The Inspirometer was originally created to improve the quality of meetings. The easiest way to Tag your meetings is simply to include meetings@inspirometer.com in the invitation list, and our system will do much of what follows for you – automatically.
It is also possible to set things up such that all meetings are automatically Tagged and gathering feedback. If you would like to try this out using our new Outlook plugin (beta) – simply click here to install it (Internet Explorer and Outlook 2010 or higher required). Alternatively, please contact us directly and we can work with your IT team to develop a solution together.
Why Tags are key to meeting performance
Following an extensive survey of meetings across over 50 organisation, it became clear that while people attending meetings felt they were often inefficient (on average at least 60% of meeting time is wasted), the people running them were largely oblivious to this (they estimate that their own meetings are about 80-90% efficient). The Inspirometer was created to provide more systematic feedback on meeting performance.
The wider meeting process
Meetings are usually a bigger process than simply the activity of gathering around a (physical or virtual) table. The meeting process often begins with an invite or agenda, followed by the gathering, and is completed by the circulation of a set of actions or minutes. Each of these process steps provides a good opportunity to introduce Tags to assess the overall effectiveness of the process.
Tagging agenda items
In the case of the agenda, this can include Tags for obtaining feedback on the overall process, or even on the individual sessions within the meeting itself. In the case of electronic agendas viewed on tablets or laptops in the meeting, differently encoded face Tags can be placed adjacent to each agenda item, or just one final feedback Tag can be placed at the end of the agenda for use at the conclusion of the meeting. In the case of paper agendas, QR Tags can be used instead of face Tags (providing the attendees have smart phones).
Using Tags within the meeting
In the case of the meeting itself, apart from the agenda-based feedback, there are also opportunities to include QR codes in the meeting room, including the new snapscore QR Tags which enable people to register their response simply by scanning the relevant face/code – very useful for exit polls. In the case of web-based meetings, tags can be embedded in documents shared within the meeting, or via the chat window. Where the meeting software does not support encoded images (as used in the faces Tag) a hyperlinked text tag can be used instead, or a simple URL to the Tag response page.
Inter-personal feedback
As meeting performance improves, people become more aware of their own part in the success and efficiency of the meeting, and seek to improve their personal contribution therein. In these cases, it is possible to set up Tags for each attendee so that they can get feedback from their colleagues on how they personally added value in the meeting.
Follow-up Tags
Following the meeting, it is good practice to circulate a concise summary of the outcomes of the meeting (e.g. minutes of some form) and this provides another useful opportunity to include an appropriate Tag for gathering feedback. Ideally, the feedback on the meeting will have taken place within the meeting itself by means of one or more of the options described above, and so the follow-up Tag can concentrate on getting feedback on the quality of the circulated summary. But in some cases, the summary may be the only opportunity to gather feedback on the meeting, and so it may be useful to include two Tags in the summary document – one on the effectiveness of the meeting, and one on the quality of the summary itself.
Can you really do this simply by inviting meetings@inspirometer.com to the meeting?
Yes. In fact, whether or not you have a current Inspirometer account set up, you can try it right now. Simply create a meeting in Outlook, or Google Calendar, for about 5 minutes hence, finishing in 15, invite a few friendly colleagues and meetings@inspiromenter.com to the meeting, and click send. You will immediately be sent additional Tags that you can use for agenda items or within the meeting, and at the end of the meeting your colleagues will receive a simple email asking them to click a face to reflect their feedback. We can also configure your account to automatically include interpersonal feedback in this process – to enable this please contact us directly.