Five Hybrid Office Conferencing Tips

As more businesses switch to a hybrid work environment, workers will need to collaborate online just as efficiently as they would in person.

That’s often easier said than done unless you have access to a cloud-based business phone system—which provides employees with important tools needed to collaborate efficiently and effectively.

Read on to learn about five ways you can improve hybrid conferencing in your offices.

Use a Virtual Whiteboard

Using a traditional whiteboard in a hybrid conference call excludes those not physically present in the office. Virtual whiteboards, on the other hand, provide all meeting participants with a common canvas to share ideas and information.

When the meeting is over, the whiteboard can be saved and utilized in the future as an online living document. Employees can also refer back to the whiteboard notes taken during the meeting to access any information they may have missed on the call.

Provide a Stable Internet Connection

One of the biggest headaches of working remotely is that not everyone has access to high-speed internet at their home or remote working location. For example, many home internet plans offering higher bandwidth are financially out of reach for the average person.

Companies can provide their workers with one of several internet options, such as:

A hotspot where the employee would use a smartphone provided by the company to initiate a hotspot wherever they use a 4G or 5G internet connection. Several plans are available for businesses, which is the most cost-effective way of giving all remote workers a reliable and fast internet connection.

Alternatively, companies can purchase business-class internet for their remote workers. The downside to this method is that costs can add up quickly, and the apartments or homes of the employees may not be wired for a truly high-speed internet connection.

Provide Workers with External Hardware

The internal cameras on many Windows and Mac laptops offer a poor resolution—often 720p or less. This causes workers to appear pixelated or fuzzy when their laptop camera is turned on.

Several companies, such as Logitech, sell external USB web cameras with high resolution, microphones, and other important conferencing features far superior to those on a standard laptop.

Companies can provide each employee with an external camera to ensure all participants can see them in true high-definition.

Upgrade Your Conference Room with Video

Using a single camera for all in-person meetings isn’t going to cut it. Remote participants will feel left out as the static office camera doesn’t clearly show the face of the person speaking.

There are several professional design in-mind conference room video cameras that make all in-person meeting participants show up equally on camera. For example, when one person is talking, the camera will automatically pan, tilt, and zoom in on their face. When someone else starts to speak, the camera automatically points at that person.

Consider Establishing Conference Call Norms

Team leaders or upper management should consider conducting conference calls so that all participants, in-person or remote, feel included. Solutions will differ from company to company based on many different factors.

For example, consider seating in-office workers in the same spot on each phone call. It will make things feel more familiar to those working remotely and give them a better view of the in-house team.

The more standardized you make your hybrid conference room meetings, the greater remote workers will feel when brainstorming and collaborating.

Conference Call Tools to Improve Collaboration

While there are several things you can do to help improve collaboration, you will ultimately need to provide your employees with the right tools to do their jobs remotely.

NTi can help you select the right cloud-based phone system that will improve efficiency, and allow workers to collaborate more efficiently with one another.

Click below to learn more about improving hybrid work efficiencies in your conference room.

Is Your Conference Room a Highly Efficient Hybrid Workspace?