Introducing JAM

Covid-19 has fundamentally disrupted all aspects of business, in particular face-to-face meetings and events. Organisations have quickly adapted practices to support remote working. However, companies are finding there are limits to the usability of tools such as Zoom, Hangouts and Skype, which are most effective in supporting small group collaboration, or broadcasting to larger groups. There is a gap when more than six people need to meet, discuss and exchange views, rather than to consume information passively. We have fast-tracked the development of JAM, Crystal Interactive's online meeting software to fill the gap.

 The JAM platform addresses the following challenges:

While large meetings may last entire or multiple days, JAM sessions have a short live component of typically 120 minutes to ensure participant engagement. JAM incorporates proven techniques to accelerate the live meeting process while ensuring participants have time to consume the requisite information.

Groups of 10-50 people can participate in discussions to resolve issues at face to face meetings. But online, it is difficult to replicate this exchange even if everyone can share video and voice technology. Crystal's solution utilises a new type of interactive capability via brainstorming, voting and discussion functions to enable large groups to reach consensus and identify actionable outcomes.

While many people are confident in designing an agenda for a live meeting, there can be a disconnect in applying the same techniques for online. Crystal's solution has an Agenda Builder which guides meeting hosts through the most effective blend of activities to maximise engagement, information sharing and decision-making.
 

The Components

The JAM solution has six main components:

 1.     Pre-event

JAM manages registration, pre-event communication and publishing/ monitoring of pre-read materials. We know who is coming, and that they have read what they need before the meeting starts to ensure that everyone starts from the same level of knowledge.

 2.     AgendaBuilder

Meeting hosts can be trained to use this unique tool to configure every detail of the meeting agenda. The tool includes best practice guidance on how to transpose a face-to-face meeting into a JAM session. This tool enables clients to go further in the panning process and reduces their reliance on Crystal staff to design the agenda and configure the software.

 3.     In-meeting tools

All slide, voice and video sharing is handled by a webcast plugin embedded into JAM. We have customised the webcast plugin to make the virtual meeting experience simpler for participants to navigate.

 4.     Unique discussion tools

Unlike all other platforms, we have understood that managing a verbal conversation with more than six people in a virtual meeting is impossible. We use text to ensure people can share ideas and questions, review, comment on and prioritise each others’ ideas and we have a unique process to avoid information overload. This simple and intuitive method elevates participant engagement to a different level from other meeting platforms.

 5.     Voting and quiz

We have created a full-featured voting and quiz platform, allowing organisers to create pulses of engagement within presentations, to quickly capture insights from the audience and, through the quiz, to track participant retention in a fun and competitive experience.

 6.     Tracking, assessment and reporting

JAM provides a rich set of insights into the success of the meeting - enabling us to report:

• How many people attended and how long they stayed engaged (as a percentage of total time)
• Pre-read/post-read completion rates
• Quiz and voting success rates
• Q&A and discussion participation rates.

The Benefits

• JAM gives trained clients complete control over how to design the perfect virtual meeting experience
• JAM helps meeting hosts to drive actionable outcomes from their virtual meetings
• JAM provides a truly engaging experience for participants unlike any other platform on the market