Let’s face it, computers and devices are pretty ubiquitous in our everyday meetings and teaching sessions these days. From interactive whiteboards to spreadsheets, flashy presentations and instantly shareable minutes most people would feel technology enhances meetings.
But in what way is the tech you provide really enhancing your meetings?
In my workplace, we traditionally had one technology enhanced meeting space with many seminar classrooms and lecture spaces frequently booked out for meetings by staff. These rooms technologically consist of a built in PC with many of the common hospital software packages pre-installed in addition to Microsoft Office and 2 web browsers. There is also provision for users to connect their own devices through VGA or HDMI. The other smaller meeting spaces had power access and connections to our wired Trust network in addition to staff and guest Wifi access, but not computers or AV provided with the rooms themselves.
Whilst these provisions are common in many places to enhance meetings, it is often how technology is used by facilitators that truly engages your audience and gives them something to work with and remember.
Much of the experience I have seen in our room bookings and experience from school and throughout college and university is that this technology often merely serves as a replacement to pen and paper, meaning meetings consist of people still presenting as one to many or using the computers to take minutes, often having to take time between each person to interchange devices and trying to understand the control devices in the room (or remote controls if no AV control system is provided). Whilst many may be satisfied with this more traditional approach (and that’s fine), the potential problem of a one way conversation with your delegates still exists either through the inability to share ideas due to the layout of the room or the limitation on inputs or the possible disengagement of your colleagues through a long stream of slides on Microsoft PowerPoint. If only there was another way…
Enter collaborative technology. In this day and age, there is a broad range of gadgetry available to help with this depending on the functions you wish to achieve. A few examples to consider in your next series of meetings to nurture an interactive and collaborative are below.
Put the Audience in Control of Your Presentation
What do you prefer? Being told this and that or choosing between this and that?
Instead of spreading an idea for a new product over a series of slides on an introduction, hypotheses, first choice idea, second choice idea, pros and cons to both and summary for your topic, then presenting your findings later on and further progress at subsequent update meetings further down the line, why not ask your audience there and then?
If you’ve seen the popular game show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’, you’ll know of this concept from one of their lifelines. Thankfully this technology is readily available outside of the gameshow either off the shelf with products such as Qwizdom’s RF based handsets and QVR smart voting apps on iOS, Web and Android or Turning Technologies’ ResponseCard handset system. Making use of these in a format or assessment can help your audience communicate to you without the worry of feeling embarrassment or having to face nerves of explaining their opinion to a larger group of people if they don’t wish to. Asking the questions live in your presentation can also add a dynamic element to your meeting, allowing you to drive your content to your audience based on what they choose. For example if I was introducing this very blog post as a meeting between business people, the first question I could ask is “How much do you use technology in your meetings? All the time, Some of the time, Occasionally or Never” and gear my next few slides of speech based on what the audience respond with.
Whilst this approach may appear a little scary in comparison to a nice pre-written script, through the use of cue cards or basic speaker notes, you can keep your content relatively the same, but at the same time allow your audience to feel part of what you’ve invited them to listen to and that they have contributed to a larger conversation.
Use a Modern Take on the Talking Ball
What do you prefer? Being talked at for 10 minutes at a time or having 60 seconds of fame every few minutes?
Collaboration in smaller meetings has always been a staple in creative culture and is crucial in some fields such as medical Multi Disciplinary Meetings, but when it comes to sharing content, it is often restricted to one at a time presentations, often with a pause whilst another person loads up their session on a computer or their is fiddling with the interchanging of devices onto a display. If you’re in a long session this may become an overwhelming or dull experience, like a bad shuffle of music on a shared iPod that you can’t change due to driving on a long motorway.
So why not spice up though shower sessions or meetings involving multiple people and embrace the use of collaboration technology.
These systems often involve multiple inputs that can be shared instantly onscreen at the touch of one or two buttons.
One example of this that I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with is Extron’s Teamwork solution. As part of a large refurbishment programme for the Health Academy at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Pure AV supplied two of our new meeting rooms make use of the 601 solution with 3 AUX input cables available for use right from the middle of the table. As standard a Dell micro desktop PC with the Trust’s OS image and software preinstalled, tidily hidden behind the wallmounted TV with wireless peripherals available on the table and a complementary USB port mounted on the TV for storage drives or wirelss presenters.
Through the use of an AV controller allowing the view of either the built in PC or access to Teamwork, room users can quickly switch between their own devices at speed using their designated “Show Me” button on the cable they connect with to take the equivalent of the ball and to speak for a period of time.
Through a combination of these options meetings can allow each person to take control of the meeting at any time allowing everyone to have a more than just a voice on everything. For example, a dynamic meeting could be held with a chair presenting a loose presentation on the PC as the agenda, with the Teamwork connections then taking control to show their content and the delegate to share their view or update briefly before handing back to the chair. In the case of truly flexible points, users can jump in at any time to share ideas and encourage discussion.
Once the meeting is complete, the cables can easily retract into the table giving the room a tidy appearance and also allow the room to be use for traditional style meetings if the need arises without having trailing cables everywhere.
Another product that shares this vision is Kramer’s Collaborative Classroom solutions. Granted by the name this is geared towards a larger scale setup for classrooms, but I can see this being applicable to meeting rooms too.
Can’t cable up or just need to build some collaboration spaces for a conference? No problem. Extron and Kramer have you covered there too as well as AMX by Harman also having a great wireless solution.
The AMX Enzo unit comes with the industry leading MirrorOp technology allowing you to connect to a screen through WiFi and and a MirrorOp sender application or through their own Rapid Project Maker software for a one click launch of a session.
Extron’s offering takes the option provision up a notch with Sharelink, a wireless solution very similar to Teamwork. Using the sharelink software or through multiple standards such as MirrorOp and Apple’s AirDrop and also allows connection to cloud services such as OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive. Through the use of their WebShare technology, you can also flip the coin and broadcast to other devices that have access to a web browser.
Kramer’s VIA family also allows for wireless sharing with solutions such as the Collage allowing up to 6 displays on the screen at the same time, allowing people to share ideas at the same time or indeed collaborate on presenting and also allows connection to conference applications such as Skype and GoToMeeting allowing you to connect different locations and allow B2B meetings, allowing collaboration across organisations.
Finally, Clevertouch’s Plus and Pro interactive screens allow you to share your device wirelessly with the screen using their Clevershare device. Using plug and play connectivity through USB, you can pair with the screen with a single press to connect and another to disconnect when you’re done
Give Everyone a Pen
What would you prefer? One scribe feverishly scribbling on a small flipchart or many people sharing ideas at the same time on a large board (and the opportunity to take a copy of those notes home)?
The ability to contribute to the big screen isn’t new. In classrooms, children have been able to benefit from technology such as Promethean’s Activslate allowing students to wirelessly interact with the board from their seat using a tablet. Modern solutions like this include SMART’s kapp iQ pens or on your own device through their app for “whiteboard mode” or through Microsoft’s Surface Hub that allows people to write using the supplied pens or remotely through another hub or a connected device.
See each respective manufacturer’s website in the ‘Hardware Mentioned’ box to the right to learn more about each devices specifications and wide range of options on how this can be performed (as the resources on these sites sum up their functionality far better than what I could write in a paragraph each!).
Don’t Let Distance Be a Factor
What would you prefer? Waiting weeks to find when you’re all free and a spare meeting room at the same time or just having a meeting when you’re all free?
With internet connectivity being more available then ever (albeit not perfect), geography shouldn’t be an issue when a crisis occurs or a spontaneous idea sparks that requires a quick huddle. With a device that contains a camera and microphone and the ability to connect to the internet and access to services such as Citrix/LogMeIn’s GoToMeeting, Microsoft’s Skype and Skype for Business, appear.in and Fuze, you can easily log on, and be seen and heard by everyone in a quick video conferencing solution. Each of these solutions alongside many more out there (simply do a web search for “video conferencing” to get many recommended results) also allow for screen sharing allowing you to take similar approaches of passing the ball and annotating over each other’s presentations and work to allow for that same in room collaboration feeling wherever you are in the world.
Conclusion
Collaboration is a key player that’s been across cultures of meetings since meetings begun. But technology needn’t hinder that and turn meetings into lectures where ideas could be shared. People shouldn’t have to feverishly copy notes from what others have said when each person can write them for everyone. Whilst it’s polite to take it in turns, when the moment strikes, why wait for the pen when you can share your ideas to contribute to the very part of that conversation there and then? And finally why must all meetings have to be in a room at all? If you’re not going to be there all day or your workplace is out of room for 6 of you – find a space for one or two of you each and virtually meet.
Today’s technology can help us plan for the future easily if we’re prepared to use it correctly – don’t put yourself in the dark ages.
Feel differently about any of this or have a technology I may have missed? Please use the wonderful device you’re reading this on to start a conversation in the comments box below, I’d be happy to collaborate or discuss this topic further ;).
