## Do You Miss Your Markerboard?
The shift to remote work caught everyone off guard. One day we were sketching ideas on whiteboards in conference rooms, the next we were staring at tiny video windows, struggling to recreate that collaborative magic digitally.
At Tangram's recent **Second Safest Workplace** webinar, our Technology Sales Director Mark Coxon joined USC's Director of Learning Environments Joe Way to tackle a question many organizations are still grappling with: How do we bridge the gap between physical and digital collaboration?
## Beyond Survival Mode
"If you work for a business with a 'work is done here' culture, then you're likely experiencing a bit of culture shock," says Coxon. When organizations pivoted to 100% remote work in March 2020, most grabbed whatever tools they could find quickly—usually Zoom.
But here's the reality: **Zoom is a tool, not a strategy.**
Now we're in an audit phase, evaluating how we've been working and asking critical questions: What's missing? Where are the gaps? How do we create equal collaborative space for both in-person and remote participants?
The challenge is real. Innovation typically happens when people are in the same room, bouncing ideas off each other. Physical workspaces allow for multiple workflows and tasks to coexist beyond the meeting itself. Current online tools feel too linear—the process takes too long, and the energy just isn't the same.
## The Educational Perspective
Way was already transitioning USC toward hybrid learning before the pandemic hit. His insight? What schools are working with now represents a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
"Can you teach and lecture on Zoom? Absolutely," says Way. "But the issue lies in our inability to gauge how much information is actually absorbed. People are getting better at multitasking during Zoom calls."
The questions faculty members ask are evolving—and that tells Way they're adapting while recognizing Zoom alone isn't sufficient. Real learning happens when minds map together, when ideas transform into something tangible. That's extremely difficult to achieve when participants aren't fully engaged.
## Practical Solutions for Better Collaboration
### Breakout Groups Most platforms offer breakout room functionality, yet it's surprisingly underutilized. Presenters can assign participants to smaller groups for focused discussion time. This approach increases engagement, boosts participation, and often eliminates follow-up meetings.
### Secondary Cameras Most spaces weren't designed for hybrid presentation. Adding a secondary camera—whether 360-degree or presenter-tracking—creates a more familiar viewing experience for remote participants.
**RoboTRAK** uses an IR lanyard-based tracking system that follows instructors as they move around, eliminating the need for a dedicated camera operator.
**Meeting Owl Pro** offers 1080p resolution with 360° smart video conferencing, automatically highlighting and focusing on different speakers.
### Dynamic Presentations Tools like **Prezi** allow presenters to incorporate content as part of their video background. This might seem minor, but it addresses a crucial cognitive issue: our brains can't simultaneously read and listen effectively. Those five seconds when slide content appears are five seconds when your voice gets tuned out.
### Video Walls and Virtual Office Hours Displaying remote participants on classroom video walls helps faculty feel more connected to audience responses. Establishing informal Zoom office hours where students can drop in creates relaxed conversation opportunities outside formal lectures.
### Digital Whiteboard Solutions We're all missing those high-energy whiteboard brainstorming sessions. Here are tools designed to recreate that collaborative magic:
- **Oblong Mezzanine**: Enables multiple content streams from multiple locations simultaneously - **Nureva Span Workspace**: Visual collaboration tools for mapping workflows and maintaining alignment across distributed teams - **DTEN ME**: All-in-one personal collaboration device designed for home offices
## Rethinking Meeting Purpose
Brilliant ideas often emerge from organic, unplanned interactions. The best conversations happen without rigid agendas. Yet digital meetings tend to be task-focused, leaving relationship-building out of the equation.
Recent research shows that in hour-long meetings, only 17 minutes focus on actual tasks—the remaining 43 minutes cover miscellaneous topics. These inefficiencies existed in traditional offices too; they're just more obvious in digital environments where we can't compensate for shortcomings as easily.
## Moving Forward
To make digital meetings more meaningful, we need to rethink meetings themselves. Consider assigning specific roles to participants beforehand, giving everyone purpose rather than allowing passive attendance. Roles create accountability and engagement while maintaining collaborative momentum—even when innovators are miles apart.
The future of collaborative technology isn't about replacing in-person interaction entirely. It's about creating tools and strategies that bridge physical and digital spaces effectively, ensuring everyone can contribute meaningfully regardless of location.
As organizations move from survival to sustainable solutions, the question isn't whether we miss our markerboards—it's how we recreate that collaborative energy in our new hybrid reality.