Blog by Maia Nikolova

I will start off by saying that running hybrid workshops is hard work! Much harder than running workshops fully in person OR equally fully virtually. Let’s not kid ourselves thinking that you need the same type and amount of preparations when half the participants are in the room and half online. Half & half = double the effort. This is how maths works when it comes to running workshops in a hybrid world.

Now, I will be the first to say that I fully support and endorse hybrid workshops. This is the reality of our ways of working in 2022 and we can either fully embrace it or try to go back to “the good old days of being all in the same room” or we can make the experience more straightforward from an organisational perspective and make them fully virtual. However, you end up losing something in either scenario and I really think that hybrid workshops make for a more engaged and inclusive audience (more on that later).

Here are my key learnings and tips for you for running hybrid workshops:

A)On-site — do your usual checks and have the usual things (post-its, sharpies, enough chairs, etc.) BUT most importantly test the technology. Does the microphone work or does it sound like you are under water? If you sit on the far end of the room and speak — can people still hear you and see you? Can you share screens easily, etc. I had to learn the hard way and no matter how much I tested, I still struggled during the workshop and I wish I had taken more time to do a few more test runs.

B)Virtual — Can you record the meeting (if you need to)? Does the breakout option work (if you need it)? Can you hear people in the room?

C) Hybrid — what tools would you use for true collaboration? Make a choice and communicate to the participants ahead of time — in my case it was a Google Jamboard that I sent out ahead of time

3. Introductions — of course you always do introductions when you are in person but somehow in the anxiety and adrenaline of it all — I forgot to ask to introduce everyone who was in the room to the people online and vice versa. It is much easier virtually because you see the name of the person on the screen already.

4. Set clear break times — again, this is a lot easier if you are all together in a room or all virtual because you as a facilitator will know when it’s a natural breakpoint. I had a 10 minute break set in my agenda but I was the facilitator on-site and because the groups in the room naturally finished a bit earlier on one of their exercises they had already taken a break (getting a little snack/tea, etc.) so when we all got back together online I naturally wanted to press on. I am glad my co-facilitator (on the virtual side) asked for a break so the whole group can recharge their batteries.

5. Circulate all guidance / house rules docs in advance: outline the problems you want to solve and familiarise your groups with how they will work together in advance. Again, if everyone was in the room together you could probably skip this step and explain things verbally or have a few post-its on the walls — not quite as easy as when you are in a hybrid setting — and the quality of the microphone might be quite patchy.

Ok, these are all great tips but is it worth the trouble and can I just ask everyone to dial in remotely or come to the office? I am sure everyone has a different opinion on this. For me — it was a very valuable experience and I had a much better engagement than if I had run it in either one or the other. I had booked the workshops weeks in advance but alas — train strikes….well struck… and so did COVID (again)…. and so did the heatwave.

Various obstacles kept cropping up that we have all experienced this summer and having a hybrid setting allowed for people to join remotely but also — some people just really wanted the in-person interaction and I didn’t want to take away completely that option either. It allowed us to get to know each other in the breaks, have a few snacks together and to go to the pub afterwards and how can you not like that on a nice summer evening.

I am curious to hear your experiences running hybrid workshops and what other tips you have?