Hybrid town hall meetings are supposed to connect leadership and employees across locations. But in reality, they create two different meeting experiences: one for in-person attendees and another for remote participants.
The latter may feel like passive observers rather than active contributors. For instance, employees in Amsterdam might confidently speak up in a room filled with executives, while their counterparts in Manila aren’t even sure when—or if—they can jump into the conversation.
This engagement gap isn’t intentional, nor is it due to a lack of dedicated technology. Think of it as a design flaw. A hybrid town hall meeting naturally favours those in the room, leaving remote workers at a disadvantage.
How do we fix that? Engagement is both an art and a science. This time, we turn to psychology, the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour, to uncover ways to make in-person and remote attendees feel equally involved in your next hybrid town hall.
So, the two groups experience the same event differently. Some intangible factors are at play here that affect how in-person and remote workers think, behave, and learn.
These subtle distinctions shape how each group engages in a hybrid town hall. And here’s your gentle reminder to pay attention to them as much as polishing presentations or sharpening messages.
In-person group
Remote group
Now that we understand what shapes engagement in hybrid town hall meetings, the next step is to be more intentional in how we design them.
Here are science-backed strategies to help you close the gap, ensuring both in-person and remote employees feel equally valued and included.
Prioritise the presence of virtual attendees from the beginning. Something as simple as greeting them first can release oxytocin in their brains, which boosts their sociability.
Even so, this effectively speaks to the inherent challenge you face from a visibility and communication standpoint. It’s also the easiest to plan and execute.
🛠 Put it into practice:
It’s crucial to create a level playing field every chance you get. You can start by asking everyone to participate using the same digital platform.
This eliminates proximity bias, ensuring leadership doesn’t just respond to the loudest voices in the room. At the same time, remote employees feel safer speaking up, knowing their questions won’t get ignored.
📌 Try this approach:
Lisa Schulteis, an event experience expert with a background in neuropsychology, explains that people lose focus after 10–15 minutes. To keep in-person and remote employees engaged throughout your hybrid town hall meeting, she suggests using ‘pattern interrupts’.
These refer to micro-moments that interrupt the brain’s usual behaviour, i.e. falling into a state of passive listening. They bring back attendees to the present, which could be the point where leaders are delivering key messages.
⚡ Turn this insight into action:
Tell stories. Weave in some visuals. Both are powerful tools to capture attention, immerse attendees, and improve information retention.
Using them to reframe dry updates helps reduce mental fatigue. This way, your employees can easily process your hybrid town hall content and even fully engage with it!
✨ Make it happen:
*Source: Owl Labs
Create a seamless experience so remote employees can fully follow the discussion without feeling disconnected. This requires a mix of technology and thoughtful design.
✅ Here’s how to do it right:
Boring hybrid town halls don’t work.. Inject fun, play, uncertainty, and challenge to make the hybrid town hall experience more rewarding.
The brain releases dopamine when something feels enjoyable. A well-designed game builds on this by activating autonomy, competence, and relatedness—the essential elements of sustained engagement.
🏆 Let the games begin:
Reading the room takes on a new meaning as you deal with physical and virtual ones. By enforcing a common digital platform for everyone (as mentioned above), you level the playing field for both attendees.
Ensure the platform has interactive features that will help you account for how virtual audiences feel. This way, you can create a safe space for expressing sentiments, including joy, wonder, or disappointments for both in-person and remote employees.
📊 Do a pulse check:
Create a shared ritual that brings both in-person and remote employees together. This ritual gives them a familiar, meaningful experience they can associate with the company’s culture.
Closing this way also provides structure to the attendees, enabling them to leave with a clear purpose or takeaway.
🚀 Your next steps:
Designing your hybrid town hall to be a more equally satisfying experience doesn’t mean overhauling everything at once. You can start small: pick one strategy and test it in your next session.
This is where the art of engagement comes in. As you discover what works, you can refine and scale up your approach. Over time, you’ll build a culture of participation in your hybrid town halls where every employee—whether remote or in the room—feels valued and included.
So, which one will you try first?