The first step in solving communication bottlenecks in offices is recognizing what they are. Sometimes, it boils down to lacking or underutilizing the organization's digital signage.
This is especially true in office lobbies, which serve as visitors' first point of contact and a central gathering point for employees. This makes it prime real estate for sharing important messages and company news. That’s because lobby digital signage can communicate to all employees simultaneously, in a non-intrusive but impactful manner. And things get even better with LOOK DS - a software solution that will help your organization realize the full potential of its digital signs.
Here, we are going to uncover digital signage strategies that will level up your internal communication game and show you exactly how to achieve your desired results with the user-friendly Look Content Manager.
1. Make Visitors Feel Welcome
What to Show:
Personalized Greetings for Visitors: Personalized greetings can make a significant impact on how visitors perceive your company. When they see their names and specific messages tailored for them, it conveys that you value their presence and have prepared for their drop-in. This can include welcoming messages that mention their name, the purpose of their visit, and directions to their meeting location or host.
Daily Announcements and Upcoming Events: Displaying daily announcements and upcoming events keeps visitors informed about what's happening within the company. This can include meetings, company-wide events, and important notices. With is a powerful strategy for integrating visitors into the office environment and it can also serve as a great conversation starter between visitors and employees.
How to Do It:
Use Look CMS to design dynamic welcome screens: Your design time cut by half means you have time for other important tasks. With Look pre-designed templates, your dynamic welcome screens are just a few customization steps away. In the Layout Designer section choose your desired template, and replace placeholders for visitors' names and other relevant details.
Schedule your announcements to appear at specific times: You can control when and where your content appears by setting schedules for your announcements to run at specific times depending on the flow of employees and department.
2. Keep Everyone in the Loop
What to Show:
Latest Company News and Updates: A well-informed workforce is a powerful one. When employees are kept in the loop about the latest company news and updates it creates a sense of transparency and trust. Displaying information about new initiatives, project milestones, or even policy changes will build a connection with the company’s goals and direction among the employees.
Press Releases and Social Media Feeds: By displaying press releases on lobby digital signage, you’re placing employees in a better position to positively represent your company, both, in their personal and professional networks. And by following them up with live social media feeds, you’re essentially saying, “Hey team, this is what’s happening out there, and we’re a part of it. It’s engaging, it’s real-time, and it beats water cooler gossip any day.
How to Do It:
Integrate social media feeds and news widgets into your screens: Look DS makes it incredibly easy to keep your team connected to your company's online presence and the latest news. Want to showcase your company's latest posts, trending hashtags, or even user-generated content? With built-in social apps, just log in to your desired account via Look, select specific posts, or use hashtags to curate your posts and your feeds will appear immediately.
3. Celebrate Your Team
What to Show:
Employee of the Month and Recognition: Out of all other feedback tools in your organization, recognition has to be the most powerful. After all, a simple thank you is all it takes to motivate your best employees to keep working harder. For maximum impact, use pictures and videos of the recognized employee along with details about their accomplishments. You can even include a leaderboard to encourage healthy competition.
Birthdays and Work Anniversaries: Small gestures such as acknowledging birthdays and work anniversaries for everyone to see can make employees feel seen and valued. To make it interesting, add a fun fact, a favorite quote, or even a short anecdote to personalize the message.
How to Do It:
Create and manage recognition content with Look CMS: You guessed it, Look has dozens of employee recognition templates that you can customize with employee-relevant details. You can then create a birthday and work anniversary playlist and schedule it to automatically display on each date.
Automate updates using Google Sheets and Zapier for seamless changes: You don’t have to rush with the clock to make your employees feel valued. Look DS connects with Zapier to automate this process. Once your playlists are ready, create a Google sheet with employee data, including birthdays, hire dates, and recognition details.
Use Zapier to establish a connection between your Google Sheet and Look DS. Configure triggers so that whenever a new row is added to the spreadsheet (for new hires) or specific dates are reached (for birthdays and anniversaries), Zapier automatically updates your Look DS playlist with the corresponding recognition content.
4. Provide Essential Information
What to Show:
Office Maps and Directory Information: Getting lost in the office can be embarrassing, and frustrating for new visitors. That’s where digital office maps and directories come in handy. They can provide step-by-step directions to desired amenities and they’re also easily searchable.
Emergency Procedures and Policy Updates: In an emergency, clear and accessible information can make the difference between a smooth evacuation and chaos. Safety information needs to be regularly updated to make sure that all employees are aligned with the company’s latest guidelines and procedures. This information is easier and quick to roll out with lobby TVs.
How to Do It:
Design clear maps and directories for easy navigation: Look DS allows you to design multi-layered maps and directories with interactive elements. You can create a main floor plan scene and link it to detailed scenes for specific areas or departments using the Layout Designer feature. This way, users can easily navigate through the map by clicking or tapping on interactive buttons.
Schedule important safety and policy information prominently: Organize your content into specific playlists for safety and policy information. This makes it easier to manage and schedule these important messages. Utilize Look DS's scheduling capabilities to set recurring time slots for your safety and policy playlists. For instance, you can display emergency exit routes and evacuation procedures daily during peak hours or rotate through different policy updates weekly.
5. Share Dynamic and Relevant Content
What to Show:
Live News and Weather Updates: Keeping your employees informed about the latest news and weather can help them plan their day and stay connected to the world outside the office. It's a small touch that adds value to their daily routine and sparks conversations around current events.
Stock Information and Inspirational Quotes: Along with live news, displaying real-time stock prices and trends can help your team better understand how their individual and collective efforts impact the company's value. This transparency also helps them make informed decisions about their own stock options or employee stock purchase plans. Pair this with inspirational quotes to motivate and uplift your team.
How to Do It:
Integrate real-time feeds for news and weather: There are several ways you can showcase live news. In the apps section, you can set up CNN, BBC News, and other news apps, or use the RSS app to pull in real-time stock information from financial news sources. Easily add the Weather App to your Look DS playlist. This app automatically determines your screen's location and displays a beautiful, full-screen weather forecast in Fahrenheit or Celsius for the week.
Rotate motivational quotes and company values throughout the day: To achieve this, simply create a playlist with motivational quotes and company values and schedule it to run throughout the day in your lobby. Look CMS has amazing motivational quote templates you can customize in minutes to create a fully-fledged motivational playlist for continuous rotation.
6. Boost Your Brand
What to Show:
Promotional Videos and Product Highlights: Not every team member is directly involved in product development and marketing. Showcasing short, engaging videos about product features, new releases or the brand's latest marketing campaign can help keep everyone informed about the company's current product lines. You can also include behind-the-scenes glimpses of product development, interviews with design teams, or footage from recent company events or trade shows.
Brand Stories and Customer Testimonials: Other than serving as powerful reminders of your company’s impact and success, displaying real-life accounts from satisfied clients will equip your staff with authentic stories they can share when interacting with potential customers or in their networks.
How to Do It:
Upload and schedule engaging video content with Look CMS: In the “Content” section you can drag and drop your video files and add them to a playlist. Then schedule the playlist to rotate different types of promos and testimonials throughout the day or week.
Highlight customer success stories and brand values: Use the Image Slideshow app to showcase photos of happy customers alongside quotes or snippets of their positive experiences. To further reinforce your brand values, use tickers to display key phrases or slogans that capture the essence of your company's mission and vision.
7. Communicate in Real-Time
What to Show:
Real-Time Meeting and Appointment Updates: Lobby screens can be a game-changer in ensuring everyone stays in the loop. Imagine walking into the lobby and seeing a clear display of all ongoing and upcoming meetings, complete with room locations and times. This simple yet effective solution eliminates confusion, reduces delays, and improves overall efficiency in your workspace.
Got a last-minute change or a canceled appointment? No problem. These updates get instantly reflected, so everyone can adjust their schedules on the fly. This not only reduces the chaos of missed meetings and double bookings but also helps create a more organized and responsive workplace.
How to Do It:
Ensure that emergency information is displayed prominently and can be updated quickly: Zapier lets you link your meeting app (like Google Calendar or Outlook) directly to Look digital signage on your lobby display. When you make changes to a meeting in the calendar, Zapier automatically pushes that update to Look in real time. That way, everyone sees the latest schedule as soon as it's changed
8. Simplify Content Management
What to Show:
Automated Updates from Internal Systems: Automated updates from internal systems are a game-changer for keeping your digital displays current and relevant. Imagine sales figures that update in real-time on your office screens, or HR announcements that appear automatically when published in your company's internal system. This integration helps you create a living, breathing information ecosystem within your workplace.
Easy Content Scheduling and Changes: Easy content scheduling and changes bring flexibility to your digital signage strategy. Picture being able to set up a week's worth of content in advance, with different messages appearing at strategic times throughout the day. Monday morning motivational quotes, midweek project updates, and Friday afternoon congratulatory messages can all be pre-programmed. And when plans change? A few clicks and your displays adapt to the new reality.
How to Do It:
Use Zapier for automatic updates and simplified content management: For example, you could set up a Zap that automatically updates your digital signage content when a new event is added to Google Calendar. When the calendar event starts, it triggers an action in Look, which then displays relevant information on the designated screens. This can be essential for meeting room displays, event announcements, or daily schedules.
Conclusion
We've explored how digital signage can turn your office lobby into a more welcoming, informative, and engaging environment for both employees and visitors. From personalized greetings that make a lasting first impression to real-time updates that keep everyone in the loop. Look DS simplifies the process, by giving you the tools to effortlessly design, schedule, and manage captivating lobby content that aligns with your company's goals and values.
Take it from Look Clients - Riverview Kennels, for example, said it was a “huge game changer” that helped them “come across as an older business in a much more fresh way”. They also appreciated that the system was easy to use and allowed them to use their existing hardware.
It’s now your turn to enjoy a connected and motivated work environment. Schedule a free demo of Look DS today or try it risk-free for 14 days.
