How to start a Poll, Q&A, and Whiteboard in Skype for Business Meeting

An essential element to work with Skype for Business is to know how to use its interactive elements. The corporate service supports some very interactive features such as Survey, Q&A, Whiteboard which can be added to a meeting or call. You can also use them as tools to collect data or encourage attendees to attend your meetings. Here’s a short tutorial on how to get started and use the Survey, Q&A, and Whiteboard features in Skype for Business meetings.

Use Skype for Business Meetings – Survey, Q&A and Whiteboard Features

It should be noted that these interactive features aimed at improving collaboration only work on the Windows application and not on the Mac.

1. Start by creating a survey. For that,
2. Click the ‘Current content »
3. Move towards ‘More“And choose”Survey“
4. In the ‘Create a survey», Enter your question and answer options.
5. To manage the survey, click on the “Survey actions’Drop-down arrow.
6. When finished, stop presenting or delete the survey.
7. To start the question and answer session, click on the “Current content‘button.
8. Go to ‘More“
9. In the options displayed, select “Q&A”
10. For the whiteboard, click on “Current content‘button.
11. To choose Whiteboard
12. Select the tools to annotate on the whiteboard

Now let’s take a closer look at the steps!

1]Create a survey

It is one of the most useful features for engaging and interacting effectively with people. In addition, you can get a clear picture of what your colleagues think of the idea (s) that you intend to share with them during the meeting.

In the meeting window, click on the ‘Current content“And choose” buttonMore»From the menu.

Select ‘Survey“

The option will direct you to a ‘Create a survey’Where you can enter your question and answer options.

After doing this, press the ‘buttonCreateTo create the survey.

Once completed, the survey page will open during the meeting.

Now, when participants select an option, it will be displayed as a result for everyone.

To manage the survey, i.e. if you want to modify or hide the results, go toSurvey actions»From the menu.

When the job is done, click on “Stop presenting’Option seen at the top of the meeting room.

To delete a survey page, click on the “Present“> ButtonManage content’>‘Remove“

2]Start questions and answers

If no other content is visible, the content step will open the question-and-answer session directly for all participants. If other content is active, the Q&A section will be displayed in the form of a small tab, next to the ‘Presentation’At the bottom of the Q&A window. Meeting instant messaging is disabled by default until you end the question and answer session.

When a meeting presenter submits a question, any of the presenters can click “ReplyAnd grab their answer. Thereafter, they must press the “Enter” key to publish the response.

If you present content when a question is submitted, a notification will appear asking you to check it. You can click on the Q&A tab to immediately answer the question and when you are finished, return to the Presentation tab to continue your presentation.

When asked a question, a ‘All“And a tab”Without answer»Should be visible to you at the top of the Q&A window. Click the ‘Without answer“To filter out questions that have not yet been answered.

Once the session is finished or finished, click on “Stop questions and answers ».

If you wish to keep a record of the question and answer session, click on “Save as“, Enter a name and save the file to your computer.

Q&A is saved in Notepad and contains the following items,

• Questions
• Responses
• Timestamps
• Names of participants
• Name of presenters who participated

When the question and answer session is shared by a presenter, all meeting participants can see and ask questions.

3]Open a new whiteboard

A whiteboard, as the name suggests, represents a blank page that you can use to collaborate with other meeting participants. For example, you can type notes, draw or import images, and do other things.

Even when the meeting is over, you can save the whiteboard with data from the participant collaboration. Here’s how to get started!

In the meeting window, click on the ‘Current content‘button.

Choose “More“, Then select”Whiteboard“

Once the action is confirmed, a blank whiteboard will open on the meeting scene on everyone’s screen.

A set with the complete list of annotation tools such as pointer tool, pen, highlighter, eraser, etc. opens on the right side of the whiteboard.

Select one of the tools to annotate on the whiteboard.

The whiteboard automatically closes when you switch to another presentation option. However, it will be easily accessible during the meeting. Click ‘Present’>‘Manage content“And you should see the whiteboard again.

I hope this helps you!