March Madness Aftermath – How did your Business Fare?

Employers listen up: do you know where your staff was this March? Now, my intention of asking that question is not simply to sound like one of those old school commercials that calls-out bad parents for not knowing where their child is. The fact of the matter is this – decrease in employee productivity every March is a real issue for companies in all industries; so much so, that Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement consulting firm, conducts a yearly survey to assess the financial impact due to lost productivity. The survey, known as the Challenger March Madness Productivity Report, estimated the financial impact as a result of lost employee productivity to surpass a shocking $192 million.

To combat this, PGi and iMeet have created their own "final four" tips to help keep productivity high in the midst of March Madness:

1. Be on time – sounds pretty obvious, right? Every office seems to always have at least one person (Tom, Dick, Harry, or whatever other name you’ve chosen for him) who's habitually late. This can pose a problem when meeting with important or potential clients. If you need Tom in that meeting on time, shoot him a reminder email, text, or IM a few minutes before the start of the meeting to make sure he gets there on time.
2. Spice up your meetings – adding user friendly features to your meetings keeps participants actively engaged. Bland, boring meetings are easily tuned out, and seem to slow to a snail's pace. Implementing content such as videos, polling, and Q&A sessions and other unexpected content keeps your meetings moving forward and participants interested.
3. Be where you are – with the technology that’s out there today, it's easy to physically be in one place while your thoughts are somewhere else. Being actively present in your meetings is important; and you can start by putting the smartphone down (unless you're using it to access your meeting, of course). Yes that YouTube video of a squirrel waterskiing is out-of-this-world adorable, but save it for after-work hours.
4. Skip the strip search – avoid the hassle and invasion of privacy the TSA is famous for and hold virtual meetings as opposed to in-person ones. Sure, you might have participants watching NCAA games in another window, but on the bright side, at least you’ll be able to get updates as you wrap-up your calls.

PGi hopes these tips will help you beat the buzzer so you can get back to what matters this March: gloating about the status of your bracket to your coworkers and friends.

Source: Conferencing Services

One More Reason to Employ Conferencing Services

As if you didn’t have enough reasons to start using conferencing services already, I’ll give you one more – germs.

An estimated one of every five working businessmen and women travel for work roughly five times a year, with trip lengths averaging three nights. While there is nothing wrong with business travel, (aside from the fact that it is time-consuming, expensive, and at times quite inconvenient) the hotels that employees find themselves in can often be a greater magnet for germs than you are led to believe.

Hear me out, there is no reason to panic – but there are some things you should know and remember the next time you find yourself in a hotel room. For instance, hotel maids launder bed sheets regularly, but the bedspread is generally not washed unless requested by a guest. Doctor and TV daytime show host Dr. Oz suggests removing the bedspread immediately upon entering the room. According to him, it is “full of bacteria from prior clients,” and that removing the bedspread is a practical decision to make with no downside.

Next on the list of harmless looking germ traps is the remote control. That’s right, the number one tool many people make a beeline for once they find a little free time. Arguably the most used item in a hotel room, your remote control has likely never been cleaned. Fortunately, there is a quick and simple solution to this problem: a plastic bag. Slip your remote into a small sandwich bag, such as Ziploc, and it’s good to go (so long as you don’t go and rest it on the bedspread).

Moving on to the ice bucket. Unfortunate as it may be that those tiny in-room refrigerators usually do not have their own ice makers, it might not be worth the trip down the hall to the ice machine. Ice buckets have been known to be used as ash trays, and the even less appealing barf bucket. If ice is something you really can’t live without, ask the staff if they have a plastic bag – or five – to line the inside of the bucket.

Which leads us to our next item: the drinking glasses in the bar or bathroom. If the glasses you were provided are made of glass, chances are they have only been wiped clean with a towel as they are not often sent down to the dishwasher. If you don’t bring your own drinking container with you, you’re better off with individually wrapped plastic cups, or asking for a fresh one to be brought to your room.

Obviously audio and web conferencing eliminate all of these issues because they do away with the need for business traveling. But for those times when meeting in-person is a must, your choices are few and far between. You can take the above suggestions to heart, or you can opt to fork out more cash for a pricier hotel with the hopes that it will be cleaner – but that’s not always the case. As many of my OCD friends will tell you, antibacterial/disinfectant wipes are an absolute must have, and should be used on any surface you come into contact with (but keep in mind how they may react to some clothing, jewelry, and wood furniture. It’s best to read the manufacturer’s label before using). Good luck and stay clean!

Source: Conferencing Services