With omicron and other COVID-19 variants circulating, it seems remote
work could be with us for the foreseeable future. And yes, that means
even more Zoom meetings. Hybrid meetings present their own sets of
challenges. How can business managers create better productivity and
bring their virtual meetings to the next level?
Catherine Mattiske is a thought leader in virtual team management and a
global business educator who has spent 30 years laser-focused on
providing solutions to drive employee productivity. Author of the “Inner Genius”
book and e-suite, providing individuals with a personalized blueprint
for optimal communication, Catherine shares these six tips she recently
contributed to
CEOWorld.biz on How to Bring Your Hybrid Meetings to the Next Level:
Setting goals and objectives for meetings, a longtime best meeting practice, is probably twice as important in a hybrid setting. Share goals ahead of the meeting so that everyone can come prepared to contribute. Participants should also know in advance who has called the meeting, its purpose, and how all involved will know when the objective has been met.
So that everyone feels that they are equally valued, it is crucial to
ensure that your video conferencing platform allows every virtual
meeting participant’s face to be displayed clearly on the meeting room
display, and that the audio support can make their opinions and insights
clearly heard by all participants.
Assign each virtual participant an “in-room avatar”: an employee (or
fellow participant) who acts as their physical presence in the meeting
room as required. Whether via text, chat, or phone, they will have a
private line of communication constantly available throughout the
meeting.
It is also helpful to establish ground rules at the beginning of the meeting, and then conduct an icebreaker that everyone contributes to.
A great way to have all participants feel like they are part of the same
team is to involve everyone with live word clouds. When participants
are enabled to submit their one-word answers or ideas on a live
broadcast, they can see what other employees are thinking and
collaborate to create a strong sense of community, regardless of
location. In addition, word cloud polls are great for inclusive
icebreakers that get everyone involved from the start of a meeting.
It is hard enough in an all-in-room or an all-virtual environment to communicate effectively and efficiently. However, in a hybrid environment, communication is even more challenging. Facilitators risk wasting time, causing confusion, and being inefficient with time and meeting outputs. Specific examples of this in real life are doubling back over earlier conversations, asking clarifying questions, not meeting the goals of the team, disengaged meeting participants, side-meetings after the meeting, recurring meetings without progress, and so forth. A solution to this problem is learning communication preferences of each team member and translating those messages. You can view a simple profile to help your team members understand their different archetypes and communication preferences at
thegeniusquotient.com.
