Management of Hybrid Meetings
Management of Hybrid Meetings
There is more to explore in this topic. Some of these suggestions are quite detailed, and would not be appropriate for all meetings, especially smaller ones. Feedback on this would be appreciated.
Just as we had to learn in 2020 how to use Zoom effectively, we now need to learn techniques for hybrids.
It’s worth reminding members that we are in new territory here, and request their patience if it is not all as smooth as we would wish.
You may need quite firm management to begin with, in order to be inclusive of all participants.
It helpful to have a host and co-host, one in the room and one on Zoom, in contact by mobile phone.
They can:
o report back on technical difficulties on either side, and keep members informed;
o mute Zoom participants if they have unexpected background noise;
o monitor Zoom chat and feed back to the other host if needed;
o look out for Zoom and room participants who wish to speak (if that is a feature of your meeting), especially the quieter ones – and perhaps politely deter any who are too dominant.
During set-up, in consultation with the Zoom participants, adjust the position and settings of the camera & mic so everyone gets the best sound and view they can. Also remind members in the room to speak to the camera.
o Live transcription is available on Zoom-Pro accounts – it’s not perfect, but may be a useful support for some members. The Zoom-host will need to have enabled it in advance.
We suggest having a register assistant to welcome and check-in the members, so that the person doing tech set-up can concentrate on that.
It might be helpful to indicate on the register, who is in the room, and who on Zoom (we suggest using a ✔️for physically present and a Z for Zoom).
Presentations
o The Zoom-host should discuss with the presenter ahead of the meeting how they wish to present. There is danger of audio feedback if 2 devices in the same room are both on Zoom, unless audio on one is turned off.
o It is good practice for the presenter to send a copy of their PowerPoint or whatever to the Zoom-host in advance, in case of difficulties on the day.
o Muting everyone, then asking the presenter to un-mute is generally helpful.
o Some groups may have several members making short presentations in various ways, for example from websites, photographs, documents. The Zoom-host will need to enable screen-sharing by all participants, and less-experienced members may need help with how to screen-share. Practice beforehand is a good thing if it can be arranged.
Questions and Discussion
o The host and co-host both need to be alert for which members wish to contribute, and may need to manage this quite firmly.
o Zoom participants by now should be used to unmuting before they speak. They may need reminding of the “Raise hand” feature.
o Sometimes it may be better for them to put questions & comments into chat, and for the host or co-host to read them out.
o Room participants may need to wait for a roving mic (if one is available, probably only at larger meetings), move closer to a conference mic, or have their question repeated by the room-host.
Some groups suggest a member removes their facemask when speaking.
Break-time
It is likely that the room-participants will want to move around and chat to each other during the break. It is probably better if the room laptop is muted at this time (remember to unmute it afterwards) so the Zoom-participants can chat amongst themselves, too.