Two weeks ago at TEC 2021 Anna Németh-Szabó and I did a really fun session for Systems Administrators. In the session we covered Inclusive Communication tactics and tied these concepts into Hybrid Meetings. The session was live and we had a really active Q&A Session. We are really happy with the turnout and appreciated everyone’s contributions. Plans are in the works to expand on the topics we covered and we both want to provide more support for Equality & Inclusion topics. Stay tuned!
In this post I wanted to more formally tie Hybrid Meetings into inclusion. When we opened the session, we talked about the importance of Inclusive Communications and the business outcomes. Regardless of your personal views, the business outcome of being inclusive, and getting the best work from colleagues is clear. Simply put, if you are a mean jerk, who will listen to what you have to say? Where so often in IT we need our user community to follow instructions, or simply just read our emails, you want your message to be clear and without noise. When you are successful, you are moving your programs forward, which in turn helps your own personal goals.
This same mantra also applies to hybrid meetings. Including remote attendees used to be reserved for someone who could not make it . . . and usually for a serious problem. It was accepted that their experience would be limited. Frankly, for years we kept it this way to encourage in person attendance except for significant illness or grounded planes. With offices being at reduced capacity, meetings rooms staying at reduced levels, and some people not returning to an office at all, we need to ensure people inside and outside of the conference room can express their ideas and fully participate.
What can be done?
In the session, particularly in the Q&A we talked a lot about this topic. (There is also a good complimentary article on the Quest blog here: https://www.quest.com/community/blogs/b/microsoft-platform-management/posts/effective-communications-inclusion-and-hybrid-meetings-will-pave-the-way)
To continue the common theme, we want our messages to be heard, and want to hear from everyone. In hybrid meetings we want our remote attendees and in person attendees to be on an equal playing field. If you are starting to do a lot of hybrid meetings, take the time to see how you can make this happen. Interview people both in the room and at home in a 1:1 basis. Together work through processes and rules that ensure everyone can collaborate. As someone who is quite loud, these rules help ensure that I respect the rest of the room and everyone can get a chance to express themselves.
If you would like to view the recording from our session, and pick up on Anna and my top tips, you can view it here: Inclusive Communications & Meetings (quest.com)
If you have your own tips for hybrid meetings, comment below!
