Hybrid Town Halls make your remote team unhappy

Hybrid Town Halls prioritise the needs of the in-office staff and leaders over the needs of remote or distributed staff. Where a large percentage of the audience is joining virtually, an all-virtual event instead ensures everyone is given the same experience and opportunity.

Why it matters

Considering the needs of everyone on your team when organising Town Hall meetings, not only creates a better experience for staff, it’s also a better use of everyone’s time (and your money).

Take action

• Tighten your objective, it’s not possible to achieve all your employee engagement and communication goals in a single Town Hall. Focus on what’s most important.
• Aim to provide a consistent experience for all staff. If you can’t bring everyone together in person, consider a virtual-only Town Hall which ensures everyone can see, hear and contribute equally well.
• Master the Q&A function for virtual staff, everyone should know how to use it and the guidelines for asking and responding to questions.
• Take measures to obtain genuine feedback on the effectiveness of the Town Hall and use this information to improve future events.

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Learn more

Town Halls or all-hands meetings are an important way to build a shared understanding and focus amongst your team. Done well, they can help you to:

• Build the profile of your leaders
• Build a shared sense of purpose and direction
• Understand team sentiment and learn what they are concerned about

But done badly they can:

• Frustrate and annoy your staff if they’re not getting valuable information
• End up being a lecture instead of an interactive opportunity
• Create a gap between in-office and remote staff
• By taking the time to consider what you want to achieve and the best way to achieve it that fairly includes all your team, you’ll be on the right path to a successful Town Hall meeting.