Full-function tool for facilitators

Pros

MSp is a full-function tool for any process facilitator. It is very powerful for building and manipulating lists of data. Ideas can be easily generated, organized, categorized and prioritized. A must-have for facilitating focus groups, action-planning sessions, requirements analysis, strategic planning workshops, etc. A key feature is that all input is anonymous ... participants can enter their ideas with confidence.

Cons

There is quite a learning curve to this tool. Some education / tips-and-hints are needed.

MeetingSphere Unlocks the Power of People - It's truely demoCreative!

I have been using MeetingSphere from the beginning and also used the predesessor SmartSpeed, so in total 7-8 years. Before this I used ThinkTank from GroupSystems which I abandoned for abvious reasons. MeetingSphere has allowed me to deliver work processes to a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional consulting. In 2013 I was awarded "Security Consultant of the Year" by the Swedish security industry due to my efficient way of working. Today I cannot see myself to use traditional tools anymore. Sitting in a risk assessment workshop using MS Excel is so inefficient and old fashion. Extreamly costly compared to the "collaborative" way that I use thanks to MeetingSphere. For me MeetingSphere is the tool that allow me to support clients transformation of their core processes. ... I could go on for ever here ... it's a game-changer!

Pros

I don't have to train any participants before they take part in sessions. The GUI is so intuitive. The other thing is the ability to participate anonymously, which then totally removes political and hierarchical influence on group contributions.

Cons

I would like to have the administration GUI in Swedish. There are so many people in public sector who sees the benefits of this tool but they hesitate since the system texts are in either English or German. The instructions that I write for participants I write but the system-generated texts and the texts in the GUI has to be able to localize to other languages than English and German.

MeetingSphere Review

Pros

I liked the graphical user interface and also the reporting tool and how easy you can view comments.

Cons

It definitely needs to have a video conference option.

An essential tool for group work, team collaboration and decision-making

Our team uses MeetingSphere on a regular basis (both virtual and face-to-face) with our clients for requirements gathering, tactical and long-range planning, Design Thinking and Agile project activities, organizational culture analysis, creative problem-solving ... just about any activity that requires group work, team consensus and collaborative decision-making. This is an essential tool for virtual work with our global teams. The speed at which we can progress through team-based activities -- and produce high quality results -- provides great value-add to our clients. In my entire professional career of many, many years, I have not worked with a company that provides better customer service than the MeetingSphere team. Their support is stellar and clearly demonstrates their commitment to their clients' success.

Pros

Versatile software -- can be customized for most any group work activity Customer support - stellar

Cons

Learning curve - takes some time to learn the advanced features

A real workhorse tool

I used MeetingSphere to crowdsource information about topics, ideation for problem solving, Innovation tools, and summary reports on a regular basis to move project teams toward their deadlines. Except for an initial kickoff that might be an on-site event, most of the work is done by dispersed employees in different time zones. We would keep the MSp work site open for asynchronous work. As a facilitator, I love not having to make sense of participants' writing an post-its and flipcharts. Their entries can be clarified and used in the report. The speedy data crunching of ranking, voting, categorizing entries into themes, and other necessary actions were such a relief to the usual laborious work I had to do in the past. I especially like having participants work asynchronously writing comments on other participants' entries - virtual dialogue. I'm a big fan!

Pros

Speedy data crunching and summary reports.

Cons

I wish a conference call feature was part of the software.

Why aren't more people using this?

I have been using MeetingSphere for 4 years. My clients - universally - love it. It does require more planning than a typical meeting but the investment is handsomely rewarded by vastly more productive and effective meetings.

Pros

Simple, easy to use, flexible for just about any situation that requires smart group collaboration. It is easy and intuitive to use. I use both the SaaS and local server versions - they provide great flexibility.

Cons

The report generator captures everything but is a little clunky - I understand that this feature is being redeveloped. I'd also like automatic notification of surveys completed (similar to SurveyMonkey) but this is a very minor issue.

More democratic and creative sessions for all! - ANYONE - ANYWHERE - ANYTIME.

Comments: I have been using MeetingSphere for almost 2 years, and the more I use it, the more I like it! It's easy to use, efficient and very, very useful no matter what you do: meetings, workshops, polls and ratings, brainstorming, regular team calls and online meetings, project reviews, focus groups, or any other business process where is important to get to conclusions, fast! MeetingSphere helps you to see things clear since it allows anonymous participation, which proved particularly useful in areas where political, ethnic, religious or any other type of influence is strong. Pros: Instant Reporting and Action tracking are my favorite MeetingSphere tools. Cons: I consider that User Interface should be available on more languages, including Balkan Region. The second question people ask me when we talk about MeetingSphere is whether they can use it on their Androids. Recommendation to other buyers: Once you tried it you will never let go!

MeetingSphere changes how companies are making decisions

I have been using MeetingSphere for over 5 years now and have been using online collaborative since the late 1980s. I have facilitated thousands of sessions and have trained hundreds of students in several types of online collaboration software. MeetingSphere has the most robust set of meeting tools that allows anonymity throughout its divergent (brainstorming), convergent (categorizing) and rating (Likert, Scale from 1 to 10, Multiple Choice, Allocation and Rank Order) activities.

Pros

Extremely affordable and supports all types of meeting facilitation such as same-time/same-place, same-time/different-place and asynchronous.

Cons

It takes a little time to learn all the advanced features and functions but it well worth the time spent.

MeetingSphere Review & Rating BS

Used in many meetings for determining new product purchases when comparing and testing multiple products for organizational use. The ROI is a key driving factor when using the product for evaluations.

Pros

Ease of use.

Cons

???

MSp Review for Instructional Design

We built full curriculu for online courses on MSp. By breaking down each module into a series of questions and having a team of developers, SME's, instructional designers, project manager, and testers we were able to build course, after course. Came back to add quizzes, etc.

Pros

I like the graphics, reporting tool, ease of viewing comments.

Cons

It was a little clunky....but kinks were being worked out.

The best support for your online workshops

I am a group facilitator and use Group Decision Support tools in consultancy projects with governments and both private and not for profit organizations.

Pros

It is very comprehensive in terms of the group processes it supports and the instant reporting feature.

Cons

It does not include audio or video conference. My firm recommends a combination of Zoom and MeetingSphere you can check our website for more information on our next scheduled webinars: www.groupvision.com/meetingsphere

MeetingSphere is very friendly and capable -- and incredibly affordable!

This is great software. Built like a swiss watch - it works very well and gets the job done. Easy to learn and use. You can build templates and re-use processes - even transfer activities from one meeting to another. The listing here is incomplete - the software now has a great slide show capability (with collaborative commenting), Notepad, Action Tracking, and an activity called Discussion that allows for multiple discussions at the same time. I use this software from the cloud but I have also purchased one of their "lunchbox" size servers and use it stand-alone. They are always adding new features. The pricing model is the best I have seen.

Great App to Increase Team Mobility

It allows me to organize and attend meetings from anywhere. I can exchange documents with other members during the meeting. It also allows me to change the agenda of the meeting while it is in progress, giving my team more flexibility.