Think about your last team meeting. Did it involve a person standing in front of the room presenting concepts to the entire group? Were you unable to contribute to the conversation? If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

According to a 2018 Gallup poll, only 34 percent of U.S. employees were engaged in their jobs. While that is an improvement over previous years, it still means that a majority of workers fall into the “not engaged” (53 percent) or “actively disengaged” (13 percent) categories. Companies have taken note and are seeking a more collaborative approach with employees.

In the business world, collaboration not only equals a happier workforce, it represents an educated one. Collaboration allows workers to share best practices and better understand company objectives, guidelines and resources, while also inspiring a sense of belonging within an organization.

Echo360Point response technology is a great way to engage employees and spark their interest. Apart from being cost-effective, collaboration with Echo360Point is a means for a company to show its employees they are worth investing in.

Three steps to help you conduct collaborative business meetings:

Communicate with employees and teammates

Share ideas with anyone who will listen. When you challenge yourself to communicate a thought, it forces you to clarify your thinking in order for another person to understand. By opening up an idea for critique, you’ll receive additional ideas from your colleagues.

Polling employees for their opinions in real time can reveal what they think about initiatives, projects and strategic plans, and kick off productive discussions that they may be reluctant to initiate on their own. Echo360Point scheduled surveys are also a great way to invite company-wide feedback without the need for a live polling session.

Use visuals in your presentation

Visuals are a great facilitator to aid strategic thinking and planning, and more effective than words alone. This can be accomplished by using visuals to communicate and clarify your idea at the most simplistic level. Illustrating feedback in real time with Echo360Point gives a clear visual snapshot of where everyone stands and even how their opinions have changed over time.

Acknowledge participants and contributors

It’s important to give credit when your collaborator contributes a good idea, hard work or even constructive criticism. Collaboration works best when team members feel appreciated and valued. Each participant is part of the team for a reason as they are competent in their specialty. Soliciting feedback and generating ideas through Echo360Point helps to convey to employees that they truly have a voice in the organization and that their contributions are valued and influential.

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