Computers sort of crept up on my generation. We’ve muddled through reasonably well. When COVID struck, everyone in the university sector managed. Literally overnight we went online and basically it worked.
But it wasn’t perfect. We’ve now moved from fully online to hybrid working. It’s time to try to make that work better.
- How about we start meetings at 5 minutes past the hour (the former convention at many universities), and finish at 5 minutes to the hour? This doesn’t happen at present because our online platform Teams seems to default to ‘on the hour meetings’, and people connecting worry if they are even a minute late. I’m sure there is a way of resetting the default. I can’t do it. But perhaps, via collective will, we can just start at 5 past. It would allow people who are on campus and are the in-person part of hybrid meetings to walk between locations. It would give those online a break too.
- When we have hybrid meetings, often we have a meeting room, with perhaps 5 people seated, and then another 5 people are online. Those in the room can see the people on the screen clearly, with their names shown, and we can see the chat. But the people on the screen can’t see us properly. We are just tiny faces and bodies around a (sometimes distant) table, being viewed sometimes from a camera near the roof. And we can’t comment in the chat. The solution is so simple – and is often but not always observed – everyone there in-person should also connect online, being careful to mute their laptop before they join the meeting. In this way the in-person group reaches a sort of digital equivalence to the remote attendees. Everyone is included and all names are displayed.
- Implicitly above I have assumed that everyone should have their camera on. I suggest that as the default, but it is fine for people to depart from that if they need to. We don’t need to know the reason. I also think the default should be to use the real background unless there is a reason to use a virtual background. I just think it adds authenticity and some value to know where people are. On official occasions a branded university background is appropriate but not for all meetings. Sometimes an office or even a kitchen background is better. But again, this is about default expectations, and is not a suggestion to enforce the rule. Sometimes some privacy is appropriate.
- I would also encourage people to use the online chat. The chat is an amazing opportunity and a way of getting shier people into the conversation. It can demonstrate engagement, understanding, humour, and allow sharing of insights and material. If overused it can become a distraction, but generally people are very good at self-moderating and at multi-tasking with information. I have found that the chat usually adds to the main narrative of the meeting and to the morale, rather than detracting from it.
- My final thought may be the most controversial, so bombs away. An expectation could be set that people should attend in-person if they can. There should be no questions or comments if they can’t. Some people can’t. We have different lives, different responsibilities, different privileges, and different preferences for online and face to face life. We can and should accommodate that, but humans are material things that have evolved in a certain way. I’m not sure that all human interactions work as well online. I think we should always use technology as a support and as a backup but only in rare instances is it actually better than the real thing. So, we should push a default position of in-person if possible, while recognizing that for some it’s not possible, so we’ll always provide digital backup if we can.
I’m sure that others have other ideas and I post these suggestions to provoke discussion and collective wisdom on the hybrid challenge, rather than as rules to be followed. Hybrid is new to me, and I find it hard, but if we can get collective agreement and settle on some norms, I expect it will be easier for everyone.
Professor Merlin Crossley is DVC (Academic Quality) at UNSW