PRESS RELEASE
A third of workers have seen colleagues fall asleep in presentations finds research
London, 27 March 2014 - Most work meetings and presentations are uninspiring and unproductive because they don't encourage collaboration, claims research launched today by Sharp Europe. Commissioned to support the recent launch of its next generation giant BIG PAD touchscreen, Sharp's research found that workplaces need to provide better ways to help people share ideas.
Nearly one in ten workers admitted to having fallen asleep during a work presentation (9%), while a third (34%) have witnessed someone else nodding off, according to a survey of office employees in UK, Spain, Sweden, Germany, France and Netherlands. 10% of office workers have sat through a presentation so dull that they have actually invented a reason to leave.
A third of survey respondents (34%) said that they spend between 25-50% of the time that they are supposed to be watching a presentation thinking about something else. 12% actually spend almost all (75-100%) of the presentation with their mind elsewhere.
Boring meetings are a waste of time
The majority of us (86%) spend up to five hours a week in meetings, but this is often time wasted. Only 16% of people would describe the meetings they have at work as "inspiring" and 79% of workers say that they're more productive at their desks.
Meetings are not set up to allow everyone to contribute, with only 42% of people describing the meetings they have at work as "collaborative." 57% of workers think that one person usually talks too much and 58% of people think that meetings would be better if everyone was more able to get involved. Only a quarter (27%) office workers have been trained to lead a meeting.
While watching presentations, a fifth of office workers (21%) have wanted to say something, but were not given the opportunity to do so. 17% of people dislike presentations because there aren't enough opportunities to ask questions.
Top three presentation dislikes
1. Talks being too long 61%
2. Uninspiring content 56%
3. A boring presenter 56%
The BIG PAD solution
How can workplaces make meetings and presentations more engaging? While the research shows that time management and presentation training are crucial areas for businesses to address, having better tools to support content delivery will also make a big difference.
Sharp recently launched its highly anticipated second generation series of collaborative touch screens, the BIG PAD. With improved usability and embedded functionality, BIG PAD makes meetings more productive and presentations more collaborative.
Christian Schwaiger, Vice President, Sharp Visual Solutions Europe, said "It's time to end boring meetings and presentations by making sure everyone gets involved. BIG PAD has been a big favourite with our customers since it launched in 2012 because it matches how people want to work, by letting you share ideas and solve problems together."
The next generation BIG PAD includes a wide range of new features, including simultaneous writing by up to four people and data sharing with remote places, making it the perfect tool for letting groups collaborate on ideas, by using one highly engaging interactive whiteboard.
