Getting Digital - Getting Ready for Your Meetings.

Coronavirus or not - being digitally ready just makes sense

Having been to several meeting this week where 10+ people sat in a room and we had a remote person, but we didn't quite have the right kit at the start, I thought it would be useful to write up this quick blog on the items I've used over the years to help digitalise a small business and myself. 

For business, this means you can have conference calls professionally and effectively, without having to invest in a full conference room. At Salesforce I'm lucky as we have every meeting room enabled for this, but not everyone is so fortunate.

Over the years, I've had to be on the road in sales, consultancy and other roles. I've also been through a lot of technology to get the right kit that works for me. This is useful in the current work from home (WFH) policy and starting to make digital meetings the norm.

This is the technology that I like to use:

Meetings - I hear you

 So you hold a meeting, and everyone is around a laptop, but the laptop speaker and mic isn't going to pick up everyone in the room well, so what do you do? These days, it's straightforward: USB speakerphone. There's a lot of options such as the Jabra 510 (I use the slightly better 710): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jabra-Bluetooth-Portable-Conference-Speakerphone-Black/dp/B00ANI7HI2/

Not hugely expensive and it'll change your conference calls forever. I've had 15 people in the room talking, and the remote person can hear everyone fine. Everyone can also listen to them without issue. 

Being USB it'll work with Mac or Windows. It's also Bluetooth compatible so able to connect to your phone for those impromptu meetings as well. I've found this a lifesaver and useful outside of the current crisis.

This is used frequently and stays in my laptop bag.

Meetings - I see you

 In the same way, as your laptop's mic and the speaker isn't good enough, the cameras are only just good enough. A better option is a proper USB camera, again these work with Mac and Windows so you shouldn't have any issues. The good ones work in lower light as well. You won't need the speaker/mic from them, so don't be concerned about that. When I work from home, I'm using the Logitech c920: https://www.amazon.co.uk/LOGITUBO-Streaming-Microphones-Macbook-Facebook-1080P-WEBCAM-BLACK/dp/B07DLT4FQY/ but the vital point is being HD - no blurry images.  

If you're using this in the office, then consider a USB extension cable to run the webcam to a point in the room where everyone seated can be seen. 

Virtual Meetings 

We've all used this technology by now. Our corporate standard is Google Meet, which does the job nicely. It's worth clicking on Turn On Captions as this will auto-transcribe your meeting for you, which is a great way to reduce your admin as a salesperson. You can then copy and paste the text into your meeting notes in Salesforce. I use Meet daily for catching up with the team, prospects, partners and customers. I also like Zoom, which I used previously. Zoom has an auto-transcribe version with their business edition.

Quip

It's a collaborative tool which I use to work with everyone in the office, partners, customers and even prospects. It's an excellent way to create a document with embedded spreadsheets and other items that you can share with people and make sure you're all in sync. For me, this is critical to ensure we're all on message when going into a meeting and for prospects when working on mutual success plans. As I can use this from my laptop, tablet or phone, its invaluable. As a manager, Quip is also an excellent tool for coaching plans, team meeting notes, and sharing other general working docs (like this blog). 

Internet

OK, so none of this works without the internet. Fixed is nearly always faster than wifi, but either works. Test your connection speed and if necessary, don't switch on the video feed. Video is always preferred, but if bandwidth is low, cut it. 

If you have questions or other suggestions, please comment below: