Align People for Focused Thinking
A scattered operating base is an imperative of globalization. It is absolutely necessary to have consolidated operations to achieve larger volumes and to be an effective player in the market. Greater the globalization, greater is the need for integrated, constituent and frequent communications. Here, the views of the stakeholders and particularly the employees cannot be disregarded. The need for communications in real-time is a must.
1. Cutting Edge Technology
In an age where information is the key to corporate success, effective corporate communications becomes the key to the doorway of success. The use of cutting edge technology is what sets a top-notch company apart from the others. More so, the combination of cutting edge technology and communications makes the company more focused and achievement oriented.
The power of effective communications within the company and with the stakeholders cannot be ignored or undermined. For a company to grow, sustain and flourish, employing the best technology to build and practice a system of communication across the floors and levels is crucial.
2. Available Technology
Communication may be achieved through various tools; General Dialogue, Senior Dialogue, Conferencing, Video Streaming, Telecommunications, e-mail and the Intranet for breaking news and circulars. All of these facilitate internal communication. The biggest benefit of having a real-time communication system is saving of time and money.
Web casting and video conferencing allow people to communicate on one-in-one basis without being physically present and yet successfully reaching out to any number of people.
3. Video Conferencing
Video conferencing is the “exchange of video images and sound between two or more remote sites. The transmitted materials can include video stream, static images, information or data from graphics, files or applications and presentations. It allows participants of the conference to interact and work together in real time from their own location. It is also referred to as a ‘virtual conference room’.
In the age of globalisation, video conferencing has become an extremely important and handy tool for corporate communications. This technology enables a conference to be conducted among several company offices located anywhere in the world. For e. g if the CEO of a company is in another city or country and decides for a meeting with all the chief Resident Representatives of various cities, all he and the representatives have to do is walk into the video conference rooms in their respective cities at a stipulated time, switch on the video conferencing systems and greet each other.
Video conferencing is a proven communication tool because of the dynamic power of moving images and the intimacy created by the visual presence of an on-screen presenter. It is used by corporations to:
- To train employees in new skills or procedures
- To orient vendors or sales channels regarding new product announcements or systems
- Brief staff or employees on news and recent company changes
- To report new corporate developments or earnings to industry analysis and/or the media
Furthermore, the biggest advantage of this technology is that the systems use desktop computer as “receivers”, saving time, money and fuel.
4. Web Casting
Web casting is “similar to broadcasting. It involves communicating to multiple computers at the same time via the Internet or the Intranet. This is done by “streaming” live audio and live video.
But a web cast is limited to the local area network or to only those computers that are connected to the streaming servers through a high speed network such as LAN. A drawback of web casting is that it is a one-way communication. The viewer is just an observer and not an active participant. But this shortfall may be overcome by using telecommunications as an enabler to raise pertinent questions or to clear doubts of the viewer. Thus the collaboration of webcasting and telecommunication works wonders and is 100% effective.
The biggest advantage of the video conferencing-webcasting technology is that the communication and interaction is documented. It is available for easy reference.
The objective is to give everybody a voice and work in a participative environment. The intelligent use of communications technology helps makes employees feel they belong to a large family and encourages healthy exchange of ideas.
In conclusion, this technology is cost effective and is a price-performance breakthrough. Compared with the cost shows, face-to-face meetings, events, training sessions, etc, the investment is small.
5. A Comparative Study
The audio-visual communications scores over telecommunications because the degree of intimacy is higher and so is the comfort level. It is a simulated feeling of proximity that takes place in real time. Most importantly, business leaders who use these new technologies will be perceived as more pro-active and more forward thinking, both within their company and outside.
The assurance that the company values the employees and believes in keeping them informed, will make the environment more positive and more conducive to productive work. There is more in store as far as effective meeting tools are concerned, such as, e-collaboration, e-meeting and other plethora of tools. It is a never ending chase…
