A great collaboration space allows the people to interact
freely and share ideas openly as if they would whether they were using
technology or not. The purpose of the
technology is to SUPPORT the message and to ENHANCE communication. In my earlier blog about this subject I mentioned
that part of the needs analysis should include a study of the users in the
meeting or proposed space prior to any new systems are in place. I also noted that this study (observation)
would be done without the subjects knowing they are being studied. Perhaps hosting a different meeting for
different reasons and using that meeting to not only have that meeting, but to
also study how the meeting takes place.
Once the information is gathered this will allows the consultant or
designer to better determine how communication currently takes place and how to
plan a space and include the use of technology to support and enhance
collaboration and communication.
Once the usage information is made available and analyzed
to help the consultant or designer to determine what the true needs are, then
they look at three major factors. These
major factors are the environment, interactivity/network and social
aspects. I will go into a little detail
on each of these major points. But, it
is worth noting that there are many more things consultants and designers take
into account and this should only serve as a small dose for the reader to get a
feel for the complexity that goes behind space and technology planning for collaborative
systems.
The first major point I will discuss is the technology
and how it applies to the environment. A
design engineer or consultant may take several measurements of an existing
space to measure ambient light and ambient sound as well as physical volume and
acoustics of the space and many other measurements. These help the designer or consultant
determine where lighting, loudspeakers, microphones and other technology will
be placed. But, I have jumped the
gun. The designer or consultant may
start to consider technology now, but it is an iterative process and very
dynamic. Other considerations are still
being taken as well. The designer or
consultant is still taking in the data to determine where viewer and listeners
will be physically located and how they will interact with all other users of
the space. In truly collaborative spaces
the concept of presenter and audience or board members and a chair of the board
are gone. Most collaborative spaces have
to make a strong consideration for all participants having equal standing. This is a considerable design challenge. How do you design a “presentation space” with
no presenter position? If you create a
space that has a single location for a “speaker” to connect and present from it
losses some of its collaborative feel.
Yet when the system includes an element of remote connectivity through
video conferencing, you have to have cameras and add an element of a “stage”. The major point here is that this is a
considerable undertaking that requires a COLLABORATION with the client to have
them give input and get a feel for where the system is heading. Some may call this “scope creep” others call
this consulting.
The next point I would like make is about the
interactivity and network aspects. I
mentioned a little of this above when I mentioned the fact that this space may
include a level of video conferencing with remote users. What about adding a level of voting or data
sharing for these remote participants. A
considerable amount of design and consulting has to be done with the network
people at this point. This requires a
level of knowledge, skill and attitude about networking and unified
communications and collaboration that many in the AV industry simply do not
have. Without the proper configuration
and network service level these systems fall way short of the users
expectations and come nowhere near the user experience that they should have
had. If you do not have the expertise in
networking, unified communications and collaboration and network provisioning
then partner with someone who does. This
is critical to a truly collaborative system done right. As I mentioned in my last blog, these off the
shelf systems are far from plug-and-play and they require a strong network
person to get the full capabilities out of them.
The last, but certainly not the least, important point I
will make is about the social aspect of adding collaborative systems to a
customer’s solution. The key is to have
executive buy-in. Well, duh Max! Let me expand. Sure, you have executive buy-in, you got the
P.O. or you were commissioned to do the design work, but do you have buy-in from
a usage policy support aspect? Will the
executives use the system religiously and will they write and enforce policy
that will make the company feel free to collaborate openly and collaborate with
full reciprocity? The key is to make
sure that executives and management do all they can to remove the barriers to
collaboration. All too often those barriers have little to nothing to do with
technology and more to do with company culture.
When designing a collaborative system business processes often have to
change as well.
I am a LEAN Six Sigma Green Belt. I learned a lot about process improvement in
the program I took at Georgia State University.
I am also a Certified Professional Project Manager and a Certified Technology
Specialist for Design and Install for InfoComm in audiovisual. I have certifications from Cisco in network routing,
switching and security. I have
certifications from CompTIA and for general networking and technology training. I have worked in networked AV, unified
communications and collaboration for 28 years now. Why do I tell you all of this? Because all of these certifications and
experience are all related and without them all combined, I could not come
close to providing anywhere near the solutions in collaboration that our customers
need. All of our customers need their
technology, environment, network infrastructure, design, engineering and
business process needs met. Heck, If I
can do it, I know any of you can.
About the Author: Max has joined Thorburn Associates as a
Principal Consultant focused on Unified Communications & Collaboration. By combining
his knowledge and skill in AV and IT with his decades of experience, Max will
be responsible for driving Thorburn Associates' Unified Communications and
Collaboration Division (UC&C). Max will be instrumental in the anticipated
“exponential growth” of Thorburn Associates' UC&C Division by solving the
toughest of customer AV/IT problems with his technical prowess and keen insight
into their business needs.
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