The art of choosing the right meeting format

It's no secret that we have a penchant for Teams. It is the program that has proven to be most valuable for very many jobs in the last year. But when society is now on its way back, it is all the more important that you and your colleagues make specific driving rules for what meeting format should be chosen when. And Teams does not have to be the answer.

We ourselves have experienced that team meetings should not be phased out prematurely, and that some meetings should actually be taken in physical form. Hybrid solutions can also be a good solution for meetings that do not require too much dialogue, but you should choose that format carefully.

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We have come to the conclusion that there are three main elements that should be considered before choosing between a fully digital, physical and hybrid meeting.

  1. Purpose of the meeting: Are you going to discuss strategy or is it a pure information meeting? Will the meeting result in dialogue and discussion or will it be one-on-one talking and presenting? If it is a meeting that requires dialogue and an opening for discussion, we would choose a physical meeting to ensure the flow, that everyone feels they can contribute with their input and that you get to a much greater extent ladder what happens in the room. A lot of non-verbal communication such as body language and the like can be lost if you run a hybrid or digital meeting in such a context.
  2. Number of participants: How many should participate? Are there two in the office and one at home? Then we would go for Teams. It's about the system on the wall being able to get a higher threshold to shoot their thoughts in if the two in the meeting room have a discussion. This despite the fact that everyone must participate. Here is a balancing act that is important to keep in mind.
  3. Degree of importance: How important is it that people participate? If there is a high degree of importance and all participants cannot participate physically, then a hybrid meeting is a good solution. The most important thing then is to ensure that everyone gets their input. It requires a meeting chair who accompanies and gives both speaking time and challenges those in the room and those on the wall.
Set the culture and standard of the meetings

No matter what the format of your meeting, it is important that you and your colleagues set the standard for how you should behave. We have all made our own routines and unwritten rules during the pandemic and at Teams, but it is not certain that these work just as well for the new everyday life.

Therefore, we recommend that you think about the following before the meeting:

The small talk: A good measure to ensure small talk both before, during and after a meeting is to let e.g. camera stand on already from people enter the meeting room if there is to be hybrid meeting. That way, you give people a chance to prepare, set the group and the mood a little, and you feel closer before the meeting starts. This can also have a good effect on discussions during the meeting. This is a nice measure to take towards digital meetings as well, so that you set aside the first minutes to talk loosely. In physical meetings, this happens more naturally.

Set driving rules: If you are going to have a digital or hybrid meeting, should the camera be on throughout the meeting? Should everyone have the sound on so that comments can be hoisted into a natural conversation and should we use a show of hands or the chat to say something? All this is easy to clarify in advance to ensure a seamless meeting and dialogue.

Have a digital tool where you write down: Whether it's a word document on a split screen, a split powerpoint in Sharepoint or Teams or a digital whiteboard is no big deal. The most important thing is that it is just delt. So that everyone sees that their contributions are included and that you are on the same wavelength. The same tools can be used in a physical meeting.

Give everyone room to chat: No matter where you sit, you do not always feel safe enough to say something. Here, the chair of the meeting must take a round through everyone, and pay special attention to the fact that they get to say what they want on the wall as the threshold may feel higher. If you have a fully digital meeting, this is also important. Take an extra round if you are unsure if everyone has had their say.

And now over to how the equipment can assist you in conducting a great meeting! Maybe we have some tips you have not seen before?

What equipment do you need?

So over to the technique - yes, the sometimes frustrating technique. We know how it is. For us, it is important that the equipment is just there. You should not worry about it before leading a meeting. We ensure this with our equipment packages, which are adapted so that everyone can use the equipment and which will create a nice flow no matter what meeting you have.

The most important thing we think you should have on your list is:

  • Good camera which covers the entire meeting room, the table and everyone around. Preferably also with the PIP function that we offer. PIP stands for Picture in Picture where the participant is blown up in a frame in the picture of the meeting room. Perfect for hybrid meetings!
  • Good sound with noise reduction which creates a flow in two-way communication. We offer equipment that captures all dialogue with high quality, while we also fix good sound in the return. We offer everything from built-in speakers in the ceiling that can be invisible, it can also come from the TV, speakers on the table and whatever is best for you.
  • Stable network access that you can trust. We may not be able to take responsibility for those sitting in the home office or anywhere else in the world, but we can ensure a high quality network for you at work. 
  • Good lighting is very important for those on screen to have a good experience. Therefore, lighting in the meeting room is actually something we take into account when we set up your meeting room. This is a move many people forget in planning their setup. 
  • Digital tool for listing, presentation, m.mer. Whether it is a whiteboard, many HDMI cables, or a TV screen you want to use, it is in any case important to use a versatile tool that can be used for presentation, video, dredging with a pen or the like.
  • Can everyone participate in a comfortable way? In the true spirit of digital and hybrid meeting, we must also take a tour of the equipment of those who are not going to sit in the meeting room. Do they have a good enough network, do they have a camera and PC that are suitable for this use, and how is their sound? Should those who are going to use a home office use their own headphones from work instead of AirPods or their own equipment? We have several suggestions for this, just ask us!
  • A skilled and up-to-date technologist on the team that knows what it takes! There are several of us with us, and we are very proud of that. 

Interested in reading more about how we set up meeting rooms? Click here. 

Both the equipment, the culture and the standards that are set are very important on the way to creating a good meeting. We recommend that you talk to those who often lead meetings, or perhaps the whole workplace should get a little introduction to how you want it in the future?

You can have that chat - and in the meantime we can fix your meeting room. Do you have all the equipment you need, and is it set up in a way that allows everyone to use it? Is it seamless and worry-free? Think about it. And remember: All our delivered meeting rooms communicate over encrypted networks - so security is taken care of all the way. If the answer is "no", "yes" or "do not know" we are always available for a chat. Write a little about yourself in the form below, and we will get in touch!