Technology continues to transform the way we conduct our lives, and one result is the rise of hybrid meetings — that is, meetings that include people attending both in-person and remotely. As business becomes more global and as more companies offer employees the chance to work from home, it’s becoming increasingly important to be able to connect with people wherever they may be. In fact, according to a Cisco survey, more than 90% of meetings in the near future will include someone participating remotely.

Of course, while virtual participation expands opportunities for additional voices to be heard in your meetings, hybrid meetings also present distinct challenges for meeting organisers. Whether it’s simply finding a time that works across various time zones or keeping everyone engaged despite the remote connections, it really helps to know what will give you the know-how needed to run a hybrid meeting. Discover our top hybrid meeting tips below.

How to host a hybrid meeting: Three main challenges

1. Trouble with technology

Hosting a successful meeting that informs and inspires can be a challenge, even when everyone is in the same room together. But when participants are connecting by phone or by Zoom, the technology can sometimes work to reinforce the distance already dividing the remote participant from the rest. Whether it’s bad audio, limited visuals, temporary disconnections, or worse, it can seem like technology creates as many problems as it solves. Avoiding these issues can be as simple as testing your tech beforehand — every time — or preparing a pre-recorded video including key points of your presentation that can be played in the event a live feed is broken. Assign staff to research existing and potential issues — and solid solutions to these.

2. Syncing global schedules

Before you even attempt to connect everyone, simply finding a time that works across time zones can present its own problems. What’s lunch hour for some might be just the right time for others. Connecting people across international markets could challenge anyone, and naturally, the larger your meeting, the bigger your challenges. Handy services like Doodle Poll can help you learn when most of your potential guests, attendees, and speakers are available. For recurring meetings, it’s not out of bounds to ask attendees to adjust their workdays to cover the meeting. It’s a good idea to have a sense of attendees’ typical working hours, especially where international differences may come into play.

3. Giving everyone the same experience

There’s a growing demand among people everywhere to have the same experience remotely as they would in person — or at least as close to it as possible. The key is to identify areas in which the experience can be recreated or enhanced. It’s unlikely anyone will expect you to have coffee and cookies delivered to remote participants’ locations, but when it comes to presentations and visuals, find ways to create similar experiences across mediums. This will help all participants feel equally valued and make your meetings more effective. Don’t forget to address remote attendees throughout the meeting, just as you would those attending in person, so everyone feels part of the action. For example, when opening up the meeting for questions, ask remote attendees by name for any input, comments, or queries.

How to conduct a hybrid meeting: Four best practices

Once you’ve identified the key challenges to conducting a successful hybrid meeting, then it’s simply a matter of applying techniques that will help resolve these challenges.

1. Set yourself up for success

One of the first things to realise is that certain meetings are better suited to hybrid formats than others, and it’s never a good idea to force a square peg into a round hole. Try to keep your hybrid meetings limited to certain kinds of meetings:

  • Brainstorming sessions, where what’s most important is what’s shared vocally — thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.
  • Presentations, knowledge sharing, and trainings, where one or two people are the main speakers and can share any visual elements online.
  • Meetings that bring together multiple companies, where sharing a meeting location might not be convenient for everyone.
  • A large-scale meeting that you want to gate access or offer special admittance to, such as where a prominent guest speaker might be appearing.

2. Plan for effectiveness

Figure out the details as soon as possible so that you have plenty of time to resolve any issues that might arise. Specifically:

  • Determine the size of the meeting, including how many people need to be there, and who they are.
  • Identify the most important stakeholders in the meeting, whether it’s a department head or a company executive, and try to anticipate what concerns they may have.
  • Assign tasks to staff and team members, such as preparing any visuals, distributing any supporting or supplementary materials, and even arranging for refreshments (if the meeting is important enough, you might even consider if there’s delivery available for remote participants).
  • Choose the right platform for virtual attendees, such as Eventbrite or Zoom. There are many options for tickets, marketing, and promotions Eventbrite can offer, which is great for trainings or conferences, while Zoom is a familiar day-to-day option for basic meetings.
  • Decide if you want to charge a price for admission, which might be effective for meetings that include a special, high-profile guest or exclusive information about opportunities guests may be willing to pay for.
  • Be clear on your purpose, so that if the meeting gets off-track — which is quite common — you know exactly in which direction you need to steer the conversation. That way, you’ll save yourself and your team a lot of time.

3. Spread the word

For certain kinds of meetings, no promotion will be necessary, of course — day-to-day or weekly meetings, for example. But for bigger meetings, such as an executive summit, a training, or even a conference, promoting your event can open it up to a wider audience and allow it to potentially have a greater impact. Here’s how to promote a hybrid conference or meeting:

  • First determine what your biggest attraction is, whether it’s hosting a particular speaker, revealing a new product, or whatever else you think will be most attractive to your audience. This will be what you want to highlight first and foremost in your promotional materials.
  • Put your meeting’s format and contents upfront, including any topics of discussion attendees should be prepared for or focus on, and whether you plan on holding an open forum or limit speakers to particular guests. This way, everyone can be on the same page and know what to expect, and you will have a preset measure of success.
  • Create an RSVP, whether through Eventbrite or another platform of choice. (Although Eventbrite does not offer a preset hybrid event option, you can create both a live and a virtual event that you can coordinate together.) With an RSVP, the invitee is committing to your meeting and will be more likely to attend. Without an RSVP, an event or meeting is more easily forgotten about or ignored. Many platforms will generate an RSVP reminder. This can be emailed to invitees as another way to remind them of your meeting and increase participation.

4. Run the meeting like a pro

Hybrid meeting etiquette is everything. Before a meeting starts, there’s inevitably a period in which in-person guests are first getting to their seats, perhaps grabbing coffee or a pastry, and greeting others they may know. This is the chance to make sure your video, audio, and other electronics are functioning properly. When everyone’s at last in their seats and the video screens are on and ready to go, then the meeting can begin. Now is when some tips on how to run a hybrid meeting come in handy:

  • Make sure everyone can be heard and seen, whether they’re in the room or online. It’s especially easy for virtual participants to feel removed from the meeting, so be sure to ask them questions and give them an opportunity to chime in with thoughts or questions.
  • Visualise your space. Remote participants will need to be able to see who’s speaking at any one time, so be sure your camera captures all potential speakers. It can definitely help to have two or more cameras set up to cover as many angles as possible. Alternatively, if feasible, consider having a podium set up so that the camera can be fixed on that location to provide a better visual to your virtual component. Slide shows, video clips, and even memes can provide visual interest that’s easily transferable to remote formats.
  • Designate a tech manager. For really large meetings, it’s smart to put someone who isn’t presenting or talking in charge of running the tech for your meeting. That person should be the one to make sure the camera is on the person presenting, to make sure the audio is muted for non-presenters, to let online guests in from the waiting room, and to monitor the chat room and answer any questions.
  • Maximise your tech. Now that you have a tech manager, be sure to make the most out of the tech you use. Zoom, for example, offers breakout rooms that let large groups divide into smaller ones. Some platforms let you do Q&As, while others offer polls, icebreakers, quizzes, games, and more. See how these can be included in your event. They can help your audience maintain attention by breaking up your event’s rhythm. Otherwise, when it’s simply speaker after speaker, the presentations can too easily blend into one another without any activities to distinctly separate them. Such activities are also a chance to include remote attendees in your event’s schedule, which can go a long way toward making all attendees feel included in the day’s proceedings.
  • Consider an emcee, especially if your meeting or conference has scheduled several different changes of speakers or activities. A master of ceremonies can serve as a point person to let people know when it’s their turn to talk. All too often, speakers will end a presentation without knowing who the mic should be handed to, causing confusion and hesitancy and killing any momentum the meeting may have gathered. An emcee can help resolve this, and can also provide speaker introductions and pause to ask questions at appropriate moments.
  • Keep it moving. Be sure your meeting stays on track, on schedule, and on task. It may be necessary to interrupt if speakers veer off-topic or over their allotted time. It can help to provide everyone with a set agenda so that people can follow along and know what topics are the focus of the discussion and when.
  • Record for posterity. Since you’ve already got a camera set up, it’s a good idea to record the meeting and any visual and audio presentations that were included. Invitees who may not have been able to make the date or time will be able to access the knowledge and information shared in your event, and who knows? You, too, might wish to review what was said or see if you accomplished certain goals.

How to have a hybrid meeting: Step by step

To give you a quick and easy way to make sure your event is on track, we’ve put together a hybrid meeting checklist of key action items you need to accomplish and when. Of course, a lot of the timing of your schedule will depend on the particulars of your event, so adjust the framework to fit your event.

Make a meeting plan (4-6 weeks prior to your hybrid event)

  • Determine who will be invited
  • Choose a date for your meeting
  • Find a location, whether a conference room or something larger
  • Select a host for the virtual portion
  • Decide on ticket pricing
  • Design invites
  • Know your meeting goals

Promote your meeting (2-4 weeks prior to the event)

  • Create marketing materials, such as online ads, pamphlets, and mailers
  • Reach out to your target market with direct emails and phone calls
  • Assign different roles to staff (i.e., tech manager, emcee) and specify their responsibilities

Complete final prep and conduct meeting (1 week to 1 day prior to the event)

  • Finalise speaker schedule
  • Prepare the agenda
  • Test your tech and make sure it’s working
  • Send out meeting reminders and supplementary materials to guests and speakers

Follow up with speakers and attendees (1 day after to two weeks after the event)

  • Thank the speakers and your team
  • Send a link to your event’s recording to any guests who may have RSVP’d but failed to check-in
  • Let guests who did attend know of the recording’s availability so that they can request a copy if they wish
  • Follow up with a recap to guests and speakers (or, if the meeting has a more formal context, meeting minutes)

Find all the hybrid meeting best practices in one place

If you’re hosting a large hybrid meeting, Eventbrite’s virtual events platform can make the online part easier by helping you market the event, invite attendees, get RSVPs, send email reminders, register guests, and more — particularly if it’s a paid event or has attendees from many different organizations or locations.