A major challenge for many senior business leaders, particularly those in the C-Suite, has been working out how to strengthen and maintain relationships with other colleagues in the business. Especially with workers from departments in their business which aren't always working on-site. To combat this, C-level execs are using video and it is playing an integral role in effective internal communications – especially in regards to how leaders engage with their employees on a more personal and intuitive level.
In an effort to solve their relationships challenge and boost company culture, we're starting to see more business leaders using video tools as the preferred method to communicate with their employees. And it's working. Being able to see one another fosters more honesty and transparency because it allows them to communicate visual body language cues which would otherwise be lost from email or phone conversations. It also immediately demonstrates to employees that they're passionate about speaking to them more directly, and aren't willing to remain comfortable leaving discussions to a personal assistant or what can feel like more formal written notes.
For example, World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) annual conference, which historically was only attended by senior stakeholders and C-level executives, is now broadcast to the charity’s entire worldwide staff via Workplace live (HD video streaming within Workplace). At their 2018 conference, this saw event engagement increase by more than 200% and helped the charity quickly gather valuable insight and suggestions from their employees, who were able to share their thoughts via comments on the live sessions. We're seeing this kind of engagement across organizations of every size, in every part of the world.
Video has also become what we like to refer to as a 'gateway feature'. Once businesses become comfortable using broadcast features of collaboration technology, they start using the platform as a hub for further innovation to customise their communications - using the likes automation to solve their business communication challenges.