How to Have Better Meetings With Digital Signage

If there’s one thing we’d all like at work, it’s better meetings right? The “meeting” format can often make even the most exciting topic, oh so boring. Especially when attendees are fixated on emails and smartphones or managing anything else other than giving the session their undivided attention. Then you have the classic "meeting for the sake of meeting" where no one really knows why they’re there, but you lose an hour or two anyway.

At ScreenCloud, we believe there’s a simple solution to many of the problems that make meetings a time drain. How do we know? Because we’ve  been there and we’ve used it.  

Of course, we mean digital signage. Digital signage is the practice of getting screens up on walls and actually using them to make a difference to the way you communicate and share information. Here’s how digital signage can help you to have better meetings, in any office,  business or even co-working space.

As many businesses are contemplating heading back into the office, these are just a few excellent tips to keep in mind.‍

Only invite relevant people

How many meetings have you been to that you probably didn’t need to be in? The horrible truth is that when people are forced to attend irrelevant meetings, they actually fail to show up. Sure, they might be there physically but mentally, they’re elsewhere.

Digital signage can help eradicate this by showing guest list of who’s attending prior to the meeting start time. Use event calendar, a Google Spreadsheet or an app such as Wayfinding Pro which will all do the job of setting up your list of attendees on screen. 

This could be in your office, or outside of the meeting room itself.  When you see who’s attending, the person running the meeting can  actively make a decision on who needs to be there and who doesn’t. The more meetings you can remove from someone’s diary, the better. 

Lay out the agenda on the screen prior to the meeting

Most meetings take far too long to get started. The reason? No clear agenda. Prior to any meeting, have a policy that the meeting agenda gets added to your digital signage screens. 

This gives everyone a chance to digest the information and will  ensure you stay on track of topics much more easily. Sure, you could give everyone a paper print out but how many people are going to read  that? If you have the information up on your digital screen not only is  it more visible but you also get to change the information as often as  you like.

No wasted paper just one, highly visible digital screen and  up-to-the-minute relevant meeting agenda that helps everyone to stay on  track.

Remove personal screens - use on

Digital signage can help combat this. Use your digital screen to  provide super useful information that’s relevant to the meeting and keep  everyone focused on the big screen rather than their individual ones.

You could even implement a policy where phones are left at the door  or on desks. With one big digital screen you can provide any information  needed. Whether it’s the meeting agenda, social media feeds to help  attendees relax between points or even a Slack feed from the office so they don’t miss out on what’s going on.

Think of the digital screen as your digital campfire around which,  your meeting attendees can be better engaged and more active in your  meeting topics. 

Direct attendees

How many meetings start late because attendees can’t find the right room? Digital signage used outside of meeting rooms helps direct meeting  guests faster and can account for any last minute changes. If a room  gets booked or the previous tenants over run, you can update your  calendar appointment and suddenly every digital signage screen  throughout the building can show where the meeting is now being held.

This serves the dual purpose of helping new attendees or guests find  where specific rooms are too. With digital screens, your schedules can  be updated much more easily, they’re highly visible and they help people  get to where they need to be faster.

Change content as necessary

If you’ve had enough of boring meetings led by Powerpoint  presentations then this one’s for you. Meetings today need to be agile  and dynamic. Setting up slides weeks in advance is rarely the most  engaging way of communicating with your attendees.

Digital signage lends a more flexible way of sharing information  during the meeting. Say you’re talking about a specific sales campaign,  digital screens let you easily pull it up as you’re talking. They give  you access to every piece of company content you could need - Slack  feeds, social media comments, testimonials and reviews. 

This can either be set up in advance as a playlist, or can be changed  and updated as the meeting is taking place by simply dropping more  content or rearranging it within the playlist schedule.

Make sure you book out your meeting room ahead of time too. This can be easily orchestrated as shown in the video below.

Better meetings are within reach. All they need is a new way of thinking  and a digital screen thrown up on the wall. Make your colleagues  happier. Set up your digital screens today and get access to our free wealth of apps at ScreenCloud.