Hybrid collaboration: 8 best practices for 2021

“Fully virtual meetings are great, but no good for creativity. We can only collaborate effectively when we’re in a room together.” This is a common sentiment, but does it hold water? Is creative collaboration really possible in hybrid and virtual settings?

As organisations return to their workplaces, people are looking forward to meeting in the same room as their colleagues to collaborate and innovate. They have found collaboration online difficult or even impossible – but this doesn’t need to be the case. I, along with many others, have been working effectively with remote colleagues for nearly two decades, and even wrote a book about it: Making Workshops Work: Creative Collaboration for Our Time. But deep, creative collaboration is highly unlikely to happen on its own. Indeed, most people have yet to experience a really effective virtual or hybrid workshop and, as a result, they assume it just isn’t possible. But it is. Just keep in mind these dos and don’ts as you prepare:

1. Do be aware of the challenges

If you do nothing, those together in the room will have a built-in advantage over those who are on their own and joining remotely. Those together in a room will be able to experience the full richness of in-person communication with each other, plus pick up the subtleties and nuances of conversation in a way that just isn’t possible virtually. They can also catch up over coffee or around the water cooler for a chat before or after the session, or during breaks. Too often, those in the main room forget about remote participants and remote rooms, as they enjoy discussions between those they can see in person.

2. Do create a level playing field

How can we counteract the in-built advantage for those in the room? There are many options, and here are just a few (find more ideas in the book):

• You can always run workshops with everybody joining remotely so that everyone is in the same boat.
• If most participants will be in the room, it’s helpful to have a physical reminder of remote people so that they can’t be forgotten. Life-size cartoon cutouts of people work really well, especially when each is propped up on a chair at the table.
• In-room buddies for each remote participant can keep them updated, answer their questions and advocate for them in the meeting.
• Think remote-first and always ask remote participants for their input before those in the room.

Keep those not in the room top of mind.