As managers in this hybrid (if not fully virtual) world, we need to be sure that time in meetings is used effectively and that when leading a virtual event, things will flow as expected while granting an effective participation to all the audience, wherever is located.
Is not important if is your first time leading a remote/hybrid meeting or if you do it often: the reality is that, most of all, you need to rely on collaboration both in setting it up and in handling the discussion.
The things to consider all in all are not so far from what we do when meeting physically but the “remote factor” risks to make them over complicated.
So what do we need to keep in mind?
Technology is an enabler but not equal to all
You think “tech” and you imagine all the world has access to similar platforms, same conditions and bandwidth. Is not the case: people could have very different setups and could be in a situation (e.g. driving) where they are limited in getting a full experience.
We all have experienced difficulties in connection or people running late for technical issues or wrong access information. What technological problems could arise for participants? In particular, this is a point of absolute importance, given the different logistical and technological conditions in which many companies operate. We, as managers, must have the sensitivity to understand which are the best tools that effectively allow us to share content and opinions. And sometimes is worth also the good old phone call rather than having a bumpy teams video call where half of the time is lost in connecting.
Focus on content
You need to deliver something, either a presentation, a speech or a discussion. In any case you need to understand the agenda and what are the relevant points to be touched. Will be a one way presentation with a specific Q&A moment or will it be an interactive one? Same content in this two cases needs to be crafted differently so to be sure to cover everything and leave adequate space to discussion.
Do a rehearsal and imagine the possible interactions
There’s nothing funny in handling an unexpected interaction and not having what is needed at hand. As a leader you cannot refuse the discussion nor you can avoid it for long time. This kind of issues are in any case likely to happen but having secured some scenarios before starting is worth a try: what are the facts/issues that can block discussions and what is needed to keep them going? What possible blockers and workarounds?
Free yourself by having helping hands
More than in person meetings you need to stay focused on content rather than execution so you may also want to have a co-facilitator who can take the lead in the discussion in certain sessions, or support who deals with technology or engage people.
I do normally find also more appealing, when possible, presentations where there is not a single presenter.
This clearly adds an enablement but at same time requires a further planning.
Consider what roles each of you will play during the session and during the different sub-streams, avoiding overlaps or clashes. Do a planning of the development of the overall discussion so that you both have clear when to step in and to step out. Define a common timetable to stick to and analyse where you can recover time in case one of the two goes longer than expected. Be clear on who is handling the tech part so that the other can concentrate on delivering content: this role can be also alternated (when one presenting, the other support and viceversa).
