What to do about hybrid workshops

Updated May 28, 2024. Originally published May 27.

Hybrid workshops with both remote and in-person attendees are really hard to do well. So what do you do when your stakeholder asks you to run a hybrid workshop?

Try to not do a hybrid workshop

If you can push back, ask if you can run separate sessions: one session with in-person attendees and a second session with remote participants. A session focused on each type of participant gives each better workshop experiences than having half the room trying to dial in and follow everything over Zoom.

After the sessions have ended, you can synthesize the outcomes from each workshop together into a cohesive whole and share it back out to everyone from each workshop.

Have remote and in-person facilitators

If you must do the workshop with online and in-room attendees, I recommend you find a co-facilitator who can hang on the video conference with your remote attendees and help them through activities. This frees you up to stay focused on attendees in the room.

It's not as good an experience as having separate sessions, but a dedicated facilitator on Zoom ensures remote attendees get the attention and support they need to have a good workshop experience.

Split into groups

If you have 3 or more remote attendees, split the workshop into groups. One group online and other groups in the room. Groups can do each activity and then report out to each other.

If you have 1 or 2 remote attendees, have them participate remotely by typing their brainstormed ideas into chat. Also make sure to direct questions to them pretty frequently to make sure they're staying included. For sketches, they can sketch on paper, snap pics with their phones, and email you the pics to show in the room.

Synchronize the experience with online white boards

Another option is to run the entire workshop out of Mural or similar tools. That way, all attendees, whether remote or in-person, literally work on the same page. When everyone works digitally, the activity is the same for everyone (in Mural/Miro) and managing discussion is mostly the same (voices in the room and on Zoom).

To do this, create a Mural board with activities and share the link with all attendees. Remote participants join via their laptops, and in the room, attendees do the same. Instead of writing on sticky notes and putting them on a wall, all attendees type their ideas into Mural and manipulate them there.

Successful workshops require good outcomes and good experiences

It's really easy to run a workshop and walk out with your desired, concrete outcomes. It's much harder to ensure participants also have a good experience. But if you don't, you risk attendees declaring the workshop a failure regardless of the outputs.

Good workshops require good outputs and good participant experiences. Hybrid workshops make the participant experience much more difficult. Whenever possible, try not to do them. But if you must, find ways to make sure the remote experience is as engaging and invigorating as the in-room experience can be.