These are the awfully embarrassing things that can happen during a work presentation
We've all been there. Cable confusion, glitchy projectors, sharing one piece of paper between the entire office – work presentations are rarely a fun experience.
But apparently, the stress of preparing slide-shows and diagrams for a big meeting can cause UK office workers serious health problems.
Companies in the UK already lose a lot of productivity due to stressed out workers, so maybe it's time to give up meetings altogether? A shocking 86 per cent of staff experience serious “meeting stress” when grappling with technology during meetings, according to research from tech firms Vanson Bourne and Barco.
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The study looked at how the human body is affected by the simple task of giving a presentation to colleagues and bosses. Heart rates reached a staggering 179 bpm when office workers struggled with issues like sharing screens and finding the right cables in order to give presentations.
The biggest challenges for staff were sharing content on laptop screens and finding the right cables to connect to devices in the boardroom.
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Offering little comfort over the stressful ordeal, Vanson Bourne claims that "staff are wasting significant amounts of their valuable time" trying to fix the problems themselves.
Around 60 percent of workers attempt to master the technology. Almost half of us call tech support, while 30 percent do the honourable thing and give up with the projectors altogether.
It's not just our physical health taking a hit, either: more than one in ten of us have missed out on a big promotion because of technology failures during a presentation.
Dr David Lewis, Neuropsychologist and director of Mind Labs International, said, "People show a clear stress response when faced with difficulties in getting meeting room technology to work. Stress in the workplace does not have a positive impact. People miss deadlines, and some even report that they have missed out on promotions as a result."
"This should not be happening! Removing these stresses from workers should be a top priority for businesses."