Suddenly Hybrid

Chapter 13Signs of a Healthy Hybrid Transition

Within a hybrid environment, meetings and collaboration are challenging and require effort to ensure success, but it's effort that pays off and can directly impact the bottom line. By allowing employees and their leaders to work from the location that suits them best, organizations are banking on the concept that a happy workforce is a productive one. That being said, even a meeting scientist like Joe is still learning how to make it work.

In a recent hybrid meeting, Joe was asked about halfway through the session to lead a discussion of key issues affecting the reconstitution of in‐person work with flexibility for remote workers. In other words, it was a discussion of hybrid work. Unfortunately, what was designed to be a strategy session was a glowing example of what not to do in hybrid meetings, because up to the point where Joe jumped in, the meeting leader had not done a good job of involving online and remote participants.

Joe started off with a best practice that we mentioned: he addressed the remote attendees first. He informed them that he would love to have their participation, and that he'd give them a minute to turn on their cameras and would ask for their input throughout the conversation. In fact, Joe was proud to lead by example by drawing attention to the virtual attendees – in essence, reminding everyone of all the people in the meeting room, physically and remotely. Joe then proceeded to discuss the challenges ...