Run multi time zone video conferences effortlessly with this cheat sheet

Any office worker knows video conferences are a win-win. Less travel, less stress, less cost, more collaboration – it’s a great combination.

It’s why companies have invested millions over the years giving their employees the chance to use video conferencing systems for meetings.

So why do some employees still turn their back on this useful technology?

On the surface, you wouldn’t think this was the case. After all, a report by Microsoft in 2016 predicted a healthy future for video conferencing. It spoke of a survey by Cisco that found 87% of young respondents would prefer to work for a video-enabled company.

It also quoted Lovina McMurchy of Skype Advertising, who said 8 billion hours of social video calls are hosted by Skype each year.

Microsoft also pointed out that companies are finding new ways to run virtual meetings by video, and looked towards a future where virtual reality could enhance current technologies.

In other words, we’ve become quite accustomed to doing things by video, both socially and at work. And apart from the usual worries – does my hair look OK? – we don’t seem to have too many objections to the principle of video conference meetings.

So what’s stopping some workers from using it? There can be a number of reasons:

• Fear of technology
• Old habits
• Worry that video conferences are hard to organise
• Concern about taking time zones into account
• Keeping everyone up to date with changes
• No-shows are common

But let’s remember something important:

Video conferencing is worth making the effort.

Look at the statistics. 56% of global CFOs say they would invest in video conferencing to reduce travel, and businesses using video conferencing see a 30% reduction in travel costs.

The estimated cost of a domestic trip is estimated at $990 per person with international travel at $2,525. If just one employee reduces their travel by one day per month their company can save $11,000 per year.  

Workplace wellbeing – a major component of retaining talent - can also benefit, because employees feel less stressed from travel and enjoy the opportunity to collaborate effortlessly with colleagues.

Video calls help managers and coworkers interact with each other in a personal way while seeing their counterparts in any location. This is valuable when only 13% of workers in the world say they feel engaged at work.

It’s a great way to bond a team together who may never otherwise have the chance to put faces to names.

But let’s look at what InfoComm 2018 visitors told us about their workplaces.

It can provide some clues about why employees are sometimes reluctant to adopt video conferencing technology that could actually make their jobs easier.

At the AV/IT show in Las Vegas this June, we talked with many visitors to our booth who said they were concerned at how they should be responding to the  transformation happening in their workplace.

These employers know agile working is on the increase, and that it’s likely to grow. And they know agile working demands flexible space, with desks and facilities, video conferencing and useful break-out spaces made available for casual co-working.

They also said they are finding it difficult to achieve the major office transformation they need.

It requires innovative thinking and considerable investment, and it also demands a forward-thinking strategy based on real data about what the company and its workers actually need to ensure productivity is high.

The office owners and managers we talk to on a regular basis certainly have the motivation and vision to carry their businesses into the digital era and to cater for the evolving needs of their employees.

What they can lack, however, is the detailed insight that can provide them with the firm foundations to build their future-proof workplace upon. Without that insight, they are guessing at what their workers and their business actually needs to achieve with the space.

And as transformations only succeed when the people involved are properly engaged, this is important.

Persuading employees to adopt and use new processes, systems and technologies such as video conferencing can be an uphill struggle – few people actually rush to embrace change, and many can be stuck in their ways.

5 reasons people give for not using new technology:

1. “It’s not for me”
2. “It’s too complicated to use”
3. “The way I do it now is easier for me”
4. “I’m worried I make a mistake”
5. “Someone else can look after that.”

As experts in the meeting room and resource technology that supports firms in their move to a more agile and productive workplace, we come across these reasons all the time.

It’s understandable. Change can be frightening.

Our long experience with many law firms and corporate customers worldwide has shown that any technology, if it is to succeed, must be:

• Genuinely helpful
• Easy to use
• Simple to learn
• Easy to access
• Well supported.

I’ll give you a couple of scenarios involving video conferencing in the workplace to explain what this means.

Meet Jane – on a bad day.

Jane works in the NYC office of a large law firm, and she’s really busy. Jane hates admin and feels it should be done by someone else so she can get on with her important legal work.

So when Jane needs to organize a video conference with attendees in the company’s New York, Chicago and Los Angeles offices, she knows it’s going to be tough.

Jane needs to make sure each office in each location has a room available at the appointed time with suitable video conferencing equipment, which is difficult across the different time zones.

This involves finding and emailing the person in each location who knows about availability.

There’s plenty emails back and forth before Jane finally gets all of her rooms, equipment and attendees lined up across the time zones. She realises she should also organise catering at each location, as the video conference will be a long one; she starts emailing again.

Finally, it’s all planned. Jane breathes a sigh of relief and goes back to her ‘real’ work.

Then the CEO gets in touch – the conference needs to be moved to a different day…

Now meet Jane on a good day.

Jane, as before, works in the NYC office of a large law firm, and she’s really busy. She still hates admin and still feels it should be done by someone else.

This time, though, when Jane needs to organize a video conference with attendees in the company’s New York, Chicago and Los Angeles offices, she knows it’s going to be easy.

That’s because Jane’s office owner has installed meeting room and resource scheduling technology to help streamline operations and make this kind of task far simpler for everyone who works there.

Jane accesses Rendezvous Workspace via a mobile app on her smartphone – she knows she can do this from wherever she is, which is useful for an agile worker.

Using Rendezvous’ real-time view of available meeting rooms at the three locations, she quickly finds and locates the spaces she needs, and books them all in a single transaction. The system automatically takes time zones into consideration.

At the same time, Jane checks the inventory to make sure video conferencing equipment is available at each location, and books that too. She even adds in catering – also in the same transaction.

The scheduling system informs every attendee of the full details of the meeting, and also communicates with anyone else who needs to know, such as the catering teams and building managers.

Jane breathes a sigh of relief and gets back to her real work – but it’s taken a fraction of the time it would have taken the old way.

And when the CEO gets in touch to move the conference for a day, Jane turns to the meeting room scheduling system again to change the details quickly and easily.

The system automatically informs everyone involved about the changes, too.

So what would help Jane adopt these technologies?

Let’s go back to those reasons why people in offices shun technology that can make their jobs easier, and look at how a firm like Jane’s would overcome them.

I’ve discussed how workers sometimes feel a new system is ‘not for me’. For office managers commissioning technology, it’s important to have a deep insight into how employees are actually using their workspace – what’s working in the workplace, in other words.

Scheduling systems like Rendezvous integrate with the latest desk occupancy sensors and beacons to identify how the space is actually being used.

Comprehensive reports enable a manager to make informed planning decisions that will engage with workers because they are based on practical realities.

As our Jane scenarios demonstrate, with the help of an easy-to-use, supportive scheduling system workers can be persuaded by example that organising a video conference – even across time zones – is not complicated.

Training on Rendezvous is simple and using it is intuitive, so employees soon overcome their concerns about making mistakes and find it’s a lot easier than doing it the old manual way.

The result? A greater uptake of video conferencing, leading to a reduction in travel hours and costs – and a de-stressed workforce that has more time to do its ‘real’ job.

Follow my tips below to help your employees truly embrace video conferencing – and run their multi time zone meetings effortlessly.

Multi time zone video conference cheat sheet

Help your employees to adopt and use video conferencing by providing supportive meeting room scheduling technology

Select a system that allows workers to locate and book space online quickly

Demand technology that enables them to book resources such as AV and VC, and even catering, in the same transaction

Make sure it provides online and mobile access for employees on the go via apps

Choose a workplace management system that is easy to learn and easy to use

Ensure the system automatically takes multiple time zones into account

Don’t forget to select a system that automatically notifies all attendees and involved parties if anything about the meeting changes