With the world now in the midst of a forced lockdown, companies have had to adapt and move their workforce to the safety of their own homes. While this sounds great and, in reality, it is a much more efficient way of working, some companies have struggled to make the change and are skeptical about the overall effectiveness of remote working. In an attempt to put to rest any worries you may have, we have written up a few reasons on why remote working is a good thing and how virtual meetings can actually help your business instead of hurt it.
They Are Cost-Effective
One of the first and most obvious benefits virtual meetings offer is that they can save organizations a large amount of money. Instead of renting office space, you can simply have all your employees working from home and convene in a virtual conference call. This will cut down your rent drastically as you will only need to keep a small office space available for emergencies instead of having sprawling offices that span buildings. Also, travel costs will fall dramatically as you will no longer need to pay for employees’ travel since they can simply log in to their computer and get in touch right away.
They Increase Transparency
In these trying times of a pandemic, companies with better transparency will be the ones that thrive and come out on the other side stronger than when they went in. Virtual meetings are an ideal way to maintain the transparency that a physical office offers with the ability to record calls and share them with any relevant employees. This particular feature is especially useful for employees that need to juggle things like childcare and other responsibilities as they can quickly and easily catch up on anything they may have otherwise missed.
They Increase Engagement
Poor engagement can very well be due to your workforce suddenly switching to remote work. As well as increased transparency, virtual meetings are a great way to increase the overall engagement from your team, especially if said meeting is being recorded. People are more likely to try harder, participate more, and bring their A-game if they know they are being recorded.
Virtual meetings also include plenty of other features that can be used to increase engagement, for example, if you want to either hide what is behind you or even add some humor to your meetings, you can use some of the virtual backgrounds Zoom integrates with its service using something like Hello Backgrounds. These backgrounds are a great tool that should absolutely be used as you can undoubtedly find a suitable one for any occasion.
It may also be worth looking at how your team shares responsibility, having the same people perform the same tasks week in and week out can be tedious and unfair. Instead, consider sharing responsibilities and having them alternate to different members on different days or weeks. This is a great way to not only build your team’s engagement but also their confidence if they are less experienced.
They Provide A Wider Reach
For companies that are outward-facing and spend a lot of time communicating with new and existing clients, virtual meetings are a great tool that can be used to reach a much wider audience than the local vicinity. Things like webinars can be hosted to show off new products and they can be attended by a huge audience as they are not limited to seating space like conventional seminars are.
In addition to helping you reach a larger number of clients, having employees work remotely means that you are no longer limited to recruiting people from the nearby area, and can instead broaden your search to the entire country or perhaps even the entire world. This allows you to search for the best possible fit for any given position.
They Increase Efficiency
The best meetings are those that are short and to the point. Avoiding back to back calls and the new phenomenon known as ‘Zoom Fatigue’ is important to keeping your employees healthy and productive. Try to keep any virtual meeting under 45 minutes and if you are forced to go over, be sure to take plenty of breaks so that the meeting participants stay fresh and happy. Agendas can be a great way to keep your meeting from being sidetracked, allowing you to get through everything you need to cover with as few distractions as possible.
