The Case StudyThe Small Business Online Meetings project aimed to develop a workable set of low cost online tools for use by small business owners for business communications. To achieve this we worked with a group of eight small business owners and managers to trial and review the tools over a ten week period.
Initial consultations with the group identified a range of communication issues. In particular, a means to: develop relationships with suppliers and clients; train staff who work remotely; and network with other small business owners, were identified. To address these issues we selected three tools for evaluation: an online meeting tool, a forum for online discussions, and a blog. Following are the features of each tool.
The Online Meeting Tool
Some of the features in Megameeting, our chosen conferencing tool,are standard in most conferencing software and some were specific to our chosen product. We selected Megameeting for a number of reasons:
- The ability to see each other in meetings was considered important. Our a tool could host meetings and display images of up to 12 participants.
- A product with Voice over IP was selected over a tool which required tele-conferencing to reduce costs, particularly for those with overseas or interstate clients.
- Text chat enables people to ask questions without interrupting the facilitator/presenter.
- Desktop sharing is useful for demonstrations and/or presentations.
- Surveys and polls.
- User-friendly technology that is easy set up, easy to use and will work with both PC and Mac format.
- Accessible technical support
- Low cost monthly rental arrangements with no ongoing financial commitment.
The forum
- A private asynchronous communication tool for general discussion
- A place to share documents and files
- A place to network and collaborate
- User-friendly
- Free
The Blog
- A public tool for conveying informal and conversational style information to the group and to others outside of the group
- User-friendly
- Free.
The group also considered the value of using audio and video, social bookmarking, feed readers and Google Analytics in small business.
Throughout the program participation and progress were monitored and feedback was received from all participants. All tools had some benefits and some draw backs. However overall, the participants were enthusiastic about continuing to use similar tools in their businesses.
The Model
Our Small Business Online Communications Model will demonstrate that a suite of online tools can simplify the complex communication issues experienced by small business owners. Time, distance and cost have been identified as major barriers to effective communication.
The Journey
At the beginning
Most participants had not used an online meeting tool, most had used a blog but not for business purposes and some had participated in forums. Most participants communicate with clients and/or staff by phone, email or face to face meetings. Small business owner and IT expert, Sam Thorogood, talks about his perceptions of these tools before and after the program.
Along the way
Our program structure included a face to face, get to know each other session where we discussed our interests and possible uses for the technology. Following this were six sessions in the online meeting room, including a training session in online facilitation, two guest speakers, an introduction to Delicious, RSS and Podcasting and, importantly, two participant led sessions. So everyone had an opportunity to try out the tools. Between sessions we posted announcements, asked questions, shared information and generally chatted in the forum. The blog was used to describe our experiences from three perspectives: an educational perspective, a facilitation perspective and from a small business perspective.
During the program Anna from Bestbuds florist discovered how Google Docs could help her communicate in her business.
The Challenges
Sound and voice - There were some initial technical challenges where participants had difficulty with sound and voice in the online meeting room. Luckily we anticipated that this may be the case and spent time with each individual before the first meeting to identify any issues. The technical support from our provider was critical in overcoming this hurdle and I’m pleased to say was excellent. Our first meeting was a training session in the online meeting room and we asked our provider to conduct this on our behalf. This resulted in a positive, successful and relaxed first experience in the conference room for all participants and set the program off to a great start.
Starting on time - Not once did we start on time! Every week we asked participants to arrive fifteen minutes before our scheduled start time so that we could check sound and voice and every week everyone arrived at the scheduled time. Consequently we always began about fifteen minutes late and often finished late as a result. The lesson learned for us was to schedule an extra fifteen minutes into the session so that participants allocate enough time for each session to run smoothly.
Facilitation - There was a tendency amongst those who were professional speakers and/or educators to transfer the techniques from a face to face meeting into the online meeting. So there was period of adjustment which is described in some of the blog postings. The other main facilitation issue was the time lag when taking web tours. (Week 2, Week 7 Blog) Interestingly our participants seemed to just glide effortlessly into the environment. Maybe there were no pre-conceived ideas or maybe they learned from our mistakes! Week 6 Blog, Week 5 Blog).
Forum posts - To create an interest in our forum was difficult. Our online meetings were weekly and therefore there was little reason to communicate between sessions. Clearly relevance and need are key motivators to participation in a forum and in the context of our program there was no need. With the benefit of hindsight I realise that the greatest benefit of the forum was the ablity to send announcements to the group about the weekly sessions. Although some participants expressed some discomfort at the idea of publishing their thoughts online, this issue was minimal within our group. I do, however, believe that there was enough communication in the forum for participants to gain an understanding of how it might be used. This was supported by Mike Raffaele from WowWash who gave a practical example of how he might use a forum in his business and talks about his views on forums and blogs.
Time and workload - To come to grips with anything new, whether technological or otherwise, requires an investment of time – a major barrier for someone running a business. However by the end of the project there was general agreement that the time invested in online tools would pay off in the long term.
At the end
How useful were the tools to small business?
The most popular tool by far was the online meeting tool primarily as a training tool for both clients and staff. Kylie from Furr hair salon in Newtown and Chris from Create Studios, a web design company, talk about how they might use the online conferencing tool.
Participants enjoyed the flexibility of anytime/any place communication. Queenie Shen from Churchill Saunders joined us from her car during the first session!
".......and hope the movement in the car didn't make anyone feel dizzy! ......to answer your question, I used 3 Mobile Broadband and was quite impressed I did not drop out at all during the whole trip ........... No additional software was required to do mobilewebconferencing, so quite handy."
Chiropractor, John Petrozzi, said "I actually quite liked the fact that I could see everyone who was in the meeting, and at the same time I enjoyed being in the comfort of my own house, eating nuts and drinking tea. I have been thinking about ways in which I could utilise this form of meeting in my everyday life. And I had a thought. There are lots of chiro's all over the country that I would love to talk to but often don't get time to sit on the phone. So I thought that it would be cool to organise a group meeting with these guys, and talk about ideas, practice, business and generally brain storm some ideas. "
Only one participant expressed an interest in setting up a forum. His plan is to create an industry-based forum for the car detailing industry in Australia. Others expressed an interest in participating in existing forums within their industry area and all could see the value in using a Blog as an additional web presence.
What type of business’ might use these tools in future?
Our program was offered to a range of business people. Those business people who decided to take part were those who are in a growth phase or those seeking efficiencies in relation to cost and/or time. Some have remote staff, clients, suppliers or outbound sales people. The tools we introduced may also be of value to franchises. However the range of online tools is unlikely to be relevant for small local retail outlets or coffee shops.
Why is it vocationally useful?
The teaching and learning strategies use in this program could be applied to any learning program where the intention is to introduce new concepts and build practical skills. Our participants learned about the tools by first, using them as observers, then as participants before moving into the facilitator role themselves. Careful scaffolding enabled them to successfully deliver a short session on a topic of their choice. The collaborative nature of this program provided opportunities for the group to support each other. At the end of the program all participants were able to make informed decisions about the value of these tools in their business which is evident in the shot videos above.
Project Manager, Ann Brady describes her impression of the meeting tool and the highlights of the program.
Conclusions and Outcomes
We believe that we met our aim of developing a suite of online communications tools of value to small business owners. Through this project we determined that online conferencing software and asynchronous communications programs are available at low cost, or even no cost! They are easy to setup and use, and are useful for some small businesses, especially those needing to communicate with remote suppliers or staff or remote locations.
The online meeting software was well received by the group and regarded as a time/cost saving communication tool which might be useful for staff development, product promotion, demonstrations as well as a place to conduct meetings with colleagues or clients. Half of our eight partaicipants expressed an interest in further use of online meeting strategies. The forums were considered less useful, although it was considered possible that they may be a way of connecting with other industry experts around Australia. Some business owners indicated that they may use additional asynchronous communications techniques as a result of this project. A blog was considered to have potential as a small business marketing tool.
Some barriers need to be overcome, such as arranging specific times to meet online and meeting those time frames. Other issues are that some participants of the asynchronous forums were more active than others.
Small business owners can learn from our experience. By reading our blog and listening to comments from participants they will learn how they might use the suite of tools to meet their business communications needs.
Mary Hendriks, program facilitator and green business advocate, wraps up this report with her impressions of the program.
For more information please contact Ann Brady from Sydney Community College at ann.brady@scc.nsw.edu.au.
