These tips will help you get the most out of Dash by making sure that you're using your meeting rooms as efficiently as possible.
Always respect bookings
Systems work the best when everyone understands them, and everyone follows them equally. To this end, we recommend the following rules for meeting room bookings:
- Always make a booking when using a room even for a 15 minute impromptu meeting. This ensures that everyone in your organisation knows the room is taken, and don't come half way across the building only to find a meeting already in progress. You can reserve a room directly from the display using Dash's Book now feature.
- Clear your booking if your meeting finishes early to allow everyone else to know that the room is free. You can end a meeting directly from the display using Dash's End now feature.
- If you do not have a booking and someone else does, give the room up to them. This works best when followed by everyone in the company, from the C.E.O. to an intern. It encourages everyone to use the booking system (see above), and that they've allocated the appropriate amount of time to their meeting. For meetings that run over, you can always use Dash to extend them. If you need a meeting space that is booked, you can negotiate in advance with the booking owner to change the time or location of their booking.
- Use the Check-in feature to ensure that meeting bookings are adhered to. Since a meeting will be cleared if not checked-in within 10 minutes of its start time, attendees are encouraged to start the meeting on time - eliminating wasted space.
Different rooms for different purposes
Different rooms can be suitable for different purposes. For example, a large meeting will not fit in a two person room, and a two person meeting can be a waste of resources if booked in a large room. Facilities such as teleconferencing can also make a room more suitable for particular meetings.
It can be useful to publish information on the size and facilities offered in each meeting room in your organization, and to include a guide on the types of meetings appropriate for each one.
Meeting efficiency
Inefficient meetings can be one of the biggest productivity costs in any business. Dash can help you by making sure the space is available for you, but we also recommend considering the following tips to maximize the value you get from your meetings:
- Keep meetings short - A poorly structured meeting can easily run over time. While it is easy to extend a meeting with Dash it is important to think about whether it's a good idea to.
- Have a clear purpose - Everyone should know why they are at a meeting, and what you hope to achieve.
- Prepare in advance - Meetings are best used for collaboration, so it can be helpful to send out information beforehand, and then reserve meeting time for discussion.
- End a meeting by listing next steps - To ensure progress from each meeting, it can be helpful to list next steps. These tasks and goals can be assigned to individuals or the team as a whole.
- Review who needs to attend - Meetings form a large percentage of employee's time, which can then not be spent on their regular tasks. Consider whether each invitee needs to be present at the meeting, or whether a meeting summary or minutes might be sufficient.