We have transitioned to a hybrid work model where three of our leadership team members sit in the physical conference room while the other three join our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ remotely. This setup has destroyed our meeting pulse because the in-person group dominates the discussion and the remote leaders feel like second-class citizens who cannot jump into IDS®. How do we fix this hybrid friction without forcing everyone back to the office?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The hybrid meeting dynamic is a silent killer of healthy team conflict. When half of your leadership team sits together in a physical room while the other half joins via video, you create an immediate power imbalance. The in-person group naturally picks up on subtle physical cues, interrupts more easily, and dominates the IDS® portion of your Level 10 Meeting™. The remote participants quickly check out, turning into passive observers.

To fix this, you must establish an all-in or all-remote rule for your weekly pulse. If even one leadership team member is remote, the entire team must join the Level 10 Meeting™ from their own individual devices, even if they are sitting in the same office building. This places every leader on equal footing, utilizing the exact same digital real estate.

When everyone is looking at the same grid of faces on screen, the physical bias disappears. The facilitator can easily scan the digital room, call out silent participants, and ensure that remote leaders are fully integrated into the debate. It also streamlines the screen-sharing of your scorecard and issues list, eliminating the awkward neck-straining of looking at a physical projector.

If you want to maintain a high-functioning weekly pulse in a hybrid company, you must level the playing field. Stop letting physical proximity dictate who owns the conversation during your ninety minutes.