Group presentations haven’t changed all that much through the years, from easels to whiteboards and markers to digital collaboration tools.
A digital whiteboard is an excellent tool for boosting meeting efficiency. It allows participants, on-site or remote, to share a screen while also allowing for brainstorming and notetaking.
What Exactly Is A Digital Whiteboard?
Visual aids help us work together to explore ideas, make plans, educate, inform and solve challenges. People voluntarily sharing ideas make talks more engaging and encourage teamwork.
A digital whiteboard can help your teams do all that remotely.
It’s a virtual whiteboard where users can exchange notes, doodles, files, and images, like a physical whiteboard—except it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. (This is why it’s also known as an online whiteboard.)
It combines the best elements of a physical whiteboard, such as writing and sticky notes, with digital capabilities like snapshots and auto-saving. You can also integrate various free online whiteboard tools with your whiteboard, and the best part is that you never have to worry about someone deleting your ideas.
The Advantages Of Online Whiteboards
Interactive whiteboards provide real-time communication regardless of where your team is: at the home, workplace, or any global location. With hybrid work becoming the norm, digital whiteboards are an effective tool for connecting everyone. They can assist you with:
Increase productivity: Online whiteboards keep everyone on the same page during meetings, allowing you to make decisions more quickly. Because everyone has a visual reference, they can concentrate on brainstorming rather than taking notes.
Expand your business: Anything that simplifies project management benefits your bottom line. Digital whiteboards allow you to view each stage of a process, making it easier to identify faults before they become costly difficulties.
Connect remote employees: When everyone is spread out, it might be challenging to involve everyone and ensure their perspectives are heard. Because so many of us work remotely, people spend 37% less time collaborating than before the epidemic. Because everyone may contribute and be more engaging than a presentation, digital whiteboards can assist boost cooperation.
Be inventive: Sometimes, you only need a blank canvas to draw, share prototype designs, or brainstorm product names. Interactive whiteboards encourage experimentation and fun, where some of the most exemplary ideas are born.
Get some peace of mind: Nothing is more frustrating than losing your meeting notes because someone wiped the whiteboard too quickly. Digital whiteboards automatically save to the cloud, making them easy to access after the meeting.
5 Tips For Making Remote Meetings More Engaging With Online Whiteboards
Here are some tips for making the most of your next meeting using a digital whiteboard:
Welcome All Attendees To Participate
The enormous increase in demand for remote guest access to presentations prompted by COVID-19 has every indication of becoming the new normal. Interactive whiteboards are excellent for incorporating workers who work from home—or from all over the world.
Your remote guests can share files with everyone and even share the screen you’re showing to individuals meeting on their end using an interactive smart board.
You may quickly print, email, and share anything that was discussed at the end of the meeting.
Make Contact With Everyone In The Room
You may connect to the interactive whiteboard via WiFi if you have the right software on your phone or tablet. You can import and edit documents, annotate, create and control the meeting flow directly from your device.
Try Document Annotation and Much More
An effective presentation of ideas emphasizes specific points of the issues under consideration, with ideas usually emerging on the fly. An intelligent board fosters the sharing of ideas by providing intriguing alternatives such as:
Any participant may annotate directly on the board by hand, with automated transcribing into a typeface. They can also:
- Edit and highlight specific sentences
- Convert images to text
- Generate concepts on the fly for instant visibility and debate.
Make Meetings More Collaborative
There will be no more PowerPoint death or scribbling notes and diagrams on paper in a one-sided dialogue. Because of the interactive whiteboard, everyone involved—whether in person or virtually—can ultimately engage in the presentation through their device or a built-in access function.
Participants may share files and modify them in real-time, making your meetings seem more collaborative and in-person. Similarly, you may restrict editing access to select persons so that a group presentation does not go out of hand.
Forget About Markers Or Dry Erasers
There’s no need for a marker with an interactive whiteboard; use the sketching tools or your smart device app to create annotations. Most smart boards support touchscreen hand motions as well.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
