Please Leave On
Workplace technology has changed radically in just the last decade or so.
While it used to be you went to meetings with a spiral notebook, a pen or pencil, and perhaps a reference book or two, today everyone and their brother is essentially loaded down with so much of their own personal technology equipment that they need a wheelbarrow to carry their stuff to and from meetings.
Weight and transport considerations aside, when presenting, I have to admit that it is nice to walk into a meeting room with all the latest gadgetry already in place.
A good sound system, an electronic overhead, and video projector that actually works.
But unfortunately there is a fairly good chance that something is not set up right or just won't work because the local sever is down, and now you're screwed because the office tech is away on vacation and your presentation won't load properly.
So out comes your own personal gear...
What do you do now?
As there is pretty good chance that you will "lose the room" if you are running around trouble shooting cables and checking local IP settings on your laptop in an attempt to get your power point loaded as quickly as possible.
Not cool...
I say forget about the tech gear. Way too much overhead. Way too risky. And at the end of the day we don't need it.
Whiteboards and flip charts you say? I agree. However, there could still be problems:
- Not all office board rooms have them;
- And some times even when the rooms are fitted with them, they are covered with notes and doodles from previous users (perhaps from your VP or CEO, who knows, and yes they may get a little miffed because you opted to blow away the next great organizational idea that would allow them to hit their quarterly numbers);
- And yes, there is always the dreaded "Please Leave On" note that is now etched into the whiteboard because it has been there since the tech boom of the late 90s. What do you do about that conundrum?
Have a solution for you: How about a Wipebook Wipechart? It is like a marriage between a whiteboard and flip chart. So you no longer have to waste so much paper while you are conveying your thoughts and ideas to you colleagues during presentations. And they are also portable so you can carry it to and from the board room with you.
It is basically like having 10 personal whiteboards or 1000 flip charts at your disposal.
And yes, more importantly, you won't have to worry about wiping away your bosses notes and ideas any longer. And more even importantly, we can do with the dreaded and abrasive "PLEASE LEAVE ON" as well.