IT departments, HR managers and business leaders have quite some work with the organisation of the return to the office for a hybrid workforce. Next to providing the much-needed hybrid work policies and meeting hacks for more inclusivity, they need to equip meeting rooms for video conferencing in a more professional setting. 80% of people believe tech can make for better meetings/better meeting equity, according to recent Barco research. What does it take to get more equitable meetings?
77% of employees think all meeting rooms should have video conferencing tech available, according to Barco research. However, using the technology in the meeting room is not always easy.
- 1 in 2 has technical issues with audio and/or video
- 50% dreads to move meeting rooms where the setup is different
- 58% have issues with sharing content
How can technology allow for more participation in hybrid meetings, leading to meeting equity?
The key is to bring the remote participant into the meeting room, like an equal player in the discussion. It’s a matter of turning on cameras at all times, about capturing the sound in the room, reducing background noises, focusing on the person that is speaking with mics. It means having decent cameras that show all participants in the room, that zoom in on speaker so all participants can see facial expressions and interpret body language, even when not present in the room.
With the right meeting technology driving the hybrid meeting, meeting participants have everything they need to boost meeting equity and engagement.
4 ways to reduce barriers between people, places and spaces in a conference room
- Put people first
Well-known meeting tricks that meeting hosts can apply to keep everyone involved, no matter where they are. Welcome everyone personally, have a clear agenda, do a regular round table or take turns speaking, assign roles and follow up afterwards. Try to stimulate participation, especially from more introverted attendees to join by using polling, whiteboarding or annotation. And as a meeting participant, don’t be afraid to engage with the camera and speak up.
- Equip every workspace with high-quality audio & video
Every meeting space should be redesigned with decent lighting and room acoustics, correct seating, a good camera, mics, speakers and a display. By now, every remote worker should be equipped with a decent headset with noise-cancelling and a webcam with microphone (at least when their laptop does not have one already).
The standards for meeting room design have changed since the pandemic. They need to accommodate hybrid meeting and start from the user experience instead of from the room layout or size. Remote participants need to feel like they are present in the room. In the room, participants need to be reminded of remote colleagues at all times as well. Only in this way, everyone will be engaged and a true part of the meeting.
The bigger the space (like a boardroom) the more extensive the AV peripherals in the meeting room ecosystem need to be in order for everyone to be heard and seen. In smaller spaces like huddles the setup can be more compact like for example an all-in-one device.
- Invest in tools that allow true collaboration
Increase interactivity in the meeting room with productivity tools like touch screens for ideation or digital whiteboards for quick drawings. Make sure everyone can see the same content both on screen and remote thanks to wireless screen sharing solutions like ClickShare.
- Tackle meeting room challenges with Clickshare
With a revolutionary set of features for a better meeting flow, solutions like ClickShare bring more meeting inclusion and more confidence to meeting hosts and users. Intent-based technology makes meetings smarter and more intuitive, reducing stress for participants, solving four of the most frequently encountered hybrid meeting challenges:
- powering up the meeting room,
- connecting the laptop to room audio and video devices,
- joining a meeting from a calendar, and
- keeping track of contents and people while hosting a hybrid meeting from the meeting room.
It’s clear that technology solutions like ClickShare ensure that everyone has a similar experience and equal opportunities to contribute. They make joining hybrid meetings seamless, almost one-click experiences, from any device or meeting platform and focus on simplicity, ease-of-use and an impeccable user experience.
