In today’s global economy, many businesses now require their employees to travel on a regular basis. While single employees or even those who are married without children often enjoy this travel, employees who have families often have difficulty with the amount of travel that is required. When a video conference isn’t an option and you need to send your employees in person, keeping them connected to home with web conferencing can build morale and increase productivity, even when your employee is away from home and missing his family.
According to a study conducted at Cornell University by The Center for Advanced Human Resources Studies, it was uncovered that employees who worked remotely often felt disconnected with the workplace, as well as feeling isolated and lonely in their work. Without the face-to-face interaction many employees are used to in the workplace, it can be difficult for these employees to feel as if they are part of the team. The same is true when you are sending your employees out in the field, away from their families for extended periods of time. With the help of video conferencing, you can change all that.
While it has always been possible for traveling employees to stay in touch with their families via email or phone calls, technology has changed, leading to the use of web conferencing to provide that face-to-face interaction employees are missing with their families. For instance, when an employee has a young child and is away for several months on a project or possibly even a year or two, that child can change drastically. When video conferencing isn’t used, the employee can lose touch with these changes in their child’s life. Pictures just don’t do the changes justice in most cases. Through use of Onstream Media's industry-leading webcasting platform, parents are able to witness any major milestones firsthand.
Email is a useful tool for helping people stay in touch with each other; however, this avenue makes it difficult to really feel connected by hearing and seeing someone else. When families are separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles, it is easy to miss those little nuances you take advantage of when you are together. Video conferencing helps you keep those nuances alive while keeping in touch in a more personal way. Even a short five-minute face-to-face interaction can be enough to recharge your employees and improve their mood, thus increasing productivity.
In addition to using web conferencing to allow your employees to reach out to their families while they are traveling on business, video conferencing is also a useful tool for keeping informed at the office. Your employees can attend meetings, even while they are away on a business trip, and simply keep the boss or anyone else apprised of their progress while away. It can also be used to allow employees to work from home, reducing their stress levels that are often associated with long commutes and helping them be more productive in their work.
Whether you are looking to help your employees connect to family or the office while they are on a business trip or you want to give them the opportunity to work from home some or all of the time, web conferencing with Onstream can be the right choice.
