The following are helpful tips for those who are managing meetings of a Hybrid nature, and what a host/manager should do to help facilitate a smooth and seamless meeting.
Managing a Hybrid Meeting
Hosting hybrid meetings or events is a great way to be inclusive and increase participation in meetings by allowing attendees to connect remotely, but when planning a larger or more complicated meeting using a web conferencing platform, it is important to keep several things in mind.
Be Aware of the Technology
If you are utilizing one of EMCC’s large meeting spaces, it is important to understand the capabilities of the technology in the space you are in. Each space has different capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages. Please reference the following KB (Knowledge Base) Articles below for details.
- Enabling Auto-Captioning for Online Meetings
- Hybrid Meeting Platforms
- Campus Large Meeting Spaces
Handouts and Activities
Any activities should be designed so that both can participate.
If there are paper handouts, be sure to have digital copies so they can be shared with remote attendees
If there will be breakout sessions, it is important to be familiar with the breakout session feature of the web conferencing platform you are using
Looking for Raised Hands
It can be difficult to know when to speak when participants may not be able to see each other. The “Raise Hand” feature can be used to avoid talking over others. The participant list should be monitored so that participants who raise their hand can be called upon to discuss their item at the appropriate time. This can be done by using a secondary host or by displaying the participant list on the projection screen in the meeting room.
Monitoring chat
Depending on the meeting ground rules, remote users often submit questions in the chat. In meetings where this is the accepted way to submit questions or comments, it is important to monitor the chat. This can be done by having a secondary host monitor it or to display the chat window on the projection screen.
Setting Expectations for the Meeting
It can be difficult to manage a large hybrid meeting without a common set of expectations for how to participate. Discuss expectations like raising your hand and whether the chat is being monitored at the beginning of the meeting so that everyone has a common understanding of how to participate.