Today’s companies are asked to being evaluate their processes and determine the best course of action in streamlining their strategic initiatives in effort to do more with less. This is evident on a daily basis as businesses continue to innovate and implement new technologies to manage their meetings in a more efficient manner, thus increasing the bottom line.
There are a number of different companies offering these options, but on a broad scale some of the ways companies are innovating to better manage their meetings today are with the introduction of web-meetings, video/internet conferencing, the use of smart phones and smart pads, and varying levels of software which allows for faster and more efficient information sharing.
One of the first things that corporations scale back on during economic recessions is the amount of business travel they are willing to finance. Although travel is scaled back, meetings must continue. With the use of web-meetings or in essence, video conferencing, management teams can continue to touch base with each other face to face even though the participants in these meetings may be located in multiple sites throughout the world. Although conference calls are still very effective when run right, they are quickly being replaced by the use of web-meetings and video conferences.
Another innovation that has really taken off over the past five years is the use of smart phones and smart pads. There are numerous brands of these phones and pads, as well as numerous vendors to service them. Most Vendors offer deep cuts in pricing to corporations in exchange for exclusive servicing rights. These vendors also usually pass these cuts onto the corporation’s employees for their personal phone and internet usage. With all of this hand-held technology on the market, this has quickly been integrated into the corporate world. The ability to check in for e-mail, meetings and calls from anywhere in the world and at any time of day is too lucrative for companies not to take advantage of the technology.
Finally, the creation of information-sharing software that can be utilized from desktop PCs in the office to laptops or smart pads at home is another way companies are working to increase the efficiency of their management meetings every single day. Again, there are a number of different brands of this software, but the ability to host a meeting, have everyone on one screen viewing the same material, saves money in not only printing costs, but also time management as the facilitator can better drive the meeting when they are driving what each participant is looking at.
In closing, these are just a few of the things companies are doing today to save money and maximize their meeting’s ROI. As corporations continue to look at ways to do more with less, these examples are only just the beginning of the step towards maximizing the return from strategic meetings management.
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