Meetings are everyone’s favorite activity, right? Ok, so maybe we don’t love them, but a good meeting does leave you feeling a certain sense of accomplishment. Now, with modern technology, you can host meetings entirely online—in HD video—from anywhere in the world. Platforms like Vast have revolutionized the online meetings market, and even include such tools as screen sharing and call recording.
Did you know that hosting a video call instead of audio-only can actually enhance your meetings? That’s right! Here are six ways you can enhance a meeting with video calling.
1. Seeing A Friendly Face Is Good For The Soul
With the COVID-19 crisis raging since March of this year, and signs of a second wave infolding, we’re all exhausted from the preventative measures we’ve had to take. During April/May, many of us were forced to stay at home, away from those we love. Even now, we’re moving toward a resurgence—which could mean more lockdowns and missing those we love.
What’s the point? Since we’ve all had to practice social distancing, we’ve had to miss parties and other important events with the people we love. With video conferencing, however, we’ve gotten to see their faces in a way that makes them feel like they’re in the same room with us.
The same is true for meetings. It’s good to see the faces of the people you used to work in-person with. It lets you know they’re still there, that they’re ok, and that we’re all a human family fighting this thing together.
2. The Majority Of Communication Is Through Body Language
A lot can be lost during an audio phone call or email exchange. Tone is often misinterpreted, words can be misread or misunderstood, and the message doesn’t always get across. This is because we’re missing a crucial part of communication when we’re not looking at the person we’re speaking to. Body language accounts for a large percentage of our communication, and we miss out on that without a video call.
You don’t always have to host a video meeting, of course, but you might find that doing so makes for more productive meetings. Your callers may seem happier or more focused, and this is because everyone is communicating better. The better your team communicates, the better they can tackle issues and create resolutions to problems.
Consider instead a video call for your next online meeting. You might be surprised at how much it changes things!
3. You Can Screen Share
If you want to screen share during web conference meetings or other gatherings, most modern online meeting services support the feature. You can share whatever is on your screen, from important documents to charts and graphs, and so forth. Don’t leave anyone guessing—show them exactly what you mean by sharing your screen.
This is especially nice during training sessions. Online video conferencing software is a great training tool, especially for remote teams or newly-remote teams. COVID has forced many businesses to “work from home”, and training without screen sharing can be a pain.
4. You Can Get To Know Everyone Better
Screen sharing also has the awesome effect of allowing you to get to know your callers better. By seeing their body language, including posture, facial expressions, hand expressions, and more, you can learn a lot about them. Our body language says so much, and it’s hard to really get to know someone just over the phone, and nearly impossible to do so via email.
It’s a good idea to get to know your remote workers and your clients as well. Knowing your clients can make the relationship feel more personal, and a client with a personal investment is far more likely to remain loyal to the business/brand.
5. Accountability
Hosting an online video meeting also allows you to hold your callers accountable. Working from home isn’t exactly conducive to accountability, especially if you’re only using audio calls. Your employees could be sitting in bed in their pajamas! A video call helps hold them accountable and ensures they’re listening.
That being said, make sure if you’re in a call you’re not wearing your pajamas or looking things up on your computer that aren’t work-related. This is not only very rude, but could also turn out to be embarrassing if you’re caught.
6. Security
Video meetings offer one more advantage over audio meetings: security. How is a video meeting more secure? It’s simple. You’re looking at everyone’s faces, so you can identify who you’re talking to. If the cameras aren’t on, or you’re in an audio call, it’s difficult to know who’s really on the other end of that line. Host a video call with cameras on to ensure maximum meeting security.
Calls can also be recorded and stored for later, so you can protect yourself or use them for training purposes.