While video collaboration has been around now for a while, it has enjoyed a monumental surge in both popularity as well as functionality due to the pandemic, and the resulting quarantines and lockdowns. Previously, video collaboration was limited to those who had the required expensive equipment as well as the expertise to set it up and get it operational.
Now, however, current technology has allowed streaming audio and video far more smoothly, and in greater resolution than ever before. In what seems like a perfectly timed rollout, the expansion of many areas to 5G wireless and cellular coverage has increased the available bandwidth for video collaboration by more than we can currently use with any ease. In order to get the most out of your video collaboration these days, all you need are a few bits of relatively affordable video conferencing gear, and a few minutes to have it set itself up.
Benefits Of Video Collaboration
There are innumerable benefits to video collaboration, and arguably one of the most beloved is that it largely eliminates the need for traveling. In the pandemic-ravaged business world, this can be crucial to success, but it can also be the lifeline by which your organization survives. It can be the key to getting your teams on the same page, even when they are in different territories or even different countries entirely. Even if travel was possible in many places, there’s no worrying about booking flights, meeting times, locations, and so on. You just boot up, log in, and get it done.
Other benefits include tethering your mobile and remote forces, helping to connect them with the rest of the teams, in more than just the literal sense. Meetings can be held regardless of the time and location, reducing the potential conflicts with workers attending. If you are one of the many people living with anxiety or panic disorders, cutting out face to face meetings can help mitigate symptoms of anxiety. It also allows a more human interaction than the typical conference call, email distribution, or group chat. With video collaboration you may also be able to leverage visual aids that may be difficult live.
What If Travel Never Normalizes?
Let’s face it: some countries are not exactly making this pandemic a picnic. If new variants keep coming, and new restrictions keep being put in place, there is the very real possibility that normal travel may never come back. Sure, we may be able to go from one state to an adjacent one, or a nearby territory, but if full-scale traveling is off the table for the foreseeable future, there are a few possibilities.
Firstly, there could be a monumental shift in hiring practices, migrating from remote or telecommuting, to hiring locally within the mainland only. This would place a higher premium on Australian workers, but it may also cause unneeded strain to already suffering businesses and industries.
There may also be the reverse, and there could be a surge of hiring in a purely remote fashion, moving everything to a more digital presence, and moving away from formal offices entirely for simplicity’s sake. This option, however, would also put a lot of undue pressure on mainland residents to find acceptable employment, and the premium would be shifted locally to those willing to work in person in “essential” capacities.
The most likely option though, is that a hybrid of the two will continue to be the chosen champion. It will continue to leverage the best of both worlds, maintaining local talent where possible, while reaching out remotely when needed.
