Luckily, there is an easy way to display vital information about meeting and conference rooms and eliminate any stress. 

Meet Joan. 

What is Joan?

Joan is a simple, yet brilliant, solution for managing meeting rooms and optimizing room use. What sets their room booking software apart are the touch-screen display devices Joan offers. You can mount the devices right outside the meeting room door. They not only show meeting room information, but also let you see open time slots and book them on the spot. 

If you would rather use a larger screen, consider using Joan on displays together with Airtame’s digital signage capabilities to prominently display the latest meeting information. Joan on displays lets you see current and future meetings and their attendees, as well as any available rooms and their seating capacity. 

Let’s go over a couple of reasons why Airtame and Joan are the perfect cable-free pairing for more engaging meetings. 

Effortless meetings  

Joan integrates seamlessly with standard calendar systems. This means you only have to update meeting information in one place and the information will sync automatically to all your displays. Now you are freed up to prepare for your meeting. 

When you need to present, you can quickly share your computer screen using Airtame’s simple app. Since there are no cables plugged into your laptop, it’s also easy to switch between presenters. With hands-free presentations, you can get more hands-on collaboration done.  

No hassle installation

The huge benefit of wireless technology is that it fits in seamlessly with any office design. Since Joan device is battery-powered, you can install it pretty much anywhere. 

The Airtame device is designed to sit on the wall, behind a TV screen, or fit in a projector’s cable tray. And with the option to power the device using Power over Ethernet, Airtame is not tethered to a power outlet either. The connection between your computer and TV screen is completely wireless, meaning you’re not tied to the table either. 

The perfect match for better meetings

Joan brings you peace of mind that your meeting rooms are being optimally used. Together with Airtame’s user-friendly screen sharing and digital signage, you can have more distraction-free meetings and reach maximum productivity. 

To explore more of the Joan solution for better meetings, visit their website. 

The post Building the ultimate wireless meeting room for stress-free meetings appeared first on Airtame.

Now, why would we include this oddball in our collection of office essentials? It’s simple. Walk and talks can help break down barriers between upper management and regular employees, they have great health benefits, and they’re easy to do. To sum up: they’re everything a modern office should incorporate, even if it isn’t in an enclosed or specific space.

The walk and talk essentials:

• Walk and talks are for everyone; small companies, big companies, regular employees and managers alike
• They are probably the most informal way to conduct a meeting
• Everyone can benefit from a walk and talk. Yes, everyone

Want to know more about the other spaces and rooms that are recommendable in an office setting? Take a look at the office pod, huddle rooms, reception, conference room, and the all-hands room.

What is a “walk and talk”?

We don’t mean to seem dense, but a walk and talk is exactly that: talking while you’re walking. It’s a smart and healthy way to get some exercise while at the same time being in a business state of mind. In other words, it’s moving a meeting from a stuffy meeting room or loud office space to the fresh outdoors.

Walk and talks are mostly beneficial for no more than two or three people – simply because a sidewalk or pathway can’t accommodate more without them being left out of the conversation. That’s not to say that larger groups can’t do walk and talks at all. We’ll get back to this a little later.

Any brainstorm, collaborative spit-balling or discussion can be done on the go. That being said, there are still some meeting situations that can’t be done while walking such as when the presentation requires visual aids.

The big three factors of walk and talks

Whether you walk, limp, wheel or push yourself around, breaking up the office-based work routine can be a great way to reboot your brain and at the same time connect with your co-worker in an untraditional manner.

Informal

This really is the big keyword. Walk and talks are not for executive decision-making that should be recorded or stay private. Nor are they for meetings where detailed documentation is provided, nor meeting minutes need to be logged. Walk and talks are all of those smaller assemblies that you would normally book a meeting room for, chat about in the hallway or maybe even do at your desk.

Dynamic

Breaking away from your regular work cycle and office surroundings prove very positive for most employees. Because the smartphone stays at the desk and you don’t have to stare directly into another person’s eyes, walk and talks provide a more dynamic and relaxed setting that makes employees more focused and creative in the discussions. It also frees up meeting room space for those get-togethers where a room, visual aids, and a table are required.

Healthy

Sitting is the new smoking! Or so we’ve heard a lot the past few years. If that’s true, then most traditional desk workers are in big trouble. One way to get over this is to set up more walking meetings. That way, you force yourself and your coworkers to get closer to the daily amount of recommended steps – all while still doing the work you’re supposed to.

Getting started with walk and talks

For one-on-ones, there’s almost no excuse and it’s the easiest in the world to decide to go for a walk rather than book and find a location for the discussion. For larger groups, however, walking meetings would require much more preparation, but they aren’t impossible to conduct.

For example, the leader of the meeting could send an agenda or video material ahead of the walk and talk and ask all attendees to carefully look it over before the walk. On the walk, it would be easy to discuss the same topic or brainstorm on the project. If you want, you can leave in a few minutes before the meeting is officially over for attendees to take notes.

Are walk and talks for you?

For employees with predominantly desk-based work, walk and talks could have serious health benefits. We’ve seen many health professionals stress the fact that sitting down all day is harmful, and that employees should aim for several hours a day where they stand instead of sit. We’ve got a better suggestion. Standing is better than sitting, but walking is even better than standing – so get out there!

But there’s actually more. Studies show that walking can decrease or even prevent stress and anxiety, whereas sitting down all day does the opposite.

Now, not all meetings can or should be conducted on the go. More formal meetings that require presentation equipment, note-taking or even just a larger crowd will not benefit from being done walking style. Smaller tête-à-têtes, quick get-togethers, one-on-one meetings, and other informal discussions are perfect, though.

Who knows? You might even experience an extra surge of inspiration as you stroll new surroundings.

Any meeting rooms we or you would like us to cover? We’ll be happy to indulge!

The post Office essentials: walk and talk appeared first on Airtame.

If you’re a middle manager, you spend around 35% of your time in meetings. Upper management uses a staggering 50%. Why is that? Could it be that we’re trying to multitask – doing too many things at once – when in fact we’re not being productive at all? Or are we scheduling meetings simply out of habit?

Whatever the reason, it’s a lot of time is spend trying to bounce ideas, solve problems, and in the end get something done. All those meetings require a successful strategy. That’s why we’ve put together a list of must-know rules on how to run an efficient business meeting, both for meeting leaders and participants.

These tips aren’t universally applicable for all meetings. Some should only be reserved for the most formal. Instead, we hope the reader will look at this as a miscellaneous collection – and where the reader is free to pick and choose what could be relevant to their own environment.

Before a business meeting

What’s the most important thing to consider before a meeting? Come prepared. Not just you, the organizer, but the attendees as well. The benefits are enormous when you work smart and prep ahead.

1. Do you really need this business meeting?

Not everything can or should be resolved in a meeting. Perhaps you don’t even need to schedule it! That’s why the first and most important rule is to have a specific purpose before scheduling a meeting. If you don’t have a purpose, don’t schedule a meeting. Can the matter be resolved via email or quick chat instead? Then do so instead.

2. Only invite necessary people

Include only the people who are relevant to the discussion or have a say in the matter. Inviting too many people who are not directly involved isn’t just wasting their time, it’s wasting everyone else’s as well. Besides that, if you overcrowd the meeting room, you won’t get as much done.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos argues that you should never have a business meeting where two pizzas couldn’t feed the entire group, the idea being that the more people in a meeting, the less productive you’ll end up being.

It used to be that a profession dictated your persona, meaning that doctors act a certain way that’s different than accountants or graphic designers. But we all communicate in different ways, just as we learn and engage in different ways too. If you understand your crowd, then you know how to keep them engaged as well.

3. Choose the right time

Organizing around multiple time zones or even just a bigger office space can be daunting. Ultimately, it’s hard to please everyone. Try to be conscientious of the fact that, if you’re organizing a transatlantic meeting, some people are just starting for the day, with the other wrapping up.

This affects the time of the meeting, but also the energy in the respective rooms, and the engagement with whoever is presenting. It’s not something you can change, but it’s something you should be mindful of and acknowledge.

4. Choose the right meeting room

Choose the meeting room applicable for the amount of people, supplies, and type of meeting you’re having. The same room doesn’t work for both brainstorming session, sprints, and 1:1s. It’s crucial to get the right environment.

Not only does the room have to fit the session you’re about to have, it needs to meet the requirements for the right type of equipment too. Think about device compatibility, screens, lighting. And don’t roam the hallways ten minutes before to make sure there’s a room available.

What room is the right room? Check out our rundown of the most essential office rooms, including the office pod, huddle room and the conference room.

5. Send an official invite

You can’t expect people to show up on time if there is no set date and time booked in their calendar. Make sure to send an official invite in advance via your preferred calendar service, so the people attending can reserve their time.

6. How much time do you need?

Have you ever been in a business meeting that lasted way longer than was necessary? Yes, us too. A lot of meetings are scheduled for a full hour, some even two, when they should only be half that time or less.

Just as you shouldn’t invite a whole list of unnecessary people, the meeting shouldn’t go on for longer than what’s needed. Ultimately, using more time than you need kills productivity and makes people lose focus.

The standard one-hour business meeting often happens because it’s easy to schedule in calendars, and, perhaps, because it’s what we’ve always done. Meetings can be shorter and longer, depending on the purpose and goals. Ask yourself before any meeting whether you need it at all, and if, how much time to set aside.

7. Incorporate minutes/round-up of the previous business meeting in the invite

Is this a recurring meeting? Then chances are you’re following up on something from the last round. Include what was discussed in the last meeting and also any accomplishments done in the meantime.

8. Outline what attendees need to bring

Must-haves to bring to a meeting include note-taking gear, such as a notepad and pen or laptop. Both can come in handy, we find. These days, it’s usually always alright to bring a laptop for taking notes, but it depends on where you’re going.

Having laptops in the business meeting environment breeds procrastination and in some cases even disrespectful meeting conduct, so be mindful of that when scheduling and recommending people to bring them. We couldn’t live without ours, just like some businesses never go anywhere without a stack of business cards. But even we like to keep the laptops out of the equation every once in a while.

9. Have an agenda

Detailing what the meeting will cover will help you and the other attendees stay on topic for the duration of the meeting. Keep the agenda simple and send it out several days in advance for people to get a chance to look it over.

10. Set success criteria and calibrate expectations

Increase business meeting effectiveness with success criteria – yes. Set goals and meet them – yes. Reflect on your progress and improve – yes, please!

It begins when you organize the meeting. Why are you meeting? What’s the objective? What do you hope to accomplish? When you send out the invite, include the overall objective. The social pressure will help you all focus on obtaining your goals and commit to not wasting too much time. It might be concealed expectations and not something you have to present to the whole attendee list.

Start the business meeting with a reminder of what success looks like for the meeting and what you hope to gain from the gathering. Afterwards, it’s easier to analyze on the progress you’ve made and where you can improve.

You shouldn’t only be looking at success criteria though, but also know how to calibrate expectations for you and your team.

One thing every manager has experienced is lack of engagement of the attendees. Even though they put a lot of time and effort into organizing the meeting, it’s impossible to account for. You have to learn the hard way that your level of commitment to the meeting might not be reciprocated. It’s a harsh reality, but you as organizer can’t be disheartened if you feel that a business meeting didn’t go as smoothly as you expected.

In the end, this is a task in getting to know your workforce better, and catering your approach to fit their expectations. Yeah, it’s a thankless task, but a necessary one.

11. Be prepared

Are your slides in order, your software up to date? Practice and revise your presentation to fit your audience and make sure everything is in order technically beforehand.

If you’re presenting in the meeting, but not hosting, and need extra aids such as a pointer, certain projector or audio, make sure the meeting environment you’ll be at has the necessary equipment ready. It’s easier to use something from the native environment rather than bringing your own, although sometimes you want to bring extras anyway.

12. Provide copies of essential documents

Send important documents prior to the business meetings instead of handing them out as the meeting starts. It creates less of a distraction if the items have already been sent out for reference. And yes, it’s useless if you send important documents 20 minutes before the meeting starts.

13. Check equipment

Make sure all attendees have access to the program you attend to use if the business meeting will be held online. Let them know in advance if they need to install an app or program for the meeting to go smoothly.

A wireless presenting solution such as Airtame helps relieve some of the stress in the situation – all attendees have to do is download the app and they are good to start presenting wirelessly.

14. Confirm the business meeting

If you’ve scheduled the meeting some time in advance, follow up with participants a day ahead to let them know that the meeting is coming up. Especially visitors will appreciate the reminder.

When confirming the meeting, you also have the chance to share new info or documents that pertain to the set agenda, and that’s often valuable at this point.

Of course, this is only relevant for some business meetings, in particular ones that are large and planned way out in advance.

15. Cancel if you have a conflict

Unless it’s an emergency, there’s no excuse for canceling a meeting minutes before it begins. Plan ahead and call in advance if you see a conflict arises.

16. Rehearse your presentation

“Sorry, I just kinda threw it together last minute,” isn’t an excuse you should ever make. Don’t assume you can wing a presentation on the spot. There’s no good answer to how many times you should rehearse because it depends on you, the venue, the audience, the attendees, basically the whole shebang.

If you’re doing a TED talk rather than a chit-chat with your co-worker, that obviously calls for a bit more practice. That being said, it’s never out of place to look over your slides a few times, correct whatever errors might still be in there, and go over what you want to say.

Additionally, rehearsing your presentation or the points of an agenda can help solidify your good arguments and cut the bad ones.

17. Consider all technical efforts ahead of time

Mostly, this comes down to preparation on the meeting leader’s behalf. Don’t assume you have enough battery on your laptop or phone to go through the meeting, don’t assume a video will load, don’t assume everything is in place … Check your setup and test it before showtime.

During a business meeting

Business meeting attendees could be calling in from the same office or from anywhere else in the world. It’s your job, as the organizer, to make sure everyone feels welcome. Use technologies that improve the visual experience and team collaboration and work on your presentation skills.

18. Don’t be late

Show up on time. There’s no excuse for being late for a business meeting, no matter what your role in it is. If you are, a simple apology to the organizer and the rest of the attendees is always appreciated, just don’t make a big fuss of it.

Even if you usually tend to arrive late for personal appointments, make an effort of always arriving a little bit early for business meetings.

Besides providing extra breathing room before an important meeting, you’ll probably be perceived as more orderly since you don’t cause unnecessary disruption.

We all have different personality types, and while being late for personal arrangements isn’t a problem in your surroundings, arriving on time is generally perceived as mandatory in professional settings.

19. Assign a leader

Someone is in charge of the business meeting, and it’s most likely the person who organized it, excluding PAs and the like. Every business meeting needs a leader, someone who knows they’re in charge of running it. Meeting leaders are key to successful meetings and make sure that actions are taken before, during and after.

The meeting leader is responsible for organizing, planning, and carrying out the meeting. That includes sending out invites, checking up on attendees, booking a room, testing equipment, ensuring that the meeting progresses in an orderly fashion and reaches its goals.

20. Assign a note-taker

While the meeting leader is in charge of communication, the agenda, even icebreaking, they might not be the right person to do the minutes as well.

Because the meeting leader is frequently speaking or being extra attentive to other attendees, it can be a good idea to assign a note-taker. The meeting leader can then sum up the notes after the meeting and send out a summary.

It can also be valuable to video or simply audio record the meeting, to make more detailed minutes later. If you’re doing this, please ask and notify the rest of the attendees ahead of time.

21. Look professional

Looking confident encourages acting confident. You shouldn’t feel like you have to dress up for a meeting, but there is a difference between meeting with colleagues and out-of-office clients.

As a general thumb rule for presenters, try not to draw attention to one specific detail in your outfit via graphic prints or colors, like popping nail color or t-shirt slogans, but instead make the overall image that of a neutral, blended, and put together individual.

22. Wait for everyone to arrive

You’re on time, but your colleagues aren’t. Do you dive in? No. Give them a couple of minutes more and wait until everyone has arrived or dialed in before you start with anything else than introductions.

That said, though, don’t wait forever for late-comers. Just like you should be on time, they should too, and you don’t have to encourage impoliteness.

23. Know where to sit

This might seem like an oddity to mention, but the seating position in a meeting room actually says something about people’s perception of you, your relationship with others in the room, and what you want to convey in the situation of the meeting. Not all seats are created equal, so choose wisely when picking a chair.

Are you a Power Player, Ally, Contender or Sideliner? Research shows you should use your boss as a compass in a meeting – if you want to be heard, sit close to them. If you want to go unnoticed, sit far away from them, but not opposite.

24. Make introductions

Welcome all attendees as they show up either in person or online. If it’s a business meeting with externals or new members of the team, be sure to take a turn around the room for everyone to introduce themselves and their role so they can all become acquainted.

25. Be polite with your smart devices

It’s not always necessary to turn your mobile device completely off but if you’re in doubt whether or not it’s appropriate (it almost never is), turn it off just to be sure. Or put in on silent, flight mode or anything non-disturbing that won’t suddenly flare up in a flash of sound and noise. Even better – don’t bring it into the business meeting at all.

The same goes for laptops. Are laptops approved devices for taking notes? Do you need it for presenting? If not, close it or stow it away entirely. If you start using your phone or laptop to check emails or other irrelevant stuff, other people will likely follow suit.

26. Limit clutter on your slides

Why is this important? The answer is that anyone can read something without the need for a meeting. Make sure your presentation offers new insights that can be digested at a glance.

With less clutter, attendees will focus on you, the presenter, instead of the slideshow. Secondly, it’s easier on the eyes. Leave a decent amount of white space instead of cluttering your slides with extraneous words, numbers or images.

If you don’t overcrowd your slides, you’ll be able to grab the attention of attendees much better. There’s a small test you can try to make sure people will comprehend your slides. Will they get what’s happening by glancing at your slide for just 3 seconds?

Duarte Design uses a clever analogy: Your slides are like billboards, while you, the presenter, are the main road, the main focus. Just like a driver shouldn’t take their eyes off the road for too long a time, the audience’s main focus should lie with you.

27. Don’t interrupt

Even business meeting situations can create an excitable or animated environment, with passionate discussions and heated debate. Keep your cool and let others finish talking before speaking yourself. If you have trouble remembering your thoughts, write down notes – as long as it doesn’t distract you from listening.

28. Be mindful of different personalities

Not everyone thrives in business meeting environments, which is a big challenge for managers in charge of a mixed team. There are the outgoing, gregarious folk that love open discussions and presenting, versus those perhaps more meditative in thought, precise and reserved.

The latter can end up switching off in meetings, or feeling uncomfortable having their opinions raised. In these scenarios, it’s good to consider how much pre-work can be expected in a business meeting. This is likely to be where the more introverted colleague can shine.

As we outlined in rule 2, not everyone needs to be included in all meetings. We like to think of the dinner party analogy: you need to find the right mix of people that play well off each other.

29. Listen!

Listening to what others say is crucial to any business meeting situation. But not only that, showing that you listen can make a difference too. Adjust your body language to show enthusiasm, even if you’re participating via video chat.

Research shows that being a good listener can even make you a better leader, as indicated by The New York Times.

Trying to multitask in a business meeting tells your colleagues that they’re not as important as whatever you’re doing and it’s contagious. Focus, listen attentively and see if your topic isn’t covered sometime during the meeting.

30. Don’t dominate discussions

You’re clever, you’re smart, you have something brilliant to say. But as with interruptions, dominating the business meeting isn’t a welcome approach unless you’re the meeting leader and it serves a specific purpose.

To control who can speak at any given time, some even use a physical aid like a ball. Hopefully, that’s only required for the most unruly of candidates.

31. Don’t procrastinate

Right, so we all procrastinate from time to time, and that’s okay. In business meetings, not so much. It’s up to the organizer to make sure the meeting is well thought out, not too long and has a clear purpose. It’s easy for attendees to drift or want to focus on other items if things feel scrambled.

Don’t get easily distracted when discussions stray off-topic, help others stay focused, and adjust your body language. These points will all help put an end to procrastination.

32. Make eye contact

Don’t be awkward: eye contact is a crucial factor in any good meeting. It’s a powerful way to engage others, either by inviting them into the conversation, letting them know they’re next in line to talk or gesture to someone that they should participate in the conversation.

Give it a try and see if you can’t manage the room a little better just by using those baby blues.

33. Follow good online conference etiquette

If you’re in an online conference call, you should make sure your profile picture and username are both appropriate. Test volume levels right away and mute when not speaking.

If you’re sharing your screen, close all other irrelevant programs and tabs on your computer. Airtame has just released Single Window Sharing, a feature that allows you to share only one window of your choosing while all other windows stay hidden.

34. Stay on topic

If you stray off topic from time to time – it happens in most business meetings – try to lead the conversation back to the main purpose. If the topic of conversation drifts for too long, everyone should be responsible for raising a hand, flagging it down, and bringing the topic back to the center.

It’s not only acceptable but necessary to let the other attendees know if the conversation has gone rogue.

35. To humor or not to humor?

Using humor is tricky and not always well-received. In a setting with closer teammates, it can be relatable and even help release tension, whereas it can cause unnecessary tension if used towards clients or people you don’t know well.

If you decide to go down the joking road, make sure it’s appropriate enough to suit your audience, no matter how well you know them. Dad jokes and puns can be quirky and fun, but sometimes it’s better to tone it down just a notch so as not to step on anyone’s toes.

36. Know your audience

There are several relevant points to make adherent to the audience. First of all, use a tone that is appropriate. Think about age, demographics, background, etc. Secondly, choose a topic that is relevant. People are not likely to listen to you if you’re not catering your message to them.

In other settings however, you also have to consider cultural boundaries. Things such as hierarchy, hand gestures, speaking out of turn, even the length of the meeting can all be connected to a specific cultural setting – and possibly not anything like what you’re used to.

Punctuality is essential in several Asian countries, and so is a hierarchical establishment of the business meeting’s participants. Gifts are common courtesy, and sometimes drinking is even part of the meeting as well.

37. Follow time constraints

Rule 5 was a big one: when you’ve booked the right timeframe, be sure to stick to it. Follow the timeline you set up for the meeting and end the meeting on time. Don’t simply run overtime. It is at the very least unprofessional, demotivating, and can have a knock-on effect on any meeting that follows.

Instead, show some humility and publicly acknowledge that you tried to cram too much into the one meeting, and that a follow-up will be scheduled.

38. Stay calm

It’s natural to be nervous in a business meeting, but try to make an effort to keep your cool. Staying calm and presentable – i.e. how you carry yourself – is very important and can help lead the way for clear content and communications thereof.

39. Talk confidently

See point 28 – not everyone is a natural in a business meeting setting, and that’s okay. Even the shyest people will find that talking confidently can convince themselves and the audience they’re talking to. In fact, public speaking can even provide quite a rush because the adrenaline is pumping and you’re pushing yourself.

Have you heard the latin phrase “errare humanum est”? It means that it’s human to err, and it’s more than fitting for public speaking. Mistakes are alright, you can even throw in a little light humor, if that’s your style, to help ease you into it.

When you do speak, don’t rush. If anything, speak so slowly it feels unnatural to you. We promise you, it sounds just fine.

40. Stay present

Your body language isn’t just important for active listening. You’re always able to tell if people want to be in the room or if they’d rather be somewhere else. Not every business meeting is a party, but it would be offensive to show that you’re bored and feel like your time is wasted.

Likewise, you’re also able to tell from the body language of other meeting participants how they feel. That can often be a good hint as to how the meeting’s going.

41. Help others stay present

Whether you’re the meeting organizer or a participant, don’t be afraid to call out others present that you feel are disengaged, talking, or in any way distracting the flow. Even the most ineffective of meeting presenters deserves the respect of active engagement from their audience.

42. Give space to different types of workers

More and more companies are choosing to board the remote train, encouraging a global focus in the workplace, and people working from all over the world. But those working remotely in coffee shops or secondary office spaces can quickly feel sidelined and disengaged if you don’t flesh out a functional remote infrastructure.

Include remote workers or those in secondary office locations as often as possible to ensure visibility into each other’s activities. They are as much part of the team as you are, and keeping them in the loop will help you all stay focused.

Perhaps even allocate more time to these people than those in the primary setting to make sure they feel welcome and heard.

43. Schedule time for breaks

During lengthy business meetings of more than an hour, schedule time for breaks and let people know about them as part of the agenda. This will help them stay focused. It also demonstrates a degree of empathy, highlighting that you know a toilet break, coffee run or quick clearing of the air is important to keep the energy up.

44. Move around

Meeting room arrangements don’t have to be old-school, boardroom style seating. No seriously, it’s not all knights of the round table and nothing else. Different kinds of rooms heavy on technology and dynamic presentations are taking over, fostering collaboration and freedom to share ideas.

Use Airtame and a pointer so you aren’t tethered to the front of the room. The freedom to room helps you establish more presence and engage better with your colleagues.

45. Leave time for questions

It’s an essential closing for every business meeting – and an amazing way for you to both clarify any discrepancies and improve for next time. You’ll probably find that having a dedicated time slot for questions at the end is more productive than people constantly raising their hand and interrupting during the meeting.

If the crowd has so many well-thought-out questions that there’s not enough time to bring up all the points at the allotted time for questions, ask if people would like to stay and finish the discussion. But give everyone the opportunity to leave on time before making assumptions.

After a business meeting

Business meetings are more often part of a larger project or strategy. Stop thinking of them as events that have a definite beginning and end. Keep yourself and your files in order to make sure you’re always ready to pick up where you left off.

46. Thank everyone for attending

If you called the business meeting, make sure to thank everyone for attending. It makes a difference and doesn’t cost you anything.

 

47. Follow up with notes/minutes

Share notes and reminders after the business meeting. If no notes were taken, thank everyone for attending by sending a quick email where you let them know you appreciated their time.

48. Follow up on action items

Action items should be sent around after the business meeting as a reminder of its focal points. Don’t forget to assign someone responsible for them because they’re useless without. Set deadlines as well as soon as possible.

If you promised to deliver on something promptly after the meeting, follow up immediately afterward.

49. Ask for – and give – feedback

All of us have likely tried a form of the feedback sandwich – with more or less luck. But besides criticism disguised as a compliment, there are other, arguably better ways to deliver constructive criticism. It’s imperative in a working environment to master the skill of giving feedback, both positive and negative, and you’d be surprised at how many actually want it.

In fact, studies show that employees crave feedback. Learn to comment constructively on the meeting itself, and the presenter. This feedback can, of course, be submitted in person, but there are also some great feedback apps like Duuoo that allow for anonymous communication.

50. Assess and adjust

Following up on the first item in this post, consider if you need the meetings at all. Not all recurring business meetings are productive, and you shouldn’t schedule meetings just for the sake of meetings.

Can something be changed to make your meetings more successful? Try to change things up every once in a while and see if you can make them even better.

No more passive business meetings with Airtame

Having Airtame in meeting rooms gives everyone the ability to present and easily connect. It allows for more freedom and a dynamic setting where opinions and ideas flow more freely. Since it’s a bring-your-own-device kind of solution, you’re not risking alienating anyone either.

Our mission is to go from passive business meetings with short attention spans to meeting settings where everyone can present easily and without disrupting the whole session.

While something like proper business meeting etiquette is indispensable to a successful meeting setting, we also believe Airtame can help alleviate some of the strain often experienced in those situations.

Ready to learn more about Airtame? Check out our recorded demos for business and education.

The post The 50 golden rules for good business meeting etiquette appeared first on Airtame.

If you want to learn how to go the extra mile, then read on. We’ve got ten essential PowerPoint tips for formatting presentations, from our friends and custom presentation design experts 24Slides!

Not a Microsoft or PowerPoint user? Check out our general presentation tips to help sharpen your skills

1: Calibri is not the only font in PowerPoint

Using far too much text in presentation slides is never a good idea. You want people to focus on you and what you’re saying. You don’t want them squinting at the screen trying to read entire sentences and paragraphs on your slides!

With that said, you should also pay attention to the font that you’re using. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the default font on PowerPoint, Calibri. It’s easy on the eyes, and it definitely looks way better than Comic Sans.

However, with it being the default font in PowerPoint, it means that countless other presentations are made using this font. If you want your text to stand out, then you better start checking out other options.

Google Fonts is an excellent choice with 900 free font families to choose from. While it’s a great site to begin your search for the best presentation fonts, the sheer number of font choices can be overwhelming. We recommend heading over to FontPair to get ideas on the best Google Font combinations you can use in your presentations.

2: Use a consistent color scheme

If you don’t want your presentation to look like a kaleidoscope of colors, then try to stick to a color theme. Depending on the look you’re trying to achieve, two or three colors may suffice. Use one color for the background, another one for text, and a third color for accents. These are the usual color schemes you’ll find on many successful presentations:

• Light background with dark text and graphics
• Dark background with light text and graphics

Avoid using neon-colored text in your slides though. Sure, it will stand out, but then again, a more discerning, professional audience may not feel comfortable looking at garish-looking slides!

3: When using icons, stick to one style

Icons add visual flair to your presentation slides. Instead of using plain, ol’ boring text, use icons that convey the same meaning. Icons not only make your slides look cleaner, but they also free up a lot of space that would normally be occupied by text. The good news is there are a ton of places where you can download both free and premium icons.

If you have an Office 365 subscription or Office 2019, you can download icons directly on PowerPoint. If you find the PowerPoint icons lacking, you can check out places like 24Templates, The Noun Project, Flaticon, Envato Elements, and more.

Wherever you get your icons from, just remember that consistency is key to good design. You don’t want to mix and match different icon styles.

If you’re using outline styles (no fill color), then use that style for all your icons. If you want to use single-color filled or even colorful icons, that’s entirely up to you. Just make sure you use the same icon style throughout your entire presentation.

4: Align your slide objects

One of the simplest ways you can make your slides look professional is by arranging and aligning various objects. You can align a single object as well as multiple ones.

You can align objects to the left, center and right side of the slide. Or you can choose to align them to the top, middle and bottom of the slide. You can also choose to distribute your objects horizontally or vertically.

You can also use the built-in ruler, gridlines and guides to help you out. Simply click on the View tab, and tick the boxes for Ruler, Gridlines and Guides, like you see below:

5: Use the slide master and format your slide layouts

Formatting individual slides is okay if you’ve only got one or two slides to worry about. But what about if you’ve got 20 or 50 or 100 slides?

This is where the power of the slide master comes in. In Microsoft’s own words, “The slide master is the blueprint of your presentation. It controls everything but the content of your doc.”

What this means for you is you can make global changes to your entire presentation’s format just by making some changes to the slide master. For example, if you want to use the Open Sans font for all your headers and the Raleway font for your body texts, then you don’t need to update each slide individually. You can simply edit your slide master!

6: Pay attention to your background

Making different objects on your slides come alive is possible with a good background. This is because the right background can provide texture and contrast to the objects you want to emphasize; it will literally draw people’s eyes to it.

In PowerPoint, you have several options for your background. You can use a solid color fill, a gradient fill, a picture or texture fill, or a pattern fill, like you see in the screenshot below:

Whichever background option you choose, just remember that the background’s job is not to get noticed. Instead, it should direct the audience’s attention to the objects in the foreground.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good background. Knowing how to create the best PowerPoint background is essential for your presentation’s success.

7: Use Format Painter to save precious time

The Format Painter button in PowerPoint looks so small. If you’re not familiar with it, you can easily disregard or even dismiss it. But don’t be so quick to judge the small icon in the Home tab. This tiny button allows you to copy and paste formats from one object to another in just 3 clicks!

Imagine having several shapes on a slide. You’ve already formatted one object, you’ve formatted its shape fill, outline, effects, etc. Now you want to apply the same format to other shapes. Doing this manually will take you some time. But with the Format Painter tool, you can ‘paint over’ your first object’s format onto other objects!

What’s really great about Format Painter is that the objects don’t even have to be on the same slide. You can copy an object’s format in slide #1 and then paste it to other objects in, say, slides 9 and 10.

8: Use the Animation Painter to copy and paste animations

Animations make your presentation ‘literally’ come alive. However, if you don’t want your presentation to look like an overly enthusiastic amateur made it, then it’s best to keep your object animations to a minimum.

Animation Painter works just like Format Painter (see previous tip), but instead of copying and pasting formats, it does animations.

Basically, it works the same way as Format Painter. You simply copy an object’s animation, click on the Animation Painter in the Animations tab, then click on the object(s) you want to paste the animation to.

If the Animation Painter button is grayed out on your screen, that is, it’s not clickable, then you should check if you’ve actually applied an animation to your first object. Oh, and if you only have one object, meaning, you don’t have a second object to paste the animation to, the Animation Painter button isn’t going to be clickable, too.

9: Familiarize yourself with PowerPoint’s built-in formatting tools

PowerPoint has a lot of cool tricks up its sleeves. The default menu options look simple enough, but clicking on various objects on your slide will bring up hidden menus and formatting options.

For example, if you want to format a shape, you’d need to click on that shape so that the Drawing Tools tab will appear on your PowerPoint ribbon.

If you need to format an image, you’d need to click on that image so that the Format Picture menu will appear. If you’d like to format your SmartArt, you’d need to click on that graphic so the SmartArt Tools will appear. Likewise, clicking on a table will bring up the Table Tools menu, and so on.

What this tip basically boils down to is that if you need to format something on PowerPoint, you just need to click on that object or element. You’ll then gain access to the hidden tools you need to format or design it.

10: Use PowerPoint templates for quick formatting

If there’s one thing in life we can’t ever take back, it’s time. Don’t waste hours creating presentation slides from scratch! Slides are meant to be used as a visual accompaniment for presentations; they’re not the “main attraction”. You and your message are! Therefore, you want to spend as much time as possible perfecting your presentation, and not designing and formatting your slides.

This is where PowerPoint templates come in. They’re already formatted. You simply need to swap out the placeholders with your content, and you’re good to go! Now, not all templates are created equal. If you’re looking for free, professionally-designed and high-quality templates, check out Templates by 24Slides.

Ready to bring Power to your Points?

It’s important to put yourself in your audience’s shoes when formatting your slides. Ask yourself if your slides actually add value to your presentation. If yes, then that’s awesome. But if not, these tips should help you take a step in the right direction.

If you would like to know how to present from your mobile or computer devices to your TV screen or projector wirelessly, watch this short video:

The post 10 simple PowerPoint tips to help you become a presentation pro appeared first on Airtame.

Let’s face it: It’s a daunting task. You have to be a great orator, prepare clear and convincing visual aids, all while keeping your audience engaged. Everything is stacked against you. A passable presentation is common-place, a truly great one is a rarity.

That’s why today we’ve reached out to our friends over at 24Slides for some much-needed presentation tips. As leading experts in custom presentation design, they know a thing (or ten) about how to make any slideshow more impactful, and your audience hooked.

If you want more info on how to make designs that stand out, check out our longform piece on the ins and outs of digital signage.

How to create better presentations

Luckily, whether you’re a presentation newbie or simply haven’t made a presentation in a long time, there are some basic rules you can follow to make sure your presentation slides come out as winners.

These are rules you can apply to any kind of presentation, regardless of the software you use. So whether your weapon of choice is PowerPoint, Google Slides or Keynote, read on for our 10 essential tips for formatting better presentations.  

1. How many slides should there be in a presentation?

By asking how many slides should there be in a presentation, you’re actually asking: How long should my presentation be? The answer to that is usually up to 20 minutes. I know it seems like no time at all, but research shows people just can’t pay attention longer than that.

And according to Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule, 20 minutes translate roughly into 10 slides.

But how do you actually fit your presentation into 20 minutes? And how do we know it translates into 10 slides? Well, because there are certain rules for the amount of text you should have on each slide.

2. How much text should be on a slide?

According to the 1-6-6 Rule, your slide shouldn’t have more than 1 guiding idea, 6 bullet points, and six words per one bullet point. But that, of course, might not apply to all types of presentations, and would amount to 10 very text heavy slides.

So the general rule of thumb is to be sensible and don’t overburden your slides with text. Remember they’re only there as a visual aid.

3. Use visual storytelling

Now that you know how much information you need to cram into 10 slides, it’s time to start using that space wisely. And how do we do that? By implementing appropriate methods of visualizing all the data.

You do this by using charts, tables, organizational templates, and images in order to tell a story and showcase the data. Not only does this save up space, but it also resonates more with your audience, since we’re hardwired to absorb information visually.

4. Visualize your data

Presentation software these days offer a wide variety of easy-to-access visual aids perfect for beginners. For example, in PowerPoint you can simply click on Insert on the ribbon and you’ll find several options to display data right there.

Pie charts are great if you’re talking percentages. Just make sure not to have too many slices, as this can also feel like information overload. The wise thing to do is have up to 6 slices per pie chart. Vertical bar charts are great for showing quantity over time and should be limited to 8, while horizontal bar charts make for great quantitative comparison.

5. Choose a large font

One of the presentation formatting tips that is crucial to avoid embarrassment is to use no more than 2 complementary fonts through the entire presentation. Learn what San-Serif fonts are and opt for them.

But the most important advice on presentation formatting you take from this when it comes to fonts: Make your text HUGE. Don’t be afraid to do this. You’re not supposed to put too much text on a slide anyway, so it will all fit right in.

Remember that you’re presenting to an audience in a room, and there will be some people sitting way back.

6. Basic slide design rules

One of the most important tips for formatting better presentations is to stay away from basic software themes. Avoid them like the plague. Instead, opt for one of the many free presentation templates and themes available around the web. For example, we have a huge library of free PowerPoint templates you can access right here.

Also: Raw data is not the only thing needing visual aids. Believe it or not, emotional information is capable of taking up this form as well. So use images, and don’t be afraid to spread them across your entire slide. This gives the audience the time to rest, take the info in, and resonate with what you are saying.

Just make sure that the image proves your point and directs the emotions of the audience where you want them.

7. Use tasteful animations

One of the most essential tips for better presentation formatting is definitely to go easy on the animations. Using too many quirky effects on your text and slides will absolutely make you look like a beginner.

We know animations are fun, but if you’re not presenting to your high school class your audience isn’t going to appreciate it. Stick with the basics like Wipe ‘Left-to-Right’ for bullet points and don’t have more than three different slide transition animations. Less is more.

8. Emote with color

You can’t really talk about basic presentation formatting tips without mentioning the importance of color. You don’t have to be an artist in order to understand how certain colors evoke certain feelings, and how you can absolutely use this to your advantage. For your text, use warm colors, as those bring more attention. For your background, you’ll want to contrast that with cooler shades.

9. Begin with emotion

While the 1-6-6 rule applies to most slides, make sure to apply the one-sentence rule to your beginning slide. Someone with six bullet points on their beginning slide will surely come off as an amateur.

A title slide should only contain the title of your presentation, and should otherwise consist of visual input. Including an image that takes up the majority of the slide space is a really common way of starting presentations, so you can’t go wrong with that. Just make sure to choose an image related to your subject that summarizes it perfectly.

Read more: 10 tips on How to start a presentation with impact

10. End with detail

One of the greatest tips for formatting a superior presentation is to ditch the Thank You slide. It was popular back in the day, but rules change. Instead, say thank you directly to your audience, and ask them if they have any questions.

Your last slide shouldn’t shy away from bullet-points. Summarize all your points in up to 6 lines so that the audience has the chance go over it during the discussion. Putting up a giant thank-you or simply an image won’t help that. And while a thank you slide won’t exactly make you look like an amateur (they’re pretty common), not using a thank you slide has a great chance of making you look like a pro.

Start presenting better

Now you know some essential tips for formatting better presentation. Before you stand in front of the audience, make sure to avoid the novice mistakes like too much text and animations. Use appropriate fonts and invest in the visual representation of data. And remember: Emotional input can be visual and is important. If you follow these tips, you can be sure you’ll come off as a presentation formatting whiz.

On the other hand, if you’re pressed for time or simply want to focus on more important things, you can leave the design work to us.

Even better, we’re offering Airtame customers and readers a 20% discount off their first order. Simply visit us at 24slides.com and use the coupon code AIRTAME.

If you would like to know how to present from your mobile or computer devices to your TV screen or projector wirelessly, watch this short video:

The post Make your mark: 10 essential presentation tips appeared first on Airtame.

Then there’s the kind of ad-hoc meetings where you don’t feel the need to book ahead people or meeting room, for a quick brainstorm or a small team status update on the fly, where do such impromptu sessions take place?

Introducing the huddle room. It might just be the thing for you.

Huddle rooms are:

• Essential for open and collaborative workspaces
• Easy to build
• Not for everyone (team of developers? Perhaps not for you)

There’s persistent talk around the huddle room, or huddle space, and seeing as they’re so flexible and cater to many different situations, they’re difficult to pin down. This is our take on what huddle rooms are, and how to make the most out of them.

What is a huddle room?

Before we go to the world of meetings, let’s quickly look at the world of football (American, not the European). In football, players assemble for a quick session called a “huddle”. When they “huddle up”, it means they’re either strategizing, motivating or celebrating after a win.

These quick on-field meetings are an essential part of the game, and the same goes for office environments where people need to meet for a brief chat.

A huddle room is a smaller, more informal meeting space that provides a comfortable, secluded area for teams to meet, brainstorm or catch up easily. It’s for workgroups and colleagues who don’t necessarily need to book a room but still want to recap face-to-face.

Just like in football, these sort of office huddle-ups occur often, yet not many office spaces have the appropriate settings to accommodate them. In an open office space, most people will refrain from meeting at each other’s desk because it’s a distraction to the rest of the team and not private at all.

In fact, face-to-face time decreases by around 70 percent in open floor plans, a recent Harvard study suggests. That doesn’t mean it’s not a necessity anymore, and that’s where huddle rooms can prove their worth. That face-to-face time you were missing? Perfect for the huddle room.

Besides some much-needed face-to-face time, huddle rooms can be used for:

• Quick brainstorm sessions
• Daily team stand-ups
• Design reviews
• Alignment meetings
• Informal 1:1
• Project team meetings

The key elements of huddle rooms

There’s no fixed version of the huddle room, its design or outfit, but there are some key elements that define them.

Small

They can typically accommodate no more than five people, allowing for much more intimacy. Because they’re so small, they can make use of otherwise forgotten spaces, which makes them highly cost-effective.

User-friendly

A huddle room is supposed to be a space for on-the-fly interactions and quick meet-ups rather than time-consuming setups. Your huddle rooms should have equipment that is easy to use for anyone at any time, and with instructions that are plainly visible.

Informal

Distractions and noise are pretty common in most offices, but especially the ones with an open floor plan. A quiet, private space for smaller groups to meet puts an end to that problem. Sounds great? Sounds like a huddle room!

Flexible

No matter the objective, Huddle rooms should be outfitted to support any sort of on the fly team objective. That means huddle rooms can be equipped with a range of easy-to-use equipment and technology for presenting, sharing and remote video conferencing.

Ready to go

Huddle rooms are not designed for long meetings that occupy the space for the entirety of the day. And where other, full-scale conference spaces may be booked for longer, drawn-out endeavors, huddle rooms should remain ‘unbookable’.

We suggest introducing a time limit instead, e.g. an hour per room – or perhaps even less. Every time the clock reaches a full hour, say, other workers will know that the huddle room is available.

How to set up successful huddle rooms

Huddle rooms should be used for on-the-fly collaboration, ideation and less objective-driven sessions. To facilitate that, we recommend introducing relatively neutral surroundings. Keep it simple. This means less distracting surroundings with signage, furnishing and other accessories that won’t cause too much of a fuss.

We think a huddle room should be able to accommodate no more than five people in total, and four is even better. Just don’t think of huddle rooms as scaled-down conference rooms, you’ll risk losing the intimacy and spontaneousness that huddle rooms invite. Plus, consider the sound level, and respect your fellow staff members that might be within earshot.

To set a basic standard, outfit the huddle room with a small table. You need a place for your notebooks and laptops, in any case, right? Then a few chairs for as many people as you intend to use the space. Your employees might prefer standing but they should all have the possibility of sitting down for longer meetings. Want even more flexibility? Choose the kind of chairs that have wheels.

A whiteboard or flipchart can help you visualize your amazing ideas. Just don’t go overboard with the outfit of the room. It needs to be simple enough that the next person in line won’t waste any time setting it up after you.

Huddle room technology

Huddle rooms typically cost less to equip than full-scale meeting rooms, and that’s why you’ll need budget-friendly tech options that match the laidback, casual collaboration.

Airtame 2 a cost-effective collaboration tool that makes the most out of screens, whether you’re using them for presenting or they’re on standby. It’s an easy, cable-free solution that takes away the hassle of presenting and thereby adds a better flow in productivity.

It’s a BYOD (bring your own device) solution, which means that no matter what device or operating system you or your guests prefer, Airtame 2 has got your back. The cloud-based platform allows for easy management and maintenance of devices, so you don’t have to walk from huddle room to huddle room to perform updates.

You’ll also need a smaller projector or TV screen broadcast presentations. Mount the big screen to save some space, and give the huddle room a marginally more ‘closed-off’ quality.

Whether you need video conferencing tools is up to your organization and the kind of tasks you’re most likely to perform in your huddle rooms. If it’s mostly internal project collaboration, then you probably won’t need AV equipment.

Are huddle rooms for you?

Huddle rooms are in it to win it. These collaboration-fostering meeting spaces could result in increased productivity and less wasted space in your office, but they certainly aren’t for everyone.

In an already hectic and open work environment, you run the risk of removing the only pockets of solace and quiet you might have. And you’ll still have your conference rooms. Huddle rooms aren’t here to replace them, as it doesn’t make sense to outfit them the same way.

Huddle rooms are for all those in-between meetings you need where a conference room is too big and better for larger presentations. Huddle rooms are particularly great for big, open and under-populated environments as well as heavily compartmentalized office spaces.

In all likelihood, managers and employees that take the initiative to utilize the huddle space are likely to also be quick and adept adopters of new technology. They need it to work right now, in the simplest and smartest way possible to get the most out of everyone’s time.

Huddle rooms come in all forms, and many shapes and sizes, but bottom line is that they’re great for teamwork. If you run a floor of developers, perhaps huddle rooms would be redundant. If you have a bunch of designers, marketers and informal visits from externals, huddle rooms could be a great remedy to the typically stifling and stiff meeting room.

Want to kit out your huddle room with Airtame? Watch this short video to discover how Airtame works:

Ready to start building a huddle room, and want to kit it out with Airtame? Book a call with our customer success team

The post Office essentials: the huddle room appeared first on Airtame.

Airtame 2 is a platform-agnostic wireless HDMI solution. It works great for your daily meeting room setups. Besides that, you have the option of showing custom content and digital signage from app integrations such as Trello, Unsplash, Google Slides and World Clock.

The right tools can take the hassle away from meeting room equipment troubles and digital signage problems. That’s what Airtame 2 does. Have a look at these arguments why Airtame 2 increases productivity and simplifies office routines.

Once you’ve convinced your boss, let’s talk!

1. Unlock better meetings

37% of employee time is spent in meetings, and a great deal of that time is taken up by figuring out equipment and connections. Meeting room equipment shouldn’t take focus away from productivity, yet that’s often the case.

Having Airtame 2 in meeting room environments helps bring focus and concentration. Just connect Airtame 2 to your screen, download the Airtame app and you’re ready to go. It’s easy to configure and customize, and it looks great sitting idle too. It gives the workplace better flow without the inconvenience of regular setups.

Forget spinning monitors around so others can see the screen. Forget hooking up cables and other devices, and tripping over and breaking them. Forget worrying about what hardware visitors or team members from outside the office utilize – Airtame 2 works with all.

2. Low cost

In many businesses, buying new and fancy tech equipment is an action of rarity, one that comes with a tight budget. Airtame 2 is cheaper than most competitors with a starting price of only $499 but offers the same or more features. Check out some of the comparison articles we’ve written about similar products versus Airtame 2. Minimize costs without having to settle.

3. No nonsense, risk-free 30-day trial policy

Don’t hesitate to buy Airtame 2 if you’re still unsure it’s the right fit for your business. If you end up not liking it after the 30-day trial period, you can return it for whatever reason. We provide a full cash refund or free replacements in the case of damaged or faulty items.

The reason for providing a no nonsense 30-day trial is that we want you to test the product and the features we offer to make sure you’re making the right decision that suits your needs.

4. Custom digital signage

There are several advantages to digital signage. Influence customers, potential customers, and co-workers. We understand the value of employees being updated with the latest information and knowledge.

With the latest firmware update, we offer app integrations that will help your business get the most out of screens when no one is streaming to them. Currently, Airtame supports team collaboration tool Trello, beautiful imagery by Unsplash, presentational slides with Google Slides and an overview of current local times with World Clock.

Welcome guests with the perfect message and place information where visiting customers are sure to notice it. Changing it is easy and can be done remotely.

5. Always-on support

Time is money. So goes the old saying, and we know it to be true. We value your time, and that’s why we have immediate support via email, chat or call anytime you need it.

Problems before a meeting? Our current answer rate is within three minutes, so even emergencies in the here and now can be solved quickly, meaning you can get on with your business.

6. Reduce support tickets by 80%

Because Airtame 2 is simple to set up and use, your tech support department will no longer drown in support tickets. It’s easy to update and manage devices from the cloud, even if you’re not on site.

In fact, the number of support tickets can be reduced significantly after deploying Airtame. When Lake Superior College added Airtame to their classrooms, IT admins noticed that they now have 75-80% fewer support tickets.

7. Simple overview

Airtame is a wireless HDMI solution with many management options that come in handy at any office. Whether you have one or many screens, using Airtame 2 sets a strong precedent for solid overviews and maintenance with the Airtame Cloud. Display exactly the kind of content you want and change it whenever.

8. Cut the cables

We spend so much time and effort making our meeting rooms look smart and nice, only to go spoil it with ugly mounds of connection cables left on the table. It leaves you a bad impression on external guests, and frustrates colleagues.

Fortunately, this is where Airtame 2 really steps up. No more cables! You don’t have to detangle a bunch of input cables trying to find the right one to fit your laptop, and there’s no “extra” device needed. Just connect to Airtame via the app, and you’re all set. The app also allows for easy access when guests are visiting.

9. Ease of use in any business

We designed Airtame 2 to take away some of the chaos in a hectic work environment. It’s up and running in just a few minutes with instructions on how to use it right there on the screen. Our solution even comes with personalized on-screen instructions in almost every language.

It’s simple to use and reliable in all situations, and your staff doesn’t have to be tech-savvy individuals or part of the IT department to know how it works. It’s as easy and intuitive as flicking on a light switch.

Go for equipment that works simply, yet effectively. Go for a stable, supportive environment for entrepreneurs. Go for seamless integration and an overall improved experience at work.

Are you ready to buy Airtame 2? Check our pricing model here or book a demo today to get started. We look forward to having you onboard.

The post How to convince your boss that you need to buy Airtame for your workplace appeared first on Airtame.

According to research by Sauder School of Business, seating arrangements can have a major impact on the way people think. Old school meetings, with their large sober toned rooms, rectangular tables and formal “boardroom” style seating are now slowly making way for a different kind of room, one that fosters collaboration, with technology at the fore.

A simple, yet innovative product like Airtame is simplifying the way meetings are conducted through its path-breaking technology and the ease with which it can be incorporated into any meeting room.

It allows any computer device – regardless of platform – to be connected to a TV screen or projector via WiFi or ethernet, in conjunction with the Airtame app. It takes seconds and two clicks to start streaming your screens, and the same amount of time to pass over the presenting responsibilities to another colleague or device.

Technology is the way to go

Technology is definitely making inroads into meeting rooms and making the process of conducting meetings more dynamic, yet simple. Screens are getting bigger, too, meaning you have all the more opportunity to present in the most engaging ways.

Meetings rooms are changing into smart rooms with temperature sensors, light sensors and more that sense movement and adjust the temperature accordingly as well as the switching on the lights. This not only saves electricity but also helps the company in doing their part when it comes to going green.

Wired solutions are slowly retracting and wireless solutions are taking its place. There are many myths about the effectiveness of wireless working but, truth be told, the technology is improving with momentum. Airtame is one such solution that is leading the way in helping over 10,000 organizations to go wireless.

With its really small footprint and innovative approach, a lot of companies like GoMore, Lesara, Summ, RTX, etc. have already adopted Airtame in their offices and meeting rooms for flexibility and ease of use.

Say no to passive meetings

Passive meetings are those in which a presenter goes on with their dry and structured agenda while the attendees listen on. One major reason as to why this is ineffective is that the presenter doesn’t hold the attention of the entire audience. This is due to lack of movement or dynamacy in the presenter.

Having Airtame in the meeting room allows for more freedom because it is a truly wireless solution. Anyone who wishes to present can have the app on their smartphone or laptop and can easily connect to the monitor. Being platform agnostic also works in favor of Airtame.

Active meeting rooms give more importance to opinions and sharing of ideas between the attendees.

If there are several people that need to present, the duration between presentations should be minimal to give a sense of continuity. Here too, Airtame takes care of it since it just requires the current person to disconnect and the next person to connect to the shared network.

A well-ordered meeting room gives a feeling of preparation

Meeting rooms are places where ideas are shared and important decisions are made. Imagine welcoming the members of a meeting to a room completely cluttered with cables. Many organizations still rely on VGA, HDMI, and other cables to connect laptops and other devices to the projector or monitor. This gives the attendees a feeling that there is a lack of preparation.

Airtame is a wireless screen mirroring solution that can easily solve the problem of cable clutter in a meeting room, plus save IT support a lot of time in fixing (and untangling!) them. It requires the software to be present on your device and mirroring to the screen can be completed in a few easy steps.

Plug in the Airtame device to the HDMI port of the screen and select the correct video source. There, you’ll be prompted to download the software on your device, and then it is as easy as connecting it the WiFi network and clicking on the screen mirroring button.

Not only does Airtame allow the opportunity for you to ditch cables, it also allows meeting participants to move around freely with their devices, and not be tethered to the front of a meeting room, awkwardly propped up against the TV due to a short connection cable. Psychologically, the freedom to roam allows any meeting room presenter to establish more presence, and engage better with what might often be procrastinating, disengaged meeting participants.

This piece was originally published on The London Economic website.

The post How to make your business meetings more efficient with Airtame appeared first on Airtame.

Meetings are an integral part of business life. Done well, meetings are vehicles for big breakthroughs and collaborative decisions. Done badly, meetings leave you wondering why you were even present – especially when you’re shuttling from one agenda-free, tech-challenged, leaderless discussion to the next.

With the average office worker spending more than a day every week on meetings, we have learned that optimizing meetings could be the single biggest boost to productivity for any organization. In First Agenda, we help organizations run more effective meetings using our digital meeting tools, and we have already helped more than 400 organizations. In this blog post, we share our experiences by compressing our top 5 tips to make your meetings more effective:

1. Reduce the number of meetings and attendees

“Let’s schedule a meeting” has become the universal default response to most business issues. Meeting face-to-face can be the right solution in many instances, but it’s not necessarily the best answer. Always ask yourself: Do you really need a meeting? Or will another method of communication work just as well?

If you can accomplish your goal without adding another meeting to the calendar, don’t do it – trust us, your colleagues will thank you for it. Especially if the purpose is simply to share information. Send an email instead.

However, if a meeting is the right solution, make sure you only invite the right people (those necessary to achieve the goal of the meeting). A meeting is an easy way to keep everyone updated, but inviting the wrong people can have a negative effect. Those people with no real purpose in the room are more likely to check their email, be disengaged, or derail the meeting with issues that aren’t on the agenda.

As an alternative, if only part of the meeting is relevant for some people, invite them to join only for that specific part. The fewer the people, the faster your meeting goal can be accomplished.

2. Define the purpose and set a clear agenda

Defining the purpose is the most important part of your meeting preparation. The purpose determines who should join the meeting, how they participate and what format the agenda takes. Start by defining the goal and outcomes you want to achieve. Is it to share information? Make decisions? Gather ideas? Allocate tasks? Connect with others? Or something else?

When you know the purpose, you should make a clear agenda to outline the content of the meeting. The agenda should be sent out at least two days in advance to make sure attendees are informed and have time to prepare. Highlight in the agenda what preparation the participants need to do, such as read a document, prepare an update or simply consider a topic.

If you are asking someone to present new information, give them adequate time to prepare. If appropriate, invite suggestions for agenda items – participants will be more engaged if they have contributed to the agenda.

Click here to get a simple template for creating agendas that you can easily re-use from meeting to meeting.

3. Remember to document your meeting

You don’t want your colleagues to ask you next week: ”What did we decide in the last meeting?” and ”Who was responsible for that task?”. Therefore, assign someone to take meeting minutes. The note-taker should be someone other than the meeting leader, so the leader can facilitate the discussion and keep the meeting focused.

The quality of the meeting minutes is important in order to clearly explain decisions, tasks and knowledge. If your meeting has a clear goal, it makes it easier to summarize the discussion and recommended next steps. When the quality of the notes is high, a copy can also be sent out to people who were excluded from the meeting – the people who just need to know the outcome. Keep them in the loop with a summary email.

If you want to avoid taking any notes at all, you can take a look at First Agenda´s new meeting app. With First Agenda Assistant, you get your own virtual meeting secretary. All you have to do is activate the speech recognition technology on the app, and the meeting minutes will be created automatically.

Sound good? Read more about First Agenda´s new meeting app and experience the newest technology of speech recognition and machine learning here.

4. Challenge old habits

Often, much of what we do regarding meetings is so routinely driven that we do not even question the configuration. We are creatures of habit, and changing a long since established organizational culture can prove a difficult task.

However, you ought to consider the kind of meeting culture you want to foster in your organization and make agreements with your colleagues about this. Being on time, not sending emails, and saving small-talk for later are guidelines that will enhance focus and make your meetings more effective.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and challenge your old habits. Why not stand up during your next meeting? Or take 2 minute breaks for reflection? Or move the meeting outside? Or consider the kind of innovation that might grow from a forest cabin, a theatre, or a photo studio?

5. Summarize and follow up

End the meeting with a summary of key points, agreements, next steps, and who is responsible for upcoming tasks. If you have a long agenda, it may be useful to do this summary after each item and close all discussion on the topic to move onto the next subject. This structure prevents the discussion from running in circles, and keeps the meeting moving forward.

After the meeting, send a written summary to each participant – ideally within 24 hours of the meeting. This ensures that the momentum continues and people are accountable for what they have agreed to do.

Want more inspiration? Sign up for the First Agenda blog for tips on effective meetings and good meeting culture.

Or download our free e-book The Good Meeting

The post 5 tips to optimize meetings: what First Agenda learned from facilitating 150,000+ meetings appeared first on Airtame.

Enter Graduateland

This is where Graduateland comes into play. Graduateland is Europe’s largest career portal for students and graduates. We met up with Frederik Ferbing, In-House Legal & Office Manager, for a chat about the company, their visions and how AIRTAME has made life easier for them.

What is Graduateland all about?

Graduateland is about making students and graduates meet employers. We provide a system to let universities create their own career portals and we help students and graduates find jobs. In short, Graduateland facilitates contact between students and employers.

Graduateland has been matching students and employees since 2010. The company actually started as a bachelor thesis, which was awarded the Danish equivalent to a D.

Now, 5 years and thousands of career connections later, they clearly proved their professors wrong. With a solid blend of technical people and a talented sales team, they have climbed to the top of Europe’s market for career portals.

What do you see being Graduateland’s main opportunities?

We still have a very strong focus on Europe. We have the Danish market and are pretty solid in Sweden. The next focus areas for us will be Germany and the Baltics, which are two very interesting areas.

The first geographical expansion came last year when Graduateland increased their presence in the Swedish market by opening their first office abroad in Stockholm.

How are you looking into expanding and growing?

Since the beginning of 2015, we have focused on expanding the content of the portal. By improving the content, we can make users stay longer on our network and conquer markets.

In a company with two offices and almost 30 employees, a lot of meetings are naturally held every day. Therefore, making the meetings flow more seamlessly, can allow Graduateland to save a lot of time and money.

What kind of meetings do you have during a regular day?

The meetings at Graduateland are very different. We have a lot of internal staff and strategy meetings. Besides that we have a lot of customers coming in, especially larger clients that need help with graduate programs.

Therefore it is important for us to have a big meeting room we can do presentations in but also sit small groups of people working on projects.

How has it changed since you installed AIRTAME?

Since we started using AIRTAME for meetings we have saved a lot of time. Making computers connect to the TV is a lot more time consuming than you would think. AIRTAME makes it easy.

It always involves some risk when you let your meetings rely on something quite new and unknown. Especially in meetings with customers who aren’t familiar with the technology. But that has not been an issue so far.

The reactions we have had on AIRTAME have been really positive. Especially the easy accessibility is a big bonus. It is very easy for people to come in, download the software and get started. It has been fun to observe how easily people can work with the product. It takes very little to no training and people just get it.

Because all meetings are different in style and content an adaptive solution that runs hassle-free is key to letting the meetings run smoothly and efficiently. Therefore Graduateland has come to appreciate the different work modes of the AIRTAME that let you enhance the performance for the specific task that needs to be done.

AIRTAME makes it easy to have a meeting. The different modes you can work in (work, presentation, video, manual) makes it very easy to switch from your slides to a video presentation. That is one of the best things about AIRTAME.

AIRTAME is an excellent meeting tool.

If you don’t have AIRTAME yet, but you’re interested in changing the way you and your colleagues work and collaborate, send us a note. We can help you work more efficiently, and rid your office of those pesky, unsightly cables, just like we did with Graduateland.

We want to hear about how you’re using AIRTAME in your office. If you’re up for a quick chat, then let us know! Maybe we’ll make a video about your company.

The post How Graduateland uses Airtame to have wireless meetings appeared first on Airtame.