For many businesses, the role of hybrid meetings is increasing as companies look to adapt and capitalize on the global trend towards the hybrid workplace model. Fortunately, when carefully managed, hybrid meetings can offer many of the benefits of in-person meetings while simultaneously leveraging the advantages of remote collaboration.
Read on to find out how hybrid meetings can save time, money, and space, or visit the ViewSonic workplace page for innovative display solutions that support corporate collaboration in all spaces where modern work happens.
Having passed the biggest test in 2020 when companies were suddenly forced to adapt to working from home, it’s safe to say that online meetings have now firmly secured a permanent role in the way we meet. Now, with research indicating that hybrid work will likely emerge as the new optimal workplace model for organizations that can support it, hybrid meetings are set to become the latest meeting format that companies will need to adapt to.
Fortunately, hybrid meetings have the potential to transform how meetings are carried out, and they can offer many of the benefits associated with both remote and in-person meetings. In this article, we explore the concept of hybrid meetings in greater depth, with a particular focus on how they can save time, money, and space.
What is a Hybrid Meeting?
Hybrid meetings occur when a regular in-office meeting includes one or more remote attendees who use video conferencing software to teleport in. An example of this would be a team meeting held in a company conference room, with the CEO joining via conference call on the conference room display.
Hybrid meetings may be used in situations where a company is collaborating with freelancers, consultants, or third-party agencies unable to attend in person, or as an extension of the hybrid work model in which a mix of on-site and off-site workers exist within the same workforce.
As pointed out by Lucid Meetings, even though some people will be physically located together for the meeting, all attendees will need some level of access to virtual technology to engage with those participating remotely. For this reason, it is sometimes said that for meetings, “if anyone is virtual, everyone is virtual”.
For a more detailed breakdown of why more organizations are choosing to go hybrid, read Hybrid Work and the Benefits of Flexible Work Schedules.
Saving Time with Hybrid Meetings
One of the primary benefits of hybrid meetings is their ability to save time for both employees and employers. If meeting attendees can telecommute from wherever they are, issues associated with employees having to physically travel to the workplace or meeting location are immediately removed.
This can be especially important for businesses with employees who would need to travel a significant distance to attend. Instead, the meeting can be organized, invites can be sent, and those remote employees can attend on much shorter notice. As a result, the time from the meeting being planned to the meeting taking place can be greatly reduced.
However, along with a new system comes new challenges. While traditional meetings tend to see a lot of time wasted due to casual chats, hybrid meetings can potentially face time-wasting issues with connectivity, screencasting, and information sharing, placing a large importance on companies to equip meeting rooms and huddles spaces with display solutions that support optimized remote collaboration.
Saving Money with Hybrid Meetings
There are several ways hybrid meetings can save money, from having to devote fewer resources to meeting rooms due to reduced in-person attendance to the large amounts saved on travel, especially in companies with staff who travel internationally for meetings.
However, even larger than the amount saved on travel-related costs such as gas and airfare is the amount of money saved in productive manhours for employees who no longer need to spend time traveling to meetings. Remote workers can now join meetings without even having to leave their chairs, saving hours of accumulated productivity which can be directly measured in financial terms. Worth noting here is the fact that the average commute in the US (and many other countries) has continued to get longer each year and now takes up almost an hour of each day.
Again, these advantages are not a given and instead rely heavily on comprehensive virtual meeting solutions, which may be why over 70% of US executives are planning increased investment in tools for virtual collaboration. For more insights, see How to Choose a Presentation Display for Your Meeting Spaces.
Saving Space with Hybrid Meetings
Aside from saving time and money, hybrid meetings can also be invaluable as a space saver. As remote attendees do not take up any physical space, meetings are no longer restricted by the physical capacity of meeting rooms, helping solve the space problem many companies face when arranging large meetings involving multiple departments.
Having less on-site staff may also make it possible for your business to move into a smaller office space, saving even more money, or it may allow you to use larger meeting rooms for other purposes, essentially expanding your workplace. If the latter describes you, read Collaborative Meeting Spaces: Trends, Types, and Technologies for tips and ideas for how to use the space effectively.
Hybrid Meeting Solutions by ViewSonic
As hybrid meetings become the new norm, ViewSonic is dedicated to providing hardware and software solutions that ensure efficient starts, equal representation for all attendees, and productive ideation, discussion, and collaboration capabilities in meeting rooms of all sizes.
Conference Rooms
Designed to deliver an all-in-one corporate collaboration solution, the ViewBoard 70 series expertly facilitates hybrid meetings through seamless and secure connectivity via wired and wireless connections, multi-platform video conferencing capability, and advanced interactive collaboration supported by PCAP 20-point touch capability and dual pens that deliver precise annotation with a natural feel.
Combined with myViewBoard software for effective collaboration regardless of location, the ViewBoard 70 series offers a complete solution for interactive hybrid meetings in larger meeting spaces.
Huddle Rooms
For hybrid meetings that start fast and offer multi-person wireless casting, ViewSonic’s CDE series of 4K Ultra HD large-format presentation displays instantly transform any huddle room into a smart, connected space.
Device agnostic and optimized for multiple operating systems such as Microsoft, Apple, Android, and Google Enterprise, the CDE series of displays seamlessly integrate into meeting rooms and huddle spaces to connect on-site and remote workers for quick, efficient, and productive collaboration.
Workstations
For remote workers who spend a lot of time in meetings, ViewSonic’s all-in-one video conferencing monitor delivers an out-of-the-box visual communication solution complete with built-in speakers and microphone, an integrated and adjustable webcam with slide cover, and advanced ergonomic flexibility for optimal positioning. For on-site workers, USB-C docking monitors allow all peripheral devices to connect directly to the display, allowing employees to seamlessly move their laptops between workstations with instant, plug-and-play connectivity to their monitor via a single cable. ViewSonic also offers a range of touchscreen monitors designed to facilitate both online and in-person collaboration.
Final Thoughts
Hybrid meetings play a vital role in meeting the current demand for more flexible work schedules. But beyond facilitating effective collaboration within an agile workforce, hybrid meetings can also benefit organizations through saved time, money, and space. With attendees able to telecommute in, meetings can be arranged almost instantly, money can be saved through reduced gas, airfare, and wasted manhours, and office space can be reimagined and repurposed with fewer employees being physically present.
However, success is still actionable as effective hybrid meetings need to be supported by the right tools. To fully embrace the hybrid model and the benefits of hybrid meetings, organizations will first need to optimize the spaces in which their employees meet to ensure equal representation of remote attendees and productive collaboration and communication between on-site and off-site team members.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in reading How to Implement the Hybrid Workplace Model in Your Company. Or, for more valuable information on hybrid, remote, and mobile work, head to the ViewSonic workplace solutions page.