What if the real reason your company isn't being as productive is hiding in plain sight.
Right inside your employees’ computers!
No, we're not talking about hidden gremlins. Instead, we're talking about meeting room scheduling software. Many companies don't know how to pick the right scheduling software, in order to be the most effective with both time and resources.
Without the right software and systems, your company will never achieve peak productivity and efficiency. So, keep reading to discover how to pick the perfect room scheduling software for your company.
There are many different factors in determining the best scheduling software. One of the biggest is whether your software solution must also use a hardware solution.
If your company is medium-sized or larger, you may find yourself scheduling plenty of group meetings. Eventually, you may need to dedicate a room (or more than one) simply to hold group meetings.
With the right mixture of software and hardware solutions, you can really optimize your limited meeting room space. This includes having dedicated conference terminals, in-room displays, an integrated room camera, and so on.
For smaller companies or companies that only do occasional conferencing, such hardware might be overkill. If that sounds like you, then you should consider focusing on software-based solutions.
Most conferencing software now is in the form of dedicated meeting apps. And one of the biggest benefits of these apps is that you can often get scheduling software for a small monthly price between $5 to $10, at an entry level.
For example, it's very easy to coordinate conferences with available tools such as Google or Slack. The apps are easy to use, and everyone can easily download the apps to a mobile device.
Software-based solutions also require very little upkeep aside from the occasional update. Compare this to hardware-based solutions in which problems can be sometimes difficult to
diagnose and repairs are often costly.
Outlook is another software-based form of conference room scheduling. However, it's worth focusing more extensively on this solution if your company already uses Outlook for e-mail.
To be frank, it's tough to get employees to use new software. Even when an app is streamlined and user-friendly, there is going to be a period of training and adjustment for your workforce.
However, if they are already using Outlook, then no training or adjustment is really needed. Conference requests are sent via company e-mail, and they can view their entire schedule with the click of a single button.
Ultimately, the simplest solutions are often the best. We recommend embracing software that is familiar to your employees before seeking out something new.
Earlier, we mentioned the headache of training employees on how to use new software. One way to avoid this headache is to keep an eye out for training "bundles. “The scheduling software business is highly competitive. Because of this, many companies will offer free training and other support services when you license their software.
You'll want to check the fine print to see how long the training lasts and how extensive it is. However, it's easy to make a choice between a company offering free training and a company offering no training at all.
No matter how large your company, space is valuable. One of the major factors you should consider before buying software is how it can help you use your space more efficiently.
For example, you may only have one room suitable for truly large conferences. And inevitably, people are going to fight over access to this room.
Good meeting room scheduling software includes analytics to help manage space more efficiently. It can help you find other suitable rooms or use video conferencing so that everyone can meet in a virtual space instead.
A good meeting room app is going to help you do with your building what you hope to do with your employees: to get the most out of all your resources!
We talked about the problem of multiple people or groups fighting over the same conference space. One aspect of that problem is that people may not know that the space is currently occupied.
This causes them to barge in and possibly disrupt a sensitive meeting. And at bare minimum, it causes frustration and delays due to scheduling confusion.
One simple way around this problem is to use external room displays that synchronizes with your scheduling software. These displays will tell people the room is being used, when it will be available and much more.
In a perfect world, everyone would simply check the app and realize the room is in use. But a business must constantly fight against human error, and these displays are one more weapon in your arsenal.
We laid out our philosophy earlier: your best software purchase is usually the simplest to use. And one way to make things even simpler is to use software that can do more than just schedule conferences.
For example, some conference room schedule software can also help with visitor management. In this way, you can achieve better customer service and better workplace productivity by using the same app.
We're willing to bet your business already relies heavily on analytics. This info helps to determine your sales strategies, services offered, and marketing campaigns.
But why should analytics stop there? The best scheduling software includes analytics about a wide variety of conferencing stats.
This may include things like how many rooms are used, average conference duration, which spaces are over (or under) used, and so on. This can help you to improve the entire conference experience for everyone involved.
Obviously, you can collect all these analytics on your own. But this ends up cutting into your time and preventing you from achieving your original goal: a more productive, organized, and efficient office.
Now you know how to pick the best room scheduling software. But do you know how to bring the best direct to your office?
Here at Meetio, we set out to revolutionize conference room scheduling. To see how we can transform your workplace meetings, come and request a free demo of our software today!
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