Workers everywhere are ditching their traditional commutes in favor for working from home. The rise of remote work isn’t a surprise considering the recent trends in employment, but how is this remote culture changing? Without everyone working in the same building, how is the company culture remaining strong?
The answer is technology. While things like text-based chat rooms and organizational software made it easier for employees to stay on top of big projects remotely, the biggest change is video. Video communications might even be killing those long-winded email chains for good as more remote employees start talking face-to-face over video. Keep reading to explore how video is reviving culture for remote employees everywhere!
The Problems with Remote Work
Working remotely is seen as its own form of freedom. Having the ability to set your own schedule, stay close to family, and make your own daily decisions is a big shift for most employees. Being able to work from anywhere is giving professionals the ability to incorporate their career around the lifestyle of their choice. This is all great news!
But like any big change, remote work also brings its own challenges. With employees spread across different geographical locations, it’s difficult to feel cohesive as a team. The feeling of moral easily dips when you’re not able to directly communicate with fellow coworkers on a face-to-face basis. Questions that would have only taken a minute to clear up with a trip to a nearby office now might take hours or even days when waiting for emails to be returned. Don’t even start thinking about water cooler chat – it’s a thing of the past!
Unfortunately, it’s hard to translate a company’s culture remotely. With workers used to their own ways of doing things, it’s more of a challenge for employees to get along without disagreement, even over smaller tasks. Company’s need to continue to create a space for dialogue, collaboration, and teamwork even in the remote age.
Video Saves Teamwork
Video is the solution these companies are looking for. With the rise of remote work comes the rise of technology. Things like chat messages, emails, and even phone calls become more common in the daily workplace, but they don’t do much to boost collaboration. It’s easy to cut to the chase and lose the personality when communicated exclusively over email. This leaves employees feeling isolated.
Video brings the humanity back into these daily technological communications. By communicating over video, employees can interact face-to-face. Expressions, tones, and gestures are easy to communicate over video. Employees can send video reports on their progress or even collaborate in group video calls which take the place of traditional meetings. It’s much easier to clear up a complex problem over video call than it is in a strain of email threads!
Web development company Lilo suggests using video communication even when communicating with clients. This helps remove any potential barriers of communicated over email or phone, when things are easier to understand. Customers and clients will also appreciate this level of service.
The rise of video is perfectly suited for the rise in remote work. As companies continue to lean towards remote work, more solutions will be necessary to combat the feelings of isolation and breakdowns in collaboration. Video isn’t the stopping point by any means! In a few years, who knows? Maybe virtual reality will be the new normal?
This Guest Blog has been provided by: Ashley Lipman, Content Marketing Specialist at The Blog Frog
For more information about tools and technologies to assist your Remote Working Culture, take a look at our Flexible Working and Remote Teams solutions page, or get in touch with the team today on 0118 214 2300.
