Hybrid Meeting - Tech to Help Get You Back to the Office Safely

The COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty to people’s lives, which forced many organizations to have far more employees working remotely than ever before. Hybrid meetings and workplaces became more popular, meaning a mix of people working at the office and from home at the same time. The pandemic has forced us to reevaluate the needs of a meeting room, with wireless connectivity and presentation systems almost overnight becoming a great choice. 

To reiterate, a hybrid workplace means some employees at the office and some at home. Or maybe everyone’s home, connecting via video conference. And in many cases, those at the office need to maintain social distancing rules and other precautions. All of these can easily get in the way of doing business and getting stuff done. 

Fortunately, technology remains our ally. Let’s take a look at essential technologies that help companies employ new office work approaches, with an emphasis on hybrid work. That is, work that combines local and remote participation, but always promotes safety and health. 

COVID-19 and the regulations that governments have enacted in response have had a huge impact on enterprises that rely on face-to-face communication. 

Naturally, the “lockdown” state can’t last forever as that’s not tenable. Companies are gradually returning to offices, even if on a part-time, highly controlled basis. This has led to the increasing popularity of the hybrid workplace described above. It’s also encouraging companies to rethink their offices to ensure comfortable and safe environments for employees working on-site. All while making sure connectivity, interaction, and collaboration aren’t compromised. Definitely a challenge, but most assuredly doable.

First up is high-fidelity digital signage. Why? Because the frontline of combatting any public health issue is readily available information. Awareness is important, and with new information coming to the fore all the time, digital screens are much easier to update than printed notices. They’re also far clearer and more appealing, so team members are almost guaranteed to pay attention.

One of the most important tools in mitigating COVID-19 appears to be what’s become known as social distancing. That’s keeping six feet or approximately two meters of distance between people. Wireless presentation solutions fit right in with this methodology. Wireless systems mean less need to touch shared cables and connectors, let alone use a communal laptop or something like that. 

With solutions like BenQ InstaShow, each of your team members that attend a meeting gets a dongle or adapter. They plug it into InstaShow, then stream content wirelessly via secure, closed-system Wi-Fi from a source device. That can be their personal laptop, tablet, or smartphone. There’s no need for people to get physically close or share presentation tools. The risk of infection is thus immensely reduced compared to traditional meeting setups. 

Importantly, the old meeting room shuffle of employees changing seats and getting up to plug and unplug cables from a shared projector that requires a lot of fiddling is gone. InstaShow works 99% wirelessly, with only one physical button needing to be pressed. Furthermore, InstaShow WDC-30 with antibacterial layering added on touch surfaces further increases presentation safety and peace of mind. 

The so-called Zoom Boom will surely go down in history as one of the hallmarks of 2020, and has remained a fixture in work environments since. Video call apps like Zoom and Microsoft Team, but especially the former, have grown in popularity on an exponential scale due to the emergence of remote and hybrid work. BenQ InstaShow WDC-20 and WDC-30 in particular feature many capabilities tailored to enable video conferencing. Primary among those is seamless and easy-to-do split screen presentation. You can have an entire team on screen, or multiple employees and presentation materials alongside each other. The flexibility on offer makes video conferences highly productive, compensating for the loss of face-to-face interaction. 

The bottom line here is that the tools to adjust how we work exist, and aren’t even all that expensive, complicated, or difficult to implement. There’s no need to completely reinvent offices, just tweak them. Nor do you need to invest in big-ticket purchases that’ll further stress company finances in these trying times. Technology like digital signage and wireless presentation systems costs about the same as monitors, and buying those is totally normal and obligatory for every business and organization. The new routine is investing a little in technology that promotes health, builds confidence, and ensures continuous productivity in the meeting.

Stay safe, stay innovative!