According to Moore’s law, tomorrow’s technology will always be an improvement over today’s. Technology is, by its very nature, constantly in flux, moving forward with faster processing, updated features, better capabilities, and increased points of contact.
So where does the meeting room come in? In our fourth post on finding meeting utopia, we’re looking at how this continual forward movement in the technological realm can cause confusion, disruption and other lags in productivity when these technologies are put into play and made to interact.
Whether in the meeting room, or on a conference line, the technology used is crucial. Anything from charging ports, devices in use, and software compatibility can take down a well-oiled meeting.
Remote meetings in particular are dependent on these tools in order to connect attendees across various regions and rooms, bringing them into one space where important conversations can happen. When these tools don’t work, or aren’t built toward day-to-day use, they are often in danger of being swept aside for something that will get the task at hand accomplished without as much hassle.
Let’s look at some of the scenarios where technology can hinder a good meeting from getting underway or being productive:
Cables
Does your system require something to be plugged into something else in order to project images, sounds or the like? If so, you need to first make sure you’ve stocked your meeting with the necessary items, and then give yourself time to test those elements and how they work with one another to make sure there are no blockers before your meeting kicks off. Nothing kills a meeting faster than waiting for someone to “set up” or check on a tool that isn’t working.
Similarly, do you have anyone attending your meeting that will need to present? Do you know what type of material they will be presenting or what device they will do it on? Just as before, make sure that you’re tested and prepped at least five minutes before your meeting kicks off to account for any complications that might arise.
Power
Does your system or any of the devices in use require power? Do you have it? Will the meeting operate without it? You should have anything that will need power, plugged in before you start. Few things are more irritating than a device dying and rebooting in the middle of a presentation.
Should the un-avoidable occur, and power go dry, make sure to keep the conversation going while you bring things back up.
Wi-Fi
Will you need internet connections in order to present materials to remote joiners? Is your computer or mobile device up-to-date enough to interact with any tools needed to do so?
If you are presenting, do your tools to do so require a plug-in or download? You should have all of these things completed and tested before you even get into the meeting. On this note, if you are sharing anything on your screen for the call, you should make sure that you have you desktop situated in a presentable manner. This will help you to avoid any defaming situations from a pop-up chat or image from last weekend that is definitely NSFW.
Remote meeting tools
These tools, used for bridging the gap created when everyone is not able to join your meeting in the same physical space, put you at a deficit if they provide anything less than a seamless experience. Otherwise, you risk slowing down the optimal productivity of your meeting, and in some cases, embarrassing yourself in front of employers and/or clients.
Your conference call tool should go as unnoticed as possible, anticipating the needs of both call attendees and hosts, as well as providing it intuitively. Connecting to the call should be quick. During the meeting there should be constant visibility into who is on the line and when they join. The ability to view screen sharing should be readily accessible to all those in attendance — from all types of devices.
For our final instalment, next week, we’ll look at perhaps the most mysterious and problematic elements of the utopian meeting — time.
Read other blogs in the series:
- Finding meeting utopia: what does it look like?
- Finding meeting utopia: the people
- Finding meeting utopia: the room
- Finding meeting utopia: the time
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