Screen sharing software lets your team (or customers) see what you’re doing on your computer screen. This can be great for explaining a process or task to an employee, or providing customer service. There are dozens of ways to use screen sharing software, but here are seven you may not have considered.
Training
When training a new employee, you can use screen sharing software to train them remotely. This is especially effective if your team members are actually remote in the first place, as it will allow them to see and learn from what you’re doing directly from your own computer or mobile screen.
This way, the training session still remains personal and a little more human than if they were just staring at a questionnaire on a computer screen. This method is especially useful when training IT or Tech Support candidates, as many computer problems require a walkthrough to thoroughly explain.
Presentations
If you’re working remotely and giving a presentation at a virtual meeting, screen sharing software can bridge the gap between the employees and your presentation. You won’t have to email attachments, projects, or information and send it to the attendees; instead they’ll be able to view your screen indirectly and see exactly what you’re presenting in real time.
You can also present new products or services to your customers via screen share software. If you’re excited about a new product, you can use
Collaboration
If your team is working on a large project, communication is essential for effective collaboration. Using screen share to convey your ideas to the team is quick and effective, and eliminates the need to email or cloud share materials and ideas with everyone.
It creates a real-time collaboration environment that you can edit in real time from anywhere in the world, as long as there’s an internet connection of course. This makes collaborating remotely easier and more focused on the task at hand rather than locating and sending materials. It keeps the team on the same page, and everyone clear on what the goals and expectations for the project are.
Project reviews & status updates
As well as sharing information with your team members, screen sharing can be equally as effective in communicating updates and changes to managers or team leads. You can screen share what you’re working on, what progress the team has made, and make suggested edits in real time.
You won’t have to take the time to send emails with endless attachments and CC’d addresses, but instead all of the information you’ll be presenting will be centralized and portrayed on your screen, and shared with whoever is requesting an update; be it the board of directors or simply your team leader.
Giving a webinar
If you don’t have the means to host a live, in-person seminar, you can use screen sharing to give a live webinar. A webinar can be on anything you’d host a seminar for, but it eliminates the need for in person attendance and possible costly hall rentals. You can give real time information in a seminar style and share your screen with as many users as your service allows.
Having better meetings
Screen sharing software can create more efficient meetings by cutting down on paperwork and handouts. All the information you need is already on your computer, so why spend the time and money on printing or emailing it all when you can just broadcast it to the attendees via screen share?
Having remoted meetings can be difficult when you have either all remote employees or a large number of them. Often it’s difficult to organize a meeting due to different time zones and schedules, but some screen sharing software lets you record your presentation as well, allowing for users to view the content at a later date.
Sales pitches or financial discussions
Screen sharing can be a great way to give a sales pitch or share financial information within your company. Emailing financial information can be risky, even within private servers, and so screen sharing can keep sensitive information localized to one computer. Since you’re only sharing your screen, there’s no files involved that contain company information, reducing the risk of interception or hacking of files.
Sales pitches can be done via screen sharing as well, giving you the opportunity to close that sale remotely by demoing your product or service. If you’re attempting to close a deal with another country, it can be much more cost effective to give your presentation remotely, rather than flying yourself or the company’s representatives for an in person meeting.
Screen sharing is safe, but…
While screen sharing software is encrypted, as is your session, it’s important to practice diligence when sharing your screen either in business or in private. Make sure the person you’re connecting to is who they say they are, and that any sensitive company information that you’re sharing has been approved by management first.
Any time information is shared on the internet, there’s a chance it can be stolen or copied. Be safe, make sure you use software with a good reputation and sufficient security software, and never share with anyone you’re not sure of.