If my 7-year-old can start a Teams Meeting, why can’t you? But hey, yeah – let´s call IT (again)

My daughter walked in, saw the Teams Room Touch panel,
and started the meeting before I could even say “User training.”
Meanwhile, somewhere in a real office, five grownups are still debating
who should press the button first – or if they need to open a ticket.

Last week, somewhere between my second coffee and the next call, I was in my home lab.

I was setting up a Microsoft Teams Room system for a demo: Touch panel ready, Front Row enabled, camera aligned, cables clean – you know the drill.

I was just finishing some settings in the Admin Center when my daughter walked in.

She looked at the touch panel, then looked at me, and asked:

“Dad, can I start the meeting?”

I smiled. “Sure. Where do you think you need to press?”

She pointed at the big Join now button. Tapped it. Boom – the meeting started.

“Well done,” I said. “That was easy,” she replied. “Is that your job?”

Well… yes. Kind of 🙂

For her, it was just a game. For me? A completely free usability test with a test user under 7. Result: Passed. With honors.

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Two minutes later, she came back to the panel.

“Dad, how do I see someone?” I pointed to the camera icon. She tapped. Camera on. She waved at the screen like she just launched a rocket.

Then she proudly took my chair like she had just docked at the ISS.

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And you know what? I had to laugh. Because it suddenly felt so absurd how complicated adults make technology out to be.

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Meanwhile, in the real world? Picture the same room, same setup – but with five adults.

“Who wants to go first?” “Am I connected properly?” “Is it safe to press this?” “Let’s call IT just in case…”

Even though the interface is crystal clear. Even though there’s literally just one big button saying Join now.

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The difference?

My daughter wasn’t afraid. She had no expectations of complexity. No bad history with “that one system that never worked.” She just pressed the button.

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And maybe that’s exactly the point:

We talk about user adoption. We build onboarding journeys, write handouts, and give trainings.

But maybe what people really need isn’t a manual. It’s just the confidence to try.

The feeling that: “I’m allowed to do this. I can’t break it. And it’s okay if I just try.”

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Because honestly: If a child can use a Teams Room without any explanation – why don’t we trust adults to do the same?

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No big conclusion here. Just a story I felt like sharing.

So next time you’re in a meeting room and everyone hesitates to press Join now – think of my daughter. She would’ve already waved at the screen 😉