Who, What, Why and How...... The Final Report

The Case Study

The 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.

Session 7 - Final Online

As Mary said, Matt did a great job presenting his material. I agree that the combination of short presentation followed by discussion was a good mix. In my own presentation, I found that losing sight of the conference room while web-touring or showing slides quite disarming. One minor point I would like to make is that with such a large group it may have been advantageous to engage with half the group for one question and then the other half for the next question. It seemed to take a long time for everyone to respond to each question and the effect of this was to slow down the presentation. That said, interest was maintained throughout the session. I suppose this is one of many examples we have seen throughout the program where we have transfered our usual face to face presentation style into the virtual world only to discover that there are adjustments we need to make, and as Matt pointed out, it relates to lack of feedback.

It was also interesting to note how relaxed everyone is in the room after only six meetings. It demonstrates how quickly and easily people adapt to using the technology.

Google Groups is very quiet this week and I suppose that is to be expected as the program draws towards its conclusion next Wednesday. It has served its purpose as a method of communicating between sessions and as a place to post announcements about upcoming meetings. However, on the whole there has been very little chat. I believe that because we conducted weekly sessions in the virtual conference room there was no necessity for people to chat in between. It's possible that if the meetings had been monthly or even fortnightly there may have been more activity in the forum. Nevertheless, the quality of the posts was high which was great to see.

Looking forward to our final face to face session next week to hear what our participants have to say about their experience in the program from the viewpoint of a small business professional. (Ann)

Week 7 - eCommerce meeting

Our last formal group online meeting was with a presenter, Matt Freedman on the topic of eCommerce and Online Payment, areas where Matt has considerable experience. The online session was conducted as presentation plus discussions, and this worked well, as everyone (in the group of 10 attendees) was able to participate and share their own knowledge and perspectives. I think this is an excellent style for small groups where there already is a significant expertise level, and the online format provides the virtual room where a topic can be reviewed collaboratively.

Matt's comments reflected positively on the meeting format, although, as a frequent presenter to real time groups, he found the presentation somewhat challenging as he did not see the participants until the discussion resumed. This presentation used a more interactive approach than our previous, and this, I found well suited to the online meeting format. (Mary)

Matt Freedman commented: "It was a pleasure leading a discussion and presentation on eCommerce and Payment Systems for Small Business online meeting this week. The information covered was pretty broad, and each of the participants compared their experience with eCommerce both as a user and consumer but also how they are currently use it in their business or how they might use it in the future. It was a different experience presenting online compared to being in front of a live audience. You don’t get the same feedback from the audience as you can’t see their faces while you present, so you just have to imagine them and keep going. I also found that in this medium doing a short 1 or 2 slide presentation then a discussion, then back to another 1 or 2 slide presentation was a good mix of interactivity and information as you don’t tend to get the level of questions during the actual presentation component that you would in a physical seminar. I found the discussion part very engaging, and found it was easy to connect with each participant in much the same way as you would if you were in the same physical room. The definite bonuses were the text chat that went on in parallel with the voice chat and that everyone seemed very comfortable in their own environments (homes/offices) and people were more likely to dress casually, eat, drink, take notes which you are less likely to get in a classroom."

Week 6 - Round 2 Presentations

As has already been said we were again treated to four fantastic presentations. Things that stood out for me were:

CMS and Google Analytics

- the CMS presenter was assisted by a colleague who answered the text questions. We haven't seen this support role in action before and the value of the role was really clear. All the text questions were answered quickly leaving the presenter to concentrate on the presentation. It was very effective and for anyone considering client presentations it's likely to produce a smooth and professional session.

- if the CMS and Google Analytics had been delivered in a training room I would have been the participant who grabbed the presenter during the break to pick their brains and find out more. In this case we were constrained by time as we had four presentations to complete within an hour and half, so I guess people were aware of this and asked fewer questions. Maybe in this context the virtual conference room is a place to give people a taste of something to see if there is interest, and then if there is, either a face to face meeting or a series of online sessions could be arranged.


Vibrant Hair Colour

- this presenter was a natural. She looked as if she was one of those TV presenters who sits very comfortably on the lounge and speaks without rehearsing! The headset she wore sits around the back of the head (rather than the Biggles look - on the top of he head with the massive earphones which I have!) and I think this really adds to the look of the presenter - the headset is barely visible so you can more easily forget the technology and focus on what is being said. The other comment I would make about the visual impression is that there was no clutter behind the presenter which again keeps your focus on the subject.

WebEX

- this was a presentation with a twist - a presentation about one conferencing software package from within another conferencing software package! This was a also a confident presentation which focussed on why some business' might choose WebEx over other software It wasn't a sales pitch but it was an example of how you could present a product in this manner. The strategies used were: to point out the benefits of the product; and to draw comparisons with other high-end and expensive technical solutions. It worked very well, in fact so well, that an additional session has been planned within WebEx.


So these are my observations. What I don't know is how much time and effort went into preparing for these presentations, how that compares to preparing for a face to face meeting, or how presenters feel about the feedback they receive in the room - is it sufficient? Do they know that they have been understood? This will be our Google Groups discussion topic for the week.

Week 6 – Small Business Presentations 2 – The Team

The remaining business owners took the hot seat this week and gave us an insight into their worlds.

First we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of some websites that have been setup using CMS, a really good way for small business owners to keep their websites up to date and fresh without having to get web designers to do this every time. In addition Google Analytics was explained a little, again as a powerful tool for small business owners to be able to focus their marketing and advertising spend, to get the most from dollars spent and see where their real customers are coming from.

We were then given a colourful training session into the world of Vibrant Hair Colour that was technical, enlightening and interesting – proving again the online software is a good medium for training especially for people located in spread out, remote or even global locations, and even for a supplier / customer relationship. After this we were given a very informative presentation on some of the other solutions for online communication, showing that there is a software or tool for every budget. Whether you are in small business with a small budget or a large corporate looking for sophisticated communications the online world of business communication is definitely starting to emerge and be accepted a great deal faster than even a couple of years ago.

Some of the main reasons for this are probably the need to cut costs as expenses in business increase rapidly, petrol costs, flights, freight etc. The reduction in cost and rapid improvement in internet connection speed, allowing for more seamless conversations and transfer of information and perhaps the saving in that other very valuable asset time… (Mike)

Hosting can be shared

In the past, our online training sessions have been very structured, and we've always tried to make sure that each online meeting room only ever had a single 'host' - or administrator - at a time. Partially, this was so that we didn't have any contention regarding the various features and settings one can manipulate as a host, but also because it was easier to visualise - a presenter manages the room as a host, while participants have no extra control. However, we discovered this week that it was actually advantageous to have two hosts in the room: the original presenter, along with a second, more technically able user, who was able to provide quick support for the presenter, who may be more focused on their presentation.

From a presentation point of view, this is a great feature, as it basically allows a presenter to get on with the task of presenting, and be backed by a technical user able to make live changes in the background. This might include allowing users into the meeting, changing speaking privileges for noisy users, or simply bringing up the noteboard and editing it with some live information.

We asked MegaMeeting about this feature, and whether they recommended it, and, as usual they got back to us within a few hours of us e-mailing them, basically confirming that there were no issues as long as there was good communication between the Host and the Moderator. (Sam)

Session 6 - More presentations!

This week the remaining four business owners presented from their own premises using the Megameeting online meetings rooms and again it was a great session. While it took longer to start, as the session had been set up in a smaller room and we all had to move to the larger room (in terms of "seats") the four presentations were excellent and used all the features of the online meeting room. We were shown a content management system, and how to use google analytics- which is now active on this blog! Our professional hair stylist provided a short training session on vibrant hair colours and our last presenter discussed other video conferencing systems that she had investigated for her business needs.

One of the key elements that seems to work for the meeting environment is to keep presentations fairly short, and to return to the face to face meeting room for comments and questions. And it helps to have a Moderator, who monitors the questions as they come in on the text window. Its hard to present and watch the questions. And the audio - which can be used - sometimes comes across too loud or too soft. It works, but maybe some sound checks at the beginning would be useful. All up, another really great session, and I for one found it a fantastic way to learn! (Mary)