Going green is high on the action list of senior management within most organizations today. In addition to improved energy efficiency, reduction of physical waste and other acceptable methods, many companies are considering and implementing radical changes to the way meetings are conducted on a national and international scale as another avenue to be sustainable.
In this regard, a great place to start is by making a corporate commitment to sustainable meeting practices or conducting solely green meetings.
VCTP technology
Given increased globalization in business, reducing air and other long-distance travel has a significant impact on efforts to shrink an organization’s carbon footprint. In addition to global office locations, companies are increasing their use of flexible workspace—also known as hoteling, hot-desking or alternative workspace. With employees working remotely from home or on the road and offices scattered around the world, the need to conduct and manage remote meetings is growing rapidly. Making a commitment to green meetings is rapidly becoming a part of this.
Organizations are now able to leverage new high-definition technology and the latest telepresence solutions to deliver a collaborative experience—substituting the need for face-to-face meetings with a near face-to-face experience using telepresence technology.
The big challenge with achieving greater use of video conferencing and telepresence (VCTP) technology is the scheduling of rooms and resources required to make these meetings possible—particularly meetings across different time zones and geographic locations. There are scheduling solutions available that address many of the challenges faced by users in booking and managing remote meetings.
How to bring in green meetings
Going green through the increased use of VCTP technology requires leadership from the top, which has the influence to change business behavior throughout the organization.
A thorough needs-analysis of requirements is a critical first step. In order to get an objective view of cost savings and travel reduction, external input by knowledgeable consultants may add significant value as well as help to secure buy-in from frequent travelers.
Defining the internal processes and policies to manage the use of VCTP technology must be approached with flexibility and imagination. Once the parameters are defined, implementation plans must also be outlined. In order to develop a realistic timeline, set milestones and determine priorities, organizations should turn to qualified vendors and professional consultants for expert advice.
However, this does not need to be a long, complicated process—especially if you’re already using VCTP in some manner. Take what you’re already doing, determine what works and what does not work with your current VCTP processes, and use this information to create a list of ideal internal processes and a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves from a scheduling technology standpoint.
Work directly with vendors to see which solutions fit your requirements and can be configured to support your internal processes—not the other way around. Once the vendor list is narrowed, proceed with online or on-site software demonstrations to further reduce the choice of qualified solutions.
Changing the business culture
After a vendor selection has been made, leadership must continue to seek participation and buy-in from key members of staff, as the new processes may be seen by some as a change they do not want to make. Good VCTP and scheduling solution providers can help ease the transition with expertise on change management in their respective areas. If you have VCTP technology already in use, then the move to a comprehensive scheduling solution for VCTP will be much easier.
One way to obtain buy-in and support from employees affected by a change in your VCTP processes is to remind employees that this is:
- A way for your company and its employees to be sustainable;
- A way for your company to save money in the medium and long term; and
- A way for your company to offer greater flexibility to employees, which has the potential to improve their work/life balance (i.e., working from home or reducing travel to the office).
Let the software do the work
With the proper buy-in, leadership by example and a commitment to invest in VCTP and scheduling infrastructure to support green meetings, the goal of a reduced carbon footprint is very reachable.
Another aspect of sustainable meeting practices includes heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) integration. While not directly related to VCTP technology, HVAC integration is directly related to shrinking the carbon footprint and sustainable meeting practices. Not only will a comprehensive scheduling solution help companies manage and schedule VCTP technology and VCTP space—as well as all other types of space and resources—it will also allow companies to manage how the HVAC system runs in conjunction with meeting schedules.
There is no sense in heating or cooling a meeting or video conferencing room if no one is using it at the time. Based on room schedules and expected occupancy, the scheduling solution can feed data to an HVAC system, causing it to turn up/down or on/off as needed. Rules and parameters can be configured into the scheduling system to optimize the use of HVAC.
For example, if you have a meeting room filled to capacity for a meeting starting at 10 a.m., the HVAC system can be instructed to turn up the air-conditioning a notch or two in anticipation of the body heat expected with a full room. If you have meeting rooms along the north side of the building, which tend to be a bit colder in the winter, the HVAC system can also be instructed to kick in 10 minutes prior to the start of a meeting. The scheduling solution triggers this via direct integration with the HVAC system.
Eliminating wasteful energy and the resulting reduction in the carbon footprint are contributing factors to organizations’ sustainable meetings initiatives. They also create significant cost savings.
Tools and leadership to enable green meetings
Sustainable business meetings can only become a reality if the tools are available. These tools must be adopted by the user community to change the way people and companies conduct business, as well as interact with colleagues and clients.
VCTP are having a fundamental impact on business meeting practices.
Through greater adoption of technologies provided by vendors who promote effective and successful remote meetings, companies can shrink their carbon footprint while also saving substantial amounts of money on unused or underutilized real estate and travel expenses.
Partnerships and associations with leading providers of meeting technologies offer a valuable perspective on how companies should reengineer their practices to include sustainable business meetings. These activities should now start to become part of the fabric of an organization’s culture.
This cultural shift needs to be led by example and by action at the executive and board level. Technology is merely the vehicle to deliver the resulting business benefits.
Life after the ash cloud
An example that helps illustrate the value of green meetings is the ash cloud in Iceland. Business leaders could never have foreseen the massive impact on travel that a small volcano caused.
Consider Unilever. This ash cloud disaster impacted telepresence usage over seven working days at the company. Out of the 102 meetings conducted over those seven days, 51 (50 percent) of those meetings were scheduled during a five-day period, and 40 separate meetings were cancelled or bumped from the booking portal.
During the ash cloud crisis, there was a 25 to 30 percent increase in weekly telepresence meetings at Unilever, and demand for meeting requirements almost doubled from 28.5 to 50 percent of meetings being created—excluding reschedules and cancellations.
With pressures on the environment, a better work/life balance sought by employees and greater uncertainty about the global climate, the case for embracing remote working technology has never been more compelling.
Businesses that do not look beyond the traditional, office-based work approaches will be missing out going forward. FMJ
