Advances in Technology Can Make Your Job Easier

by Kevin Raasch

The meeting you scheduled to discuss new business processes-data mining, supply chain management, inventory control, and other improvements-was supposed to start half an hour ago.  You and four other department heads plus several support staff were set to attend.  You reserved the meeting room more than two weeks ago.  But somehow, it was double-booked.  The meeting room you thought was yours was being used by Accounting when you arrived ahead of time, so you couldn't just kick them out.  While those scheduled to attend are waiting around for you to fix things, you scramble to find a good substitute for the meeting...and open a new bottle of extra-strength Tylenol.

By the time you find a room, you find an undersized conference room with no network hookup to access the company's internal Web site, not enough seats, and no projector to display the Power Point presentation.  The seats probably don't matter now, anyway.  One department head has another meeting in 15 minutes and bows out.  Two staff members are engaged in phone conversations, and another department head can't be found.

So much for improving business processes.  You can't even get your meeting started on time and conducted efficiently.  And, the larger the organization the more often this problem is likely to occur.  On average, there are more than 15 million meetings conducted in America everyday, and research conducted by the 3M Meeting Network found that managers spend as much as thirty-three hours per week attending meetings...and too may of them end with results like the example described above.

What if you could automate the process of scheduling without double booking on an easy-to-use Windows interface working with a powerful database of information?  Recent advances in technology have actually made it easier to automate and streamline the task of scheduling meetings so you and your staff can focus on more important issues, such as actually conducting the meetings and getting it done and over with.  Meeting managers can use this technology to search for available time, plan and schedule meetings in multiple facilities, and even arrange for presentation equipment and outside vendors for services such as coffee, catering, etc.

Let's say you need to schedule that business processes meeting.  But this time, you (or the reservationist) can hop onto an event management scheduling program to view the latest meeting room availability, schedule the meeting, and notify those participating in the meeting.  Here's what else you could accomplish-all in just a few minutes:

However, before you rush out and buy this lifesaving software, remember that the dot-com craze is over, and your boss (or IT department) is going to be leery of anything that promises to save time and money without having some proof to back it up.  Fortunately, several vendors offer proven technology using a Web interface and will be more than happy to help you step through the process of looking at their products, conducting online or live demonstrations, and even sending people out to your site for a meeting.

At the very least, the latest advances in meetings and scheduling software could cut back on the amount of Tylenol you're popping.  At best, it could make your team and department more efficient and productive at a time when IT and corporate decision makers are looking to conduct business activity as efficiently as possible with the most intelligent investment in new technology.

Kevin Raasch is Executive Vice President of Dean Evans & Associates.  He leads the company's Marketing and Sales Department, plays a key role in product and business strategies, and provides consulting for clients.  Raasch joined the company in 1988, bringing eight years of experience in event management, facility scheduling, and catering from Colorado State University's Lory Student Center.  Raasch studied electrical engineering at Colorado State University and received a bachelor's degree in accounting (1991) and an MBA in marketing (1999) from the University of Colorado.