Previously Published to TMC Net’s Conferencing Zone
Information Age recently broke down how video conferencing can help empower employees in the business landscape. Highlighting the fact that young professionals are super charged with expectation upon entering the workplace, innovation must meet the growing needs of our next generation of business leaders. That means giving millennial employees more access to remote work and flexible environments, as millennial workers tend to be more productive when given freedom and flexibility.
Giving employees the freedom to work from their choice destination, provided they get the work done, will lead to employees that are less stressed, more ambitious and better at networking. Allowing employees to spend more time with family or to cater to their health shows that the company actually cares about their needs. True, they are getting paid to work for that company. But a quality lifestyle comes from more than financial security.
Employers are starting to find that millennials will accept a lower pay in exchange for a less rigorous working schedule. And, once they have workplace freedom, they will work to keep that benefit. They may even be open to working at odd hours just to meet with clients overseas and in various time zones. This is another benefit of adopting videoconference technology. Travel expenses, accommodations and team leader unavailability can be minimized through a simple videoconference between key players in a client-vendor atmosphere.
Because the younger generations have practically grown up with video conferencing and other collaborative technologies, there is less of a reason not to adopt it into business strategy. There is really no need for training. Implementing this technology will actually encourage communication between team members.
In this day and age, it is very rare to have a one-way presentation. Speakers have learned the need for Quaker-style interactions and have learned that it does create efficiency, clear up miscommunication and put everyone on the same page.
As for development, accelerated collaboration will allow millennials to develop into stronger leaders of our tomorrow. There is no, “Well, so-and-so is out of town, so we have to wait for next Thursday to meet and move our project along.” Because everyone is literally connected around the clock, it’s a matter of “what time?”
This means projects will be finalized and delivered faster. This also means that more quality deliverables will be developed. Repetition leads to experience, and evaluation of experience leads to development.
The technology to enable these opportunities is a requirement, not an option. The world is evolving on an hourly basis. As senior team members transition to higher positions, leave for another company or even retire, millennials are filling their previous positions. Businesses need to adapt.
