We've all been in a meeting that lags - where the meeting surpasses the alotted timeframe, the conversation goes in circles, or the agenda drastically changes focus after the presenter can't get the projector to work. It's not a pleasant experience.
Here are 5 ways to drive more efficient meetings in your organization:
1. Have a clear agenda - Know what you want to get out of a meeting well before you walk into it. It's best to set objectives before you begin - whether it's sharing information, training new hires, or brainstorming a new product, having a specific outcome in mind drastically increases your chances of achieving it. Once this goal is established, communicate it to all members of the meeting so everyone has a clear sense of purpose.
2. Create a flexible environment - Employees - especially millennials - expect a degree of flexibility in their jobs. Consider designing meeting rooms to accommodate movement, with wireless device sharing that allows employees to work from where they feel most comfortable, or interactive technology that provides a new and engaging way to interact with content.
3. Implement a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy - Allowing employees to work from devices they are familiar with can reduce learning curves and leads to increased productivity, which can ultimately reduce meeting times. You'll no longer have to waste time watching coworkers fumble around with unfamiliar programs or watch as your meeting turns into a training session for a new application. What's more, with BYOD-friendly collaboration software, employees can easily communicate between devices running on different platforms without having to convert documents or download applications.
4. Incorporate Collaboration Software - Since the key to a successful meeting is collaboration , it's no surprise businesses are turning to Collaboration Software to increase meeting productivity. Multitouch collaboration software, such as ThinkHub, provides an interactive workspace where employees can exchange knowledge and ideas in an engaging manner. Media such as PDFs, movies, images, presentations and more can easily be viewed, annotated, and shared by anyone in the room. The potential to inspire creativity and cooperation is why many creative agencies and executive briefing centers are turning to collaboration software for innovation labs.
5. Include Remote Employees - With the rise of remote employees and multinational corporations, the question arises - how do I create a sense of comradery between employees in different locations, especially when working on joint projects? Video conferencing and screensharing are commonly used to keep distant coworkers engaged with one another. With this idea in mind, we created ThinkHub MultiSite, which offers real time, remote collaboration sessions and session sharing between two or more ThinkHub devices. We also recently released videoconferencing for ThinkHub, which allows you to share the ThinkHub Canvas with remote participants.
To learn more about ThinkHub and other interactive technology for the workplace, visit T1V at InfoComm16.
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