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The work-from-home concept may not be new but the pandemic has certainly made it mainstream. Now, in the US alone, there are almost twice as many employees working remotely than at work, according to Stanford research.
As we are gradually transitioning from gig to working-from-home economy, technology — and, namely, video conferencing — can become our ally. Video conferencing is the next best thing to in-person communication. This pushes the demand for video collaboration solutions sky-high. By 2027, the global video conferencing market is expected to reach $8.35 billion.
Forward-looking companies invest in video conferencing software development to enable their remote workforce to stay productive, motivated, and engaged. Here’s how.
Improve Hiring And Onboarding
Video conferencing can be leveraged across different departments within a company, starting with the Human Resources. HR units are often stretched thin, trying to support the ever growing number of remote and mobile employees, and video conferencing can become a powerful tool in their toolbelt.
From a recruitment perspective, video conferencing enables HR specialists to significantly expand the talent pool beyond the commutable radius from the office and conduct remote job interviews to see if an applicant is a good fit. Then, HR teams can leverage video-based tools to bring new hires up to speed, familiarize them with the company’s policies and procedures, facilitating the onboarding process.
Streamline Project Collaboration
Managing a project is never without challenges even when team members work in the same office. But when trying to bring together remote, geographically distributed employees, phone calls and emails just won’t suffice since a great deal of our communication is based on visual cues.
Video conferencing emerges to be the best alternative. By using video calls, employees can connect with colleagues, exchange information and watch reactions, minimizing misunderstandings and miscommunication. This face-to-face communication also enables employees to brainstorm ideas and make decisions on the spot — something that would otherwise take days if done via email.
Ensure Continuous Training
In today’s world of accelerating change and complexity, continuous learning is a must. To keep bringing value to the company, employees need to be well-educated and stay on top of the latest industry trends and best practices.
To help remote workers keep their skills sharp and up-to-date, organizations can leverage video conferencing tools to organize regular training sessions and seminars. For a more effective learning environment, make sure your video conferencing platform has features like screen sharing, files exchange, co-browsing, a digital whiteboard, and group chats.
Keep Employees Engaged
A sudden shift to remote work and isolation from colleagues can take its toll on employees’ happiness and emotional wellbeing, eventually leading to decreased productivity and even burnout. Leveraging the top tools, you can boost employee morale in your workplace. Keeping remote workforce engaged and motivated is now a hot topic for companies of all stripes.
Face-to-face video-based communication tools help employees feel more connected to the company and co-workers. Team and private chats, virtual meetings, video calls and voice messages, live polls and surveys — there are many ways to communicate with your workforce in an engaging and highly productive way. Another tip is to maintain not only formal but also informal communication as it helps to keep that social aspect of the workday. Remember those casual chats around the office or occasional birthday celebrations?
Preserve Knowledge
Another bonus of using a video conferencing solution is the ability to store and share knowledge within the company. This helps team members become better coworkers by sharing information readily. Video meetings, conferences, training sessions, and other online events can be easily recorded and then used to catch up team members who missed them or train new employees.
Optimize Meeting Structure
Moreover, using a video conferencing software tool helps to provide more structure for meetings. Using video conferencing tools, everybody is in one convenient location. This way, you can easily see and listen to everyone, which will ensure they remain engaged. Of course, this means less idle conversation, as well as more productivity throughout your meeting time. Simultaneously, you are more likely to build, use, and stick to a strategic meeting agenda. Certainly, video conferencing tools are a great solution to help businesses optimize meeting structure.
As work from home is here to stay, managers need all the help they can get to make the shift to this new model as smooth as possible without sacrificing productivity and efficiency. And though nothing can replace the value of in-person meetings, video conferencing comes pretty close when employees are working remotely. From streamlined collaboration to higher employee engagement to improved knowledge retention — the benefits of video-based face-to-face communication go a long way towards ensuring remote workforce success.
