinational collaborative work and rapid developments in research.
What can business teams learn about running effective hybrid meetings from the medical community?
A team of British scientists and healthcare professionals shared practical tips for facilitating productivity and inclusivity at hybrid meetings:
1. Plan in advance: share meeting format (e.g., clearly state an option to join virtually if preferred) and agenda with attendees.
Why? Gives structure and enables attendees plan points to raise during the meeting.
2. Have regular breaks: a 10-minute break every 90 minutes at a minimum, with a longer break every three hours.
Why? Maintains concentration and productivity.
3. Assign a Meeting Chair: defines the rules of participation (how to raise a point and contribute to the discussion), aligns discussion to the agenda, invites attendees to speak, interrupts when multiple people start speaking simultaneously.
Why? Enables equal participation by virtual and onsite participants.
4. Nominate a Moderator: ask an in-person participant (different person than the Chair) to watch for virtual attendees raising their hands, or commenting in the chat box.
Why? Ensures that virtual participants can contribute.
5. Apply closed-loop communication techniques: the Chair or the Moderator should always repeat the questions asked by any attendee (virtual or onsite) for the benefit of other participants. Sometimes they need to clarify points of discussion to ensure that all participants have heard and understood what has been said.
Why? Reduces the risk of error and misunderstanding.
TEAMRADERIE EXPERIENCE FOR BETTER HYBRID MEETINGS
Teamraderie experiences provide a unique opportunity to invite an exceptional expert to have an interactive conversation with your team!
Often, in hybrid meetings, people in the room feel that remote colleagues are disengaged. And remote team members feel excluded.
Meet Stanford University’s Glenn Fajardo, who will help your team shift from blame to collaboration, notice what people feel and why, and adjust their mindset and behaviors.
With Glenn’s guidance, do the exercises that will show your team how to lead better, more connected hybrid meetings and equip themselves for the new era of work.