Meetings in hybrid and remote workplaces are quite different from those held entirely in person, with unique benefits and challenges. For instance, you can share important information directly on attendees' screens, but you can't always guarantee that they're paying attention.
Hybrid meetings are essential to coordinating a distributed workforce. Unfortunately, unproductive meetings waste company time and can send the wrong message to employees. Therefore, you should create a meeting agenda featuring key goals and details to keep your discussions organized and productive.
How Are Meeting Agendas Being Redefined in Hybrid Settings?
A hybrid meeting structure can bring new perspectives and opportunities to your meeting agenda. First, remote meetings let you include more attendees, including long-distance employees and workers with complicated schedules. As a result, you can cover more discussion topics and potentially condense multiple meetings into a single event for better productivity.
Furthermore, virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet let you maximize different agenda items. For example, you don't need printed papers, projectors, or stuffy conversations to present information. Instead, you can bring your agenda items to life by seamlessly sharing your screen. These features let you walk through the latest designs, cover more details, brainstorm together, and more.
Benefits of Having Agendas for Hybrid Meetings
Setting up a meeting agenda keeps you accountable, so you stay on track and don't forget anything important. Falling behind can cause you to skip agenda items or overlook teammates' communication, especially in hybrid meetings, where messages and voices can easily be overlooked, so you should organize your goals beforehand to keep your meeting discussions productive.
Additionally, you may need to share your meeting goals with your team ahead of time to establish talking points, agenda items, and other expectations. This gives each employee time to prepare additional thoughts, compile necessary information, and consider their questions without switching tabs mid-meeting.
Setting an agenda can benefit hybrid meetings by:
- Keeping your hybrid meetings on track
- Helping you organize meeting notes
- Reminding you of meeting topics
- Helping you track attendance, including when people enter and exit the meeting room
- Helping you assign clear agenda action items with messages and chats
- Letting you integrate icebreakers and warm-ups
- Helping you focus on remote teams’ needs and opinions
- Establishing a backup plan if you're absent
Challenges of Creating and Using Agendas for Hybrid Meetings
Hybrid meetings put your agenda right in front of attendees' eyes. Unfortunately, various distractions, from pets to children, can keep meeting participants from focusing on video calls.
Many team leaders use group activities and icebreaker discussions for more engaging and agile meetings. For example, you could begin your meeting itinerary by asking participants to introduce their names and interesting facts about themselves. This makes hybrid and remote workers more acquainted and comfortable using their microphones.
Even outside of meetings, coordination and scheduling remain many hybrid employers' biggest challenges. Establishing an organized meeting itinerary helps you coordinate with employees and shows them you're dedicated to making their jobs easier. As a result, you may improve your hybrid employee engagement and productivity.
What Should an Effective Meeting Agenda Contain?
The specific items your agenda should include will depend on the type of meeting you're holding. Many team-building meetings require everyone to be engaged and involved, while information-focused discussions may need only a few speakers. So you should consider your goals, available time, and number of meeting attendees before writing your itinerary.
Hybrid agenda items should contain at least a few engaging activities to keep attendees interested. Since remote settings limit your non-verbal communication, you should also take extra time for discussions and questions. Efficient meetings may include the following agenda items:
- Taking verbal or non-verbal attendance
- Participating in icebreaker activities
- Encouraging team shout-outs
- Tracking goals and objectives
- Presenting information through screen sharing
- Assigning action items
- Reviewing meeting notes
- Leaving space for questions and concerns
You may also include an agenda item at the beginning of your meeting to address microphone and camera usage. Discussing this during or before the meeting will keep everyone on the same page.
How Agendas Are Adapting to Hybrid Team Dynamics
Hybrid workplaces are still actively changing with new technology, better practices, and a greater understanding of employees' needs. Day-to-day workplace responsibilities such as meetings and messaging play a critical role in many hybrid work processes.
Like most other hybrid practices, the best meeting agenda formats will likely continue to evolve, so you should frequently reconsider your agenda's outline based on ongoing shifts to cater to your hybrid team.
