Most have probably heard of The Great Resignation by now, but what of The Great Paradox? The latter is a relatively newly-coined phenomenon referring to employees that need to feel connected to one another as well as the organisation yet at the same time desire more flexibility in their work life.
These seemingly contradictory desires have been driven largely by how work and the workplace have evolved in the last two years. The pandemic has accelerated automation and artificial intelligence advances due to sheer necessity.
These days, more people are using video conferencing software than ever before. In mid-March, as many countries across the world established lockdowns, video conferencing applications saw an incredible 62 million downloads worldwide within a week, a 90 per cent spike compared to the same week in 2019, according to mobile data and analytics provider App Annie.
The communications and collaboration industry represents the fastest growing market segment by value. It largely benefits from the fact that most new platforms are cloud-based, making their deployment relatively cost-effective.
The underlying problem
However, employees increasingly feel disengaged and complain about video-conferencing fatigue and anxiety, being summoned to video calls more often than they would need to. Digital transformation is hardly a bad thing, but virtual teamwork also does have its pitfalls.
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Interacting with coworkers remotely tends to lack the richness of a face-to-face conversation. The absence of social connectedness and physical interaction with colleagues and clients can lead to a fall in productivity and mental well-being and an increased feeling of isolation, loneliness, and uncertainty.
Even though many of us are moving towards hybrid working models, there is a glaring need for technology that can help bridge the gap between employees when not everyone can be in the office at the same time due to physical restrictions.
Remote work has raised our expectations of what video conferencing should look like, and rightfully so. So how can technology help us be more productive and connected and feel more involved?
The evolved solution: Smart video technology
Intelligent video integration brings on features like facial recognition, which can recognise each person in the virtual meeting room and frame each face to ensure that we can see each other in a less cluttered interface.
This enhancement means that we can read non-verbal cues more easily in meetings, and remote workers no longer feel excluded because virtual and physical attendees of the video conference can be represented on equal footing due to the full room feature, which can show a 180-degree view of the space.
Room systems with intelligent audio and video features, in addition to purpose-built devices for video conferencing, can result in delivering a consistent user experience throughout the organisation—whether for internal meetings or conferences with external stakeholders.
By standardising and optimising devices and software, enterprises can better support their employees in the office or working remotely.
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However, currently, less than 10 per cent of rooms are video conferencing enabled, let alone intelligent video-enabled. Interestingly, an overwhelming 80 per cent of respondents in a 2021 survey shared that they will be accelerating their investment in conferencing solutions within the next 18 months.
This means that there is a growing need for businesses to adopt such technologies better to suit the changing needs of both customers and employees.
To ease the despondency of virtual teamwork, organisations must learn to adopt smart technologies to help them lessen the mental anxiety that arises from constant video conferencing among employees. COVID-19 wreaked havoc on businesses in all industries, yet some of the biggest employee-related challenges, from travel restrictions to difficulties in supporting the remote workforce.
Therefore, intelligent video integration can create a virtual environment that mimics real, physical conversations, returning employees’ feelings to the same room, creating involvement.
Adopting an intelligent video conferencing software solution helps address these issues and supports businesses in building a more engaged workforce. It needs to be part of the larger business processes to ensure that remote working does not cause disruption but rather provides continuity for their employees. The right technologies must be adopted to enable collaboration, push innovation, and drive growth.
Attracting and retaining valuable employees is a top priority in many organisations. The way to enable that is to transition to technology in their collaboration spaces, which can help employees perform at their best.
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Image credit: Elnur
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