Maximize the Effectiveness of Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid meetings can sometimes seem rife with pitfalls, but Dr. Joseph Allen, an expert in meeting effectiveness, argues they can be even more effective than face-to-face meetings. Find out why in this special podcast episode from The Spark.

More from Joe Allen: Casting Yourself in the Right Light During Video Meetings

Video conferencing is a familiar meeting method these days, but it can bring new challenges to meeting effectiveness. From bad lighting to busy backgrounds, there are several potential barriers to your message being received effectively. Here are some tips taken from an excerpt of our conversation with Joe Allen.

1. When you’re on camera, your surroundings matter. Too much clutter distracts from the main feature: you. Make sure your background is not too busy or engaging.
2. Avoid sitting in front of windows, which can result in backlighting, a phenomenon where you are cast in shadow because of the brightness behind you.
3. Make sure your face is lit. No need to buy a fancy light. You can just put a small table lamp behind your camera.
4. Virtual backgrounds have become better than they used to be, but they’re still not going to fix lighting issues.