Managing In Person and Remote Participants in Hybrid Meetings
When hosting hybrid meetings or classes, it can sometimes feel like you are facilitating two meetings at the same time! Here are some tips and things to think about to make your meeting or class as smooth as possible.
Tips for managing the virtual space:
It can be difficult to manage Zoom and a live meeting without a second facilitator to attend to Zoom. A second facilitator can manage access, mute and unmute participants, spotlight content, and keep up with chat. Your second facilitator could be in person or remote.
If you do not have a second facilitator, try these settings for the Zoom meeting to reduce distractions from facilitation:
Mute participants on entry (audio and video)
Allow participants to join before host
Turn off the waiting room
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Turn off chat (or allow chat only to the host). While this could feel restrictive, here are some benefits:
It is difficult to view Chat during the meeting and inattentiveness to it can alienate Zoom participants
Chat creates a dynamic where remote participants can pipe in at random or offer running commentary while in person participants cannot
Be sure that when discussion or questions are allowed in person that you devote time and attention to Zoom participants
Find out from Zoom where to locate these controls
Tips for managing the in-person room:
Make sure the in-person participants are not in the Zoom meeting. If someone needs to also have the Zoom meeting open while in person (for example, the second facilitator), be sure they have muted and turned off laptop speaker sound.
Ensure that those who speak softly speak up (if they are asking a question host can repeat the question; if they are presenting they might stand or come close to the microphone for their portion)
Ask in person audience to be mindful that background noise (shuffling, whispering, side conversations will be especially disorienting to remote participants). If there is food and drink in person, ask participants to open any packages prior to the start of the meeting.
Reduce cross talk and ask people to repeat when they talk over one another (zoom noise cancellation is likely to suppress both voices or to highlight the louder person).