Keeping you connected in today’s hybrid world

Some people are still working from home, some have returned to the office, some are doing a bit of both, and some are just always on the go. In this blog, we look at how you can successfully create and maintain connections in today’s hybrid world.

Why hybrid?

Running a meeting, AGM or any other event in a hybrid format offers many benefits. They empower people from across the world to engage and collaborate no matter where they’re based, without the travelling time and costs. They’re also better for the environment, with the reduced travel able to drastically reduce your carbon footprint. Plus, the flexibility that they offer contributes towards a better work-life balance, whether that’s quickly collecting the children from school in between meetings or just enjoying that extra hour spent with family by not having to commute every day.

Getting set up for hybrid events

Any space can be transformed into a sustainable modern hybrid meeting space, whether you have a small area such as a huddle space or collaboration pod, a larger area such as a personal office or meeting room, and even up to very large areas such as executive board rooms, conference rooms and community halls.

To get the most out of your setup, you’ll typically want a one-touch join Microsoft Teams Rooms or Zoom Rooms console for joining hybrid meetings and events with maximum efficiency, a large interactive screen to run presentations and videos, display remote attendees and collaborate on whiteboard designs, and a high-quality camera, speaker and microphone to ensure that everybody is seen and heard clearly (can be an all-in-one solution).

To find out more about the full benefits of sustainable modern hybrid meeting spaces and how to build them, you can watch the recording of our recent hybrid meeting spaces webinar here and also check out Microsoft’s short video taking you on a Microsoft Teams Rooms tour here:

Who is using these solutions and how?

We’re currently seeing a big adoption of these solutions in community halls to allow various local community groups to run hybrid meetings and other community events, and also by community councils as it becomes a requirement for them to offer hybrid meeting facilities. However, the flexibility, sustainability and collaboration benefits of these solutions are so relevant in addressing key universal challenges currently faced by all organisations in terms of employee wellbeing, commitments to becoming greener and the rising cost of fuel, they’re being rolled out to organisations of all types, including education, non-profit and commercial.

We’ve seen some great real-world examples of hybrid solutions that we’ve supplied and installed in action, such as a community hall that’s being used by several local community groups, including the local football club who are using the large interactive screen to develop and talk through formations on screen in real-time, to run through tactics and set plays with on-screen sketches and comments, and to analyse video clips with live annotations and mark-ups. The same community hall was also recently used for Platinum Jubilee celebrations, where the large interactive screen was lifted onto a stage to allow televised broadcasts to be live streamed to an audience of local residents, followed by a party with on-screen karaoke.

We’ve seen another renovated community hall use their solution to run hybrid community council meetings and AGMs, plus a local committee make regular use of the facilities to seamlessly run Microsoft Teams hybrid meetings with associates in Scotland. Several other local community groups also use the hybrid setup including Merched y Wawr, Young Farmers Club and the community hall committee themselves who run cinema nights for local residents using the big screen.

And it’s not only community halls that are reaping the benefits either. We’ve also supplied hybrid solutions for office environments, including organisations with offices across Wales and further afield. By transforming their office spaces and meeting rooms into modern, hybrid working environments, it’s allowed them to introduce a hybrid working policy with staff members able to work flexibly from various locations. They’ve also seen a significant increase in attendance and productivity within their meetings and AGMs since moving to hybrid formats, given the flexibility now offered to attendees.

As well as the features we’ve touched upon, both Microsoft Teams and Zoom come packed with the very latest tools to make your hybrid events as productive as possible, including recordings and transcripts, live translations, presentation modes, co-authoring and file sharing, voting and polls, digital whiteboarding and breakout rooms. To find out more about these tools and how you can use them to get the most out of your hybrid meetings, AGMs and other events, you can watch the recording of our recent hybrid events webinar here.

Next steps

To discuss your needs and find the most suitable tailored setup for you, please get in touch with our friendly team of experts today on 01974 200 201 / sales@pugh.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Links

Webinar Recording – Pugh’s WCVA gofod3 – How to build sustainable modern hybrid meeting spaces

Slide Deck – Pugh’s WCVA gofod3 – How to build sustainable modern hybrid meeting spaces

Webinar Recording – Pugh’s WCVA gofod3 – How to run hybrid meetings, AGMs and other events

Slide Deck – Pugh’s WCVA gofod3 – How to run hybrid meetings, AGMs and other events

Key Points – gofod3 – Tips on how to run hybrid meetings, AGMs and other events

Video Tour – Microsoft’s Teams Rooms