Virtual Meeting Productivity via Dynamic Participant Segmentation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Participants in virtual meetings often experience decreased engagement and productivity due to meeting fatigue and the need to multitask, as not all agenda items are relevant to all participants, leading to periods of non-focus during virtual meetings.

Innovation Solution

An apparatus and method that provide personalized To-Do lists for participants, allocating them to either focus or non-focus groups based on interaction inputs such as speaking time, body movements, and meeting information, allowing non-focus group participants to work on tasks during non-relevant meeting periods while preventing multitasking among focus group participants.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If participants are required to attend the entire virtual meeting, then meeting coverage is complete, but participant engagement and productivity decrease due to meeting fatigue

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveparticipant productivityVSAvoidtime spent in non-relevant meeting periods

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The meeting participation requirement is segmented into focus periods and non-focus periods based on agenda item relevance. Participants are dynamically allocated to different groups during different time periods, allowing them to engage fully during relevant segments and work on personal tasks during non-relevant segments, thereby maintaining productivity without sacrificing complete meeting coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts participant allocation between focus and non-focus groups based on real-time analysis of interaction inputs and agenda relevance. This dynamic reconfiguration allows participants to transition between meeting engagement and personal task completion based on the current meeting context, optimizing both engagement and productivity throughout the meeting duration.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If participants are allowed to multitask during virtual meetings, then productivity may increase, but engagement and attention to meeting content deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetask completion during meetingVSAvoidmeeting engagement quality

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments participants into focus groups (requiring full engagement) and non-focus groups (allowed to multitask) based on agenda item relevance. This segmentation ensures that multitasking occurs only during periods when meeting content is not relevant to the participant, thereby maintaining engagement quality during focus periods while enabling productivity during non-focus periods.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors interaction inputs (speaking time, body movement, engagement metrics) and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust participant allocation. This feedback mechanism ensures that participants who show signs of disengagement during focus periods can be reallocated, maintaining overall engagement quality while still allowing multitasking opportunities during appropriate non-focus periods.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Ease of operation

If personalized To-Do lists are provided to all participants, then individual task management is improved, but complexity of the meeting system increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetask management for participantsVSAvoidmeeting system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically generates and distributes personalized To-Do lists to participants based on their allocation to focus or non-focus groups and the agenda structure. Participants receive their customized task lists without manual intervention, and the system self-manages the complexity of tracking and distributing these lists dynamically as allocations change throughout the meeting.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Productivity

If audio data is saved for non-focus group participants, then productivity during non-focus periods is enhanced, but data storage requirements and processing complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveeffective utilization of non-focus periodsVSAvoidaudio data volume

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Audio data saving is applied selectively only to participants allocated to non-focus groups during non-focus periods, rather than recording all participant audio throughout the entire meeting. This localized application of the recording function reduces overall data volume while still providing the productivity benefit of audio access for those who need it during their non-focus periods.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS20230344966A1System and method for using non-focus meeting periods to increase productivity

Publication Date: 2023.10.26 NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY

AI summary

An apparatus, method and computer program is described comprising: providing a personalised To-Do list for each of a plurality of participants of a virtual meeting or presentation; receiving a plurality of interaction inputs for one or more of a plurality of time periods of the virtual meeting or presentation from one or more of the participants of the virtual meeting or presentation; determining, for each time period, one or more participants to allocate to a non-focus group based, at least partially, on one or more of the plurality of interaction inputs; and providing each of the one or more participants of the non-focus group with the personalised To-Do list for that participant.