It’s true that email is a timeless way to connect with employees and team members. However, things are changing, and more and more companies are turning to video conferencing to collaborate. This movement has been met with rousing success, and it’s shaping the way employees are interacting with one another.
The use of high quality video conferencing brings a multitude of benefits to your workplace. Here are some of the most noteworthy.
- Reduced Travel Costs
For companies that work with employees or entities over long distances, video conferencing is a life saver. Businesses spend an average of $950 per trip including airfare, hotel fees, food, and other expenses incurred during the trip. In total, businesses spend about $111.7 per year on travel.
It’s true that travel is sometimes unavoidable, but most face-to-face communication can easily be handled via video conferencing. It can save companies with long-distance workforces tens of thousands a year.
- Increased Productivity
The cost and time-saving benefits are clear, which leads to obvious benefits in productivity. When employees can handle international or interstate communications from their office, they can move up deadlines, reduce the need for meetings, and work more efficiently.
- Greater Flexibility
Software for video conferencing is highly advanced now, and people can video conference from anywhere they have phone service. They can even log into a meeting while riding on a plane. This kind of flexibility is invaluable for moving your business needs forward.
- Remote Work Opportunities
Thanks to the use of video conferencing, the remote workforce has exploded. According to Global Work Place Analytics, 50 percent of workers in the United States have a job that can be completed at least partially from home and 3.7 million employees work at least half of the time remotely.
Video conferencing allows employees to stay in touch. They can communicate and collaborate without missing a beat, and it’s almost as if they’re working in the office.
- Higher Quality Meetings
Video conferencing requires a higher level of organization and preparedness to run smoothly. Prepared slide shows, presentations, agendas, and other meeting essentials must be uploaded ahead of time, which usually leads to a smoother, more focused meeting.
It’s true that technology can have its hiccups, but your video conferencing system should be pretty solid. Depending on the system you use, it’s pretty easy for anyone to upload items or share their screens with everyone.
Additionally, it’s possible to have multiple conversations at a time. While only one person can talk at a time according to video conferencing etiquette, people can have conversations in the chat bar regarding other items of business. It doesn’t interrupt the presenter, but it allows departments to do multiple things at once.
- Faster Decision Making
It seems strange that something as small as video conferencing can streamline your decision-making process, but it can. Higher quality meetings, better preparation, and sharper focus make it easy to lay all options on the table.
All of the most important people can be involved, and it will condense your decision cycle into something more manageable for all departments. The clarity makes it easy for collaborators to brainstorm and quickly develop ideas, content, design, and other important decisions during these meetings.
- Competitive Advantage
If you want to be quick in production, marketing, and new ideas, you can’t let inefficient, infrequent meetings stop competitive idea development. Time is everything when you’re racing the competition, and foregoing video conferencing gives you a little extra.
Additionally, you can create stronger relationships with your clientele and establish deeper leads among your customer base. Customer relationships will always be the most important part of beating your competition, and video conferencing can increase their loyalty.
Video conferencing should be tool on every serious business’s workbench. The time and money saving efficiencies are unparalleled, and it’s a great way to take advantage of the technology that makes today’s business world turn.