Humans are visual learners. Sixty-five percent of people remember things better through visuals. That is why video conferencing is popular with a lot of people. It’s proven to be effective in increasing productivity and improving the overall performance of a company.
Collaborate to Gain Competitive Advantage
Businesses that don’t take advantage of video collaboration are missing out on a lot of opportunities. In today’s fast-paced community, it’s critical that businesses know how to gain an edge over their competitors. Tools that provide online collaboration are essential for that.
Competitive advantage isn’t the only thing video conference can provide. It can transform an organization and make its members more productive and effective in what they do.
Situations Where Video Conferencing Is Highly Advantageous
- Communicating with customers: Customers a company’s lifeblood, and that’s why you need to communicate with them in the best possible way. Establishing customer relationships is crucial in retaining clients and staying profitable. Though the traditional models of communication have allowed customers to get in touch with businesses, they lack one of the most important parts of the communication process: visuals.
Customers today are looking for different yet more effective ways to get in touch with businesses. Telepresence makes this possible. In fact, it can turn out so well the customers will stay a customer for life. Talking to customers face-to-face (via mobile devices) will help you get to know them more and then use that information to increase sales. - Training team members: Every organization needs to have competent team members. There is no excuse for performing poorly, so it’s very important for companies to continuously train their members. Through online collaboration, it becomes easier to teach your colleagues new skills and tricks that they can use to do their jobs better.
Unlike the traditional methods of training, collaborating via video saves a lot of time and money. First, the departments concerned don’t need to take a day off, which is what usually happens because not everyone has the same schedule. Human Resources can simply set aside a few hours during the day to conduct parts of the training. Second, the company doesn’t have to pay for conference room rentals or equipment. Since everyone has a computer, the lessons would be provided there. Lastly, participant will understand the lessons better because they can see everything up close, compared to being in a huge room where those sitting at the back will have a hard time process all the information.
- Learning from industry leaders: Once in a while management needs to arrange for an industry leader to teach employees how to get better at what they do. Many companies encourage continuous learning and tapping an expert is one great way to inspire employees. Again, this saves time and money. The company doesn’t have to pay for everyone’s plane tickets and accommodations because the lessons can be done through video. From there, participants can also ask questions, contribute, and collaborate on projects inspired by what they just witnessed. In addition, companies can record the session and use it in the future when training new employees.
Working remotely: More and more individuals enjoy the flexibility that working remotely allows. Collaboration helps keep everyone in line. They may be scattered all over the place but supervisors can still keep tabs on them through video conferencing. It’s also easier for team members to work together in certain projects. No matter where they are, they can easily get hold of someone for questions, suggestions, or guidance on how they can produce better results.
Telepresence software is equipped with features that make working more convenient. During meetings where there are lots of participants, it’s a little hard to speak and ask questions because your voice will most likely drown in the crowd. But chat and IM features will let you talk to someone privately and get the answers you need without having to wait until everyone’s finished.- Makes work easier during high-stress situations: Work can get too stressful that you might feel the need to get away from it all. Sadly, it’s not always an option because you need to produce output. When you’ve got too much on your plate and you get a memo about an upcoming meeting, things can become more stressful. Since video conferencing doesn’t require you to get up from your seat and go several floors up to the conference room, you can participate in the meeting right from your cubicle. This also provides you the opportunity to multitask. You can check scan your email, organize files on your computer, or simply clean up your desk a little while still being tuned in to the meeting.
Collaboration is an integral part of business. Smart companies will find ways to encourage collaboration between team members so they can do more with less. Video collaboration will play an important role in improving a company’s profitability, so it’s best to start incorporating it to your processes now.