So you’re attending a hybrid meeting

Hybird.

It’s not just for cars, ligers or plumcots.

We shouldn’t play a drinking game where we drink when we hear the talking heads on the TV mention the words “hybrid work” or “hybrid meeting.” We’d be wasted in no time.

Hybrid work is where we’re at right now — for better or for worse. As the pandemic rages on and full return to office buildings continue to be put on hold or rescheduled indefinitely, this is what we now call “normal.”

Plenty has been written about how to conduct hybrid meetings — lots of tools, tips and tricks. However, what does it mean to be a good attendee at a hybrid meeting?

Before the meeting

First, know why you are attending a meeting. There are plenty of meetings that could have been an email. You got invited to a meeting. That means that your voice and presence are valued. Show up that way — with value — versus with dread.

Assuming that an agenda was sent out ahead of the meeting, make sure you know what will be discussed or accomplished at the meeting. Do your homework ahead of time and prep anything you might be asked to comment on or present.

If you are attending the meeting from a location other than your office building: log on a few minutes early. There’s a couple reasons for this:

1. You want to make sure all the tech works — your video, your microphone, any annotation tools and the chat function. We know there are often some delays due to the lags in technology and internet bandwidth. Anything you can do ahead of time to minimize these kinds of distractions will help the meeting run smoothly.

2. This is a nice opportunity to network with your colleagues. We can agree this may be a bit awkward. However, one of the things that people miss about everyone working in the same building is the drive-by conversations that happened in hallways, lunchrooms and elevator bays. Engaging in some chit-chat will not kill you. Talk about the weather! It’s a universal conversation starter. But I bet after a while, when logging on a couple minutes early becomes commonplace, the pre-meeting chat won’t feel forced.

If you are attending the meeting from your office building: log on a few minutes early. There’s a couple reasons for this:

1. Depending if you are logging in from your own computer or if you are using a conference room with a camera, you want to have ample time to get connected and be sure the technology works.

2. This is a nice opportunity to network with colleagues. Being available when your colleagues are logging in from another location gives you the chance to catch up and chat before the meeting starts. You’re a friendly face they will see as they are also logging in.

During the meeting

During the hybrid meeting, there are certain expectations all attendees can adhere to. One of the most important ones is to be present. The desire to multitask is a big one — but resist. If you’re able to be on camera regardless of location, do that! It will not only allow your colleagues to see your face (where they also might be able to read some non-verbals), but it also helps to keep you accountable to showing up at the meeting as your whole self and not someone who is also looking at Instagram or TikTok. Remember, you were invited to the meeting for a reason.

As a best practice, allow the participants who are not in the office building to respond first when the opportunity for questions or comments arise. This may be a departure for you if you’ve been accustomed to speaking up first in in-person meetings. Yielding the virtual floor to those colleagues gives them the time and space to get their voices heard. Being away from the office can often feel isolating but creating that space for them to be heard first can feel really good.

If technological difficulties arise during the meeting — someone’s on mute, their mic is breaking up because of a poor connection, etc. — try to troubleshoot as swiftly and light-heartedly as possible. These issues are commonplace and generally speaking, are not anyone’s “fault.” Extend grace and try to resolve as best as you’re able.

After the meeting

After the meeting, if there are take-aways and to-dos, confirm all attendees know what they need to do as well as the plan for following up. If you attended the meeting in the office building, if any post-meeting conversations happen on the way back to your desks, make sure you loop others in via email, a quick text or phone call. This goes back to the drive-by conversations that folks miss about all working together in-person. There are ways to bridge the gaps that happen. The biggest way is with clear and transparent conversations. “Gatekeeping” or keeping information from others, is a sad way to do business — especially in a hybrid meeting world. So, just don’t do it.

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Hybrid meetings are here to stay. These tips are here to help get you started. Ultimately, the hope is that your teams and meetings will get into a groove or a flow and they will be as normal as schlepping your laptop to a conference room for a weekly meeting when we all worked in an office building.

Change is hard and we’ve been dealing with nothing BUT change for the last couple of years. Grace is the name of the game here. Some of us adjust more easily than others. There is no timeline with this so take your time, adapt and just be good to each other.