Workspaces have been evolving continuously, reflecting changes in technology, work culture, and society as a whole. They adapt accordingly to support productivity, collaboration, and employee well-being.
There are various challenges, like communication issues, work overload, or burnout, that individuals and businesses face. Let's dive into four significant challenges in today's workspaces and how to solve them using a video-first approach.
What is a video-first strategy?
A video-first strategy prioritizes video as the primary source of engagement and communication in the workspace. Simply put, video interaction is more personal than other means of remote communication, such as voice conversations, emails, and text-based chats. It places a strong emphasis on visual and audio cues to improve workspace interactions.
Statistics from a recent survey say that 97% of respondents believe that video conferencing helps to improve productivity, and 94% believe it increases employee engagement.
The ultimate aim of a video-first strategy is to leverage the benefits of face-to-face communication, even in remote or modern hybrid work environments. Organizations can nurture greater collaboration, increase employee engagement, improve learning and development, and create an engaging environment by adopting video as the primary medium.
Challenges faced in dynamic workspaces and how to overcome them
1. Diversity and inclusion
One of the top priorities for most organizations today is to create an inclusive and diverse workspace. Implementing practices and policies that advance fairness, respect, and understanding is necessary to develop this kind of environment. Examples include:
Adopting non-discriminatory hiring and promotion procedures
Providing diversity training and education programs
Forming employee support groups or affinity clubs to help underrepresented workers
Video-first communication can enable employees to share their experiences, learn from one another, conduct efficient hiring processes, and build a culture of empathy and understanding.
2. Training and guidance
Continuous training and development will be necessary for workers to stay relevant and competitive in their fields, given the speed at which technology changes. In cases of conducting training sessions for employees working from different locations, just sharing resources through messages alone might not suffice. Organizations need a video-first approach to conduct successful training programs that are accessible to distributed employees.
Here is data from a recent study that substantiates the above point: Companies that use video-based training programs see a 54% increase in employee engagement.
3. Teamwork and better collaboration
Collaboration and efficient teamwork will be crucial as companies expand across borders and teams become varied.
Video-first communication solutions can facilitate efficient collaboration by making it straightforward for team members to communicate ideas, work together on projects, and give real-time feedback.
For instance, a team can instantly gather for a meeting about their project's roadmap, brainstorm, collaborate on digital whiteboards, and share their screen using a unified communications platform like Zoho Cliq.
From ideation to project completion, the video conferencing capability in tools like Cliq helps teams work together more efficiently.
4. Remote or hybrid work
Although remote and hybrid work has many advantages, they can also make it difficult for staff members to feel a sense of community with their co-workers and connection to the company. A video-first strategy can help close this gap by giving workers an engaging and personal way to communicate with their co-workers, participate in meetings and presentations, and form healthy bonds.
Let's consider our internal Cliq team, for example. Our team has a flexible culture promoting modern hybrid workspaces. We conduct weekly unwinding sessions to bridge the gap between employees working from different locations and nurture healthy relationships at work.
According to a recent study, remote workers who use video conferencing feel more connected to their colleagues and are less likely to feel isolated or lonely.
In a nutshell
By giving workers an inclusive and informal means to interact, collaborate, and learn, a video-first approach may assist organizations in overcoming many workspace difficulties they face today. It helps organizations build a connected, engaged, and productive workforce regardless of where their employees are located.
Have you adopted a unified business communication platform for your organization? Does it come with high-quality, built-in video conferencing solutions? If not, it's time to explore Zoho Cliq!
Source (Statistics/survey data used in the blog)
1. Wainhouse Research, LLC (www.wainhouse.com)
2. Buffer (https://buffer.com/)
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