By Peter Jayaseelan, Vice President & Managing Director- South Asia and Channels (APAC), Jabra
Across India, companies are embracing the return to the office, with a staggering 96% implementing full or partial in-person work models. But what would you say if I told you that only 1 in 10 workspaces are equipped effectively? Technical errors, glitches, sluggish video, and muffled voices hamper employee’s workflow and productivity. Therefore, we must reimagine our collaboration strategies to ensure meetings become well-oiled engines of productivity, driving success in the era of the hybrid workplace. Introducing innovative solutions to our work set-ups will help us stay competitive in the dynamic business landscape while facilitating effortless communication amongst teams.
Make your employees love the meeting room
Collectively as a workforce, we spend millions of minutes due to technical meeting issues – and the increase in online meetings since the pandemic hasn’t made it any bit easier. The return to the office has disrupted online meeting habits, necessitating a shift from meeting room usage to accommodate hybrid work interactions. Video solutions are essential, but mastering hybrid meetings requires technology that fosters, not hinders productivity. As per a report on hybrid work reveals that 1/3 of employees struggle with meeting room tech and 50% would choose the laptop at their desks over a video-equipped meeting room.
Only 1 in 10 meeting rooms are equipped with video. And even when they are, people aren’t comfortable with using them. Here training on video tech and hybrid meeting etiquette is crucial to bridge the gap and unlock the potential of hybrid meetings.
I suggest a two-pronged approach to do this:
1. Onboarding before take-off
New tech requires new training. Employees often struggle to manage busy workdays, making it challenging to navigate video solutions before the meeting. So, training sessions are a good way to onboard your employees on to your new meeting room solution. Today, brands are integrating AI to their devices to enhance user experience. So, understanding the tech behind the product may help employees to work smarter and more efficiently. If unfamiliar with in-room technology, remote participants may feel excluded.
2. Instructions in every meeting room
A simple reminder can go along way as the ultimate motive is to help and support workers in their daily collaboration. I recommend posting a physical instruction guide in the meeting room or a QR code linking to instructions, so it’s easy and quick for the employees to work the room – and the video equipment.
Are your meeting rooms optimized for the best experience?
While one battle is to get your employees to use your video-equipped meeting rooms, our research reveals that only 15% of office meeting rooms are equipped with video. Therefore, we must redesign and optimize meetings rooms with video to enable better hybrid meeting experiences.
Here are the top 5 considerations to be made:
1. Ensure that everyone can see and be seen, as well as hear and be heard
Meetings should be equitable for all participants – whether in the room or remote. Ensure the meeting room technology brings remote participants into the room and in-room participants to them.
2. Room layout and technology go hand-in-hand
You can’t optimize your meeting rooms if you think of room layout and technology separately. Be sure to consider how the video camera’s field of view is like and how it best captures everyone in the room, when doing the room layout.
3. Don’t just assume that employees will know how to use the technology
As already mentioned, ensure that your employees are dressed to impress when it comes to mastering the technology. Equip them with training and guides, so your redesigned meeting rooms aren’t ghosted by your employees.
4. With pro-tech comes trust
Top-quality technology leads to trust which is typically more difficult to establish remotely than it is in person. As per our LSE study, meeting participants reported much greater levels of overall trust and clarity when utilizing and experiencing professional technology. There was a 27% increase in technology clarity, leading to 16% more trust, 35% greater expressiveness, and a 47% perceived improvement in the quality of input. Organizations must therefore recognize how vital professional technology is for enhancing employee engagement and productivity in hybrid meetings.
5. Making the best use of AI
AI is on the rise. The tech product we rely on for our day-to-day tasks now integrates AI, offering enhanced productivity and unique experiences for the users – from your laptops to your headphones to even your personal tech gadgets. For example – a feature like IntelliFrame offers users multiple video streams, face and voice recognition – revolutionizing meeting experiences. Therefore, it is important that we stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the ever-evolving landscape to prepare ourselves for the future of work.
New technology is rarely an easy transition and adoption, but a little effort to smoothen the process can take you far. Leveraging the potential of AI along with choosing the right tech upgrades for your work setup or organization can not only optimize meeting rooms but also improve meetings and meeting efficiency significantly. By ensuring that meeting rooms and employees are equipped for a new era of meetings, businesses can foster an even better work experience for all.
