Hybrid Facilitation
Hybrid Meetings
The word hybrid is in vogue at the moment. Hybrid offices, hybrid cars, hybrid golf clubs, the list goes on. But when it comes to facilitating hybrid meetings, many organizations face the fear of the unknown.
Let’s start with what it is. A hybrid meeting is a meeting with participants attending both virtually and in person. In other words, a group of people will be together in one room, while others will join the conversation through their preferred web conferencing app. It sounds simple, but a lot can go wrong given the number of variables that must go right for the meeting to be a success.
Beyond the technical aspects of running a hybrid meeting, there are a lot of factors to consider: how will you ensure participants who are joining virtually are able to contribute equally to those joining in person? Can you keep online participants engaged? How will you manage breakout groups, if required? What ground rules need to be established? Remember, being at home can have its share of distractions, and online participants are bringing their home life to the rest of the room. These are just a few of the considerations a facilitator will help address during the planning phase of any hybrid meeting.
Intersol has been facilitating hybrid meetings since the days when the speakerphone button was the most cutting-edge virtual meeting software on the market. Today, we work to stay up to date with widely-used virtual collaboration tools. We will work with your organization’s preferred tools to design a meeting that suits your team. For many hybrid engagements, we use a secure, web-based electronic flipchart called FacilitatePro that allows the use of a wide range of decision-making tools, including idea sharing, ranking, sorting, and polling, both in person and online simultaneously.

Returning to a Hybrid Organization
Hybrid meetings will become more popular as organizations transition to a hybrid workplace. Managers have the task of learning new ways to manage a hybrid team, and organization leaders must learn new ways to enforce specific times in the office and at home. Everything is new to everyone, and there will be some bumps and resistance along the way. Intersol provides consulting services on how to successfully manage this change. At Intersol, our experts understand that hybrid meetings are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Each hybrid meeting is unique and requires careful planning. While hybrid is top of mind for many organizations, we recommend speaking with one of our experts to determine if a hybrid solution is the right fit for your project.
Interested in speaking with an Intersol expert about your hybrid requirement? Contact us today.