We run a hybrid Level 10 Meeting where three leaders sit together in our physical boardroom while two leaders dial in remotely over Zoom. The in-person leaders constantly dominate the room while remote members disconnect. How do we fix this hybrid imbalance?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Hybrid meetings are the most toxic format for a Level 10 Meeting. They create an instant two-tier leadership team where in-person side chatter, physical body language, and boardroom momentum leave remote attendees feeling like passive spectators.

The cleanest, most uncompromising fix is the one-in, all-in rule. If even one leadership team member is remote, every single leader opens their laptop, plugs in headphones, and joins the Zoom room from their own desk or an individual office. Leveling the sensory playing field instantly restores equal presence. It forces the in-person majority to experience the meeting through the exact same audio and video constraints as their remote peers.

If your company refuses that policy and insists on a shared conference room, you must enforce strict physical and operational counter-measures:

- Position high-quality directional microphones and an eye-level camera so remote attendees can see every face clearly without straining.
- Give remote participants the first right of refusal on every IDS issue. The Integrator must deliberately call on remote leaders before opening the floor to the physical boardroom.
- Ban all physical side conversations. Any joke, whisper, or paper passed in the room that remote leaders cannot hear must be called out and stopped by the Integrator immediately.
- Put the Integrator or meeting scribe on a dedicated screen, keeping the digital Issues List visible to all participants simultaneously.

A leadership team cannot build trust when half the team feels secondary. Either gather everyone physically in the same room on the same day, or make everyone sit in front of their individual webcam. Halfway measures produce a broken meeting pulse.