What Hybrid Meetings Can Reveal About Company Culture

Company or team culture is rarely declared; it is revealed – often in the smallest, most routine interactions. One of the best ways to see it in action is to attend a hybrid meeting remotely. From that vantage point, behaviours of team inclusion, disengagement and unspoken hierarchy become immediately visible. Martina Doherty discusses what remote participation can expose about leadership behaviour and team dynamics – and why it matters.

If you want to understand your company’s culture in one simple move, join a meeting remotely. Over the past few weeks, I have attended several team meetings as a remote participant via Teams and Zoom, connecting into rooms where the majority of attendees were physically present.

I would normally try to attend in person, but my work schedule made that impossible. In hindsight however, these were probably the most interesting and most revealing meeting experiences I’ve had in years. The remote vantage point offered a genuine bird’s-eye view of the company and team culture in action.

Culture, Observed in Real Time

In each meeting, the senior leader was physically present with the majority of the team. Content aside, what stood out were the behaviours – small, nuanced, and largely invisible to those in the room. 

• Individuals positioning themselves closest to the leader, or directly in their eyeline, to command attention
• In-jokes shared between a subset of the group (including the leaders), which became part of the formal discussion while others smiled politely, looking uncomfortably excluded

• Quieter in-person participants or remote attendees who did not volunteer input, and were not invited to contribute beyond a generic “any other comments?” after decisions had effectively been made
• Remote attendees visibly disengaged – unsurprising given the limited effort to include them
• Phone scrolling
• Heads dropping when additional responsibilities were discussed
• More vocal participant given disproportionate airtime, even when their contributions were completely unrelated to the meeting agenda

None of this was dramatic. None of it was malicious – and that’s precisely the point.

The Water We Swim In

Last year, in my article The C-Word,  I referenced a description of culture by American novelist David Foster Wallace:

“There are two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way. The older fish nods and says, ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then one looks at the other and says, ‘What the heck is water?’”

That is organisational culture: the water we swim in every day. It is pervasive, habitual, and largely invisible – especially to those with the most power in the room. Therefore, to see it more clearly, we need to deliberately step out of the water and examine it more objectively.

For those in management or leadership roles who want to get the most from their teams, this is imperative if they really want to understand and see the culture that they shape.

It Matters – Even When Busy

Many leaders operate on the assumption that “everyone in the room is an adult” and meetings are about moving efficiently through an agenda. Both these points are valid but there is always a less obvious participant in every meeting and one that rarely appears on the agenda: culture.

And culture matters. When people feel uninvolved, overlooked, or less valued than their more vocal counterparts, they withdraw. They may still attend meetings and complete what is required of them, but discretionary effort fades, motivation drops and engagement becomes transactional.

In financial markets that quiet disengagement can carry real consequences. Lethargy dulls judgement, weakens challenge, and increases risk exposure – long before anyone formally resigns. And when people resign, they don’t just take headcount. They take knowledge, trusted relationships, critical capabilities, hard-won momentum – and so much more. The organisation carries on, of course – but good people are expensive to replace, and continuity is rarely seamless or inexpensive.

A Simple Experiment

There is a surprisingly easy way to start seeing your culture more clearly. If you have the opportunity, join a meeting as a remote participant. Turn your camera on and observe. 

• Notice who speaks first – and most.
• Notice who gets interrupted.
• Notice who doesn’t speak at all.
• Notice when decisions are made – and who is in the conversation when they are.

Even if you are running the meeting, a remote position offers a powerful vantage point for cultural observation. You may be surprised by what you see. And if you are, try asking yourself a more uncomfortable question: if this is what it looks like in 45 minutes, what does it feel like to swim in every day?

Culture is not built in strategy documents, on posters with inspirational words or in town hall speeches. It is built – or eroded – in meetings exactly like these. And whether you notice it or not as a leader, your people will – and over time they will respond accordingly.