Classification of Meeting Fan Negotiation
The fan was too loud for the call. Turning it off made the room too warm. The room being too warm affected the call. The fan was turned back on.
SUBJECT: Annual Review of Meeting Fan Negotiation (MFN): FY2021
Status: Active. No resolution achieved.
Summary of Findings
Meeting fan negotiation was observed in consistent deployment throughout the review period. A pre-call check for the optimal fan state is now a standard step before the call begins. The check does not produce a stable optimal state.
The fan at speed one is audible on calls with sensitive microphones. The fan at speed two is audible on all calls. With the fan off, the room temperature rises to a level that affects concentration after approximately eighteen minutes.
The parameters in conflict are not resolvable within the constraints of the available equipment. This has been true since March 2020.
Process Evolution
At the beginning of the review period, the fan was left at its prior setting before calls. At month three, a pre-call fan check was added. At month six, a post-first-complaint fan adjustment step was added. At month nine, a post-adjustment temperature monitoring interval was added.
The process has added three steps and resolved nothing.
Contradiction Under Review
Each meeting begins with a negotiation that was not resolved at the previous meeting and will not be resolved at this one. The fan state at the start of a call is a guess based on current temperature, anticipated meeting length, and optimism about microphone sensitivity.
The optimism is not calibrated. It persists.
Alarm
The alarm is measured but present. The documented workarounds include: positioning the microphone farther from the fan, closing the door to the room containing the fan while using a different room for calls, and apologizing to meeting participants for background noise at intervals of approximately forty minutes.
None of these are solutions. All are in active use.
The Absurd Rule
A headset with active noise cancellation was purchased in month seven specifically to address fan noise. The headset eliminates outbound fan noise for participants on the call. It does not address the temperature problem. It is worn for calls and removed after, at which point the fan negotiation resumes for the duration of the afternoon.
The headset is the closest thing to a resolution that exists. It solves one of the two conflicting parameters and leaves the other unaddressed.
Recommendation
No revision recommended at this time. Procurement of a quieter fan has been discussed. A quieter fan has not been procured. The discussion produces temporary comfort comparable to the comfort produced by closing the fan negotiation at the start of a meeting that does not require it.
File for next annual review. The fan will still be there.