More Meetings for the Modern Office

Prepping the Perfect Meeting

Here are some considerations when planning your next meeting-- easily achieved by our Conference Room Management application, IST Confirm.

• Place AV/Technology at the top of the list- Technology will make a difference in the success of your meeting, so planning ahead is vital. By investing in the fastest and most reliable technology, you can confidently deliver your presentation to all attendees. Once the user books a session through IST Confirm, AV Teams receive communication of the schedule and assume the task of preparing all materials, allowing you to focus solely on the matter at hand.

• Customization of space and hospitality needs- No meeting is the same, so preparations shouldn't be either. A benefit of hybrid structures allows us to consider how each day may require different needs, embracing the hospitality side of the organization. One day an office may be full of employees, and the next it may be sparsely populated, requiring a more nuanced look at space and banquet event orders for food and drink. Through a competitive application, fine details are of no concern. Any user can specifically list every moving piece, from chairs needed to dietary considerations, and then identify and reserve the current spaces appropriately.

• Connection to other applications- An application that sends meeting information to Outlook and other calendars will keep you on track of all meetings and free from errors when double booking. IST Confirm seamlessly connects with Outlook, inviting participants to accept an invitation through their email as soon as the user confirms their schedule. In describing an IST Management client, Director of On-Site Operations says, "Our clients were averaging 600 meetings a week with 50 conference rooms, and using Outlook to book all of this. After using IST Confirm it was an immediate and positive change, resulting in tremendous growth, averaging 700 meetings per week with 35 conference rooms effectively.”

• Thoroughness checks and balances- Double booking and lack of cleanliness and preparation are likely the most common signs that you need more organization in your meetings. Incorporating PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) scans within your hospitality team that tracks the cleaning and preparation of each room, is one solution. IST's barcoding solution through our MSPT software enables this PDA scanning, which then reports timestamped actions of assigned tasks. IST Confirm allows end users to designate jobs to each worker, keeping support informed and preventing potential errors.

The move to more meetings may seem like an obstacle, but when successful it introduces a great opportunity for your organization. It allows sessions to be more democratic for remote and in-person employees and, surprisingly, is more productive in identifying strategic priorities. Because its importance has increased as the only time a business's personnel can gather, ensure its successful and error-proof by investing in a leading application like IST Confirm.

To learn more on our Hospitality and Employee services, check out our Outside-IN Podcast, the World of Hospitality.