Using Video Conferencing to Help Different Departments Work Together

Different departments within a company need to be able to work together to facilitate efficient operations. However, with the globalized nature of present day corporate operations, effective types of face-to-face interaction and communication are easier said than done. Some French companies in Lyon could have their HR division in Paris while their IT team might be operating from Toulouse. This division of operations across multiple regions has been an increasingly popular kind of operation within the country due to different labor codes and tax incentives in particular cities. As such, managers and employees within various regions have learned to adapt to these rules, resulting in more people communicating over email and telephone calls rather than face-to-face conversations. Unfortunately, many employees find that communicating in this manner is very restrictive since they lack the level of interaction that can be found when talking directly to a person instead of through email or via a telephone. This is why the use of video conferencing for IT from providers like Blue Jeans has become an increasingly preferred way to hold conversations with other people.

What is the Appeal?

Face-to-face conversations make people more comfortable with each other and facilitate the creation of a more pleasing professional relationship. While emails and phone calls are effective methods of interaction and communication, they have a certain remoteness to them that make them less appealing. People like seeing the face of the person they are communicating with since it enables them to gauge the reaction of the other person to particular ideas. Communicating emotion over emails is difficult, and phone conversations are often very formal when it is between individuals in the same company. Face-to-face conversations allow people to feel more at ease with one another, and this facilitates more informal methods of reciprocal communication.

Why is It Important to Facilitate Communication between Different Departments?

Different divisions working together towards a shared goal is a necessary process for any company. For example, IT teams within many companies need to know what various departments require when it comes to the implementation of particular systems. This can range from the type of user interface that is going to be installed all the way down to the access controls that each team head gives to his or her individual team members. While an IT employee within a company can implement the most efficient process that they believe would work, this does not mean that this method would be what another group would consider as being effective. IT teams often have to engineer custom made solutions to fit the needs of a department, and this can only be done if they know what that division considers as pertinent or inconsequential. To accomplish this, an IT employee would need to talk with the appropriate team head to understand their needs and create a solution that would suit them. The problem with this process lies in the method that they choose to communicate with each other.

Yes, emails and phone calls would work, but it is often the case that both individuals focus on formalities and professional attitudes when it comes to how they address one another. As a result, custom made solutions utilizing these methods of communication often lack the informal opinions of the division head due to concerns of propriety when it comes to all emails and phone conversations. The resulting solution developed by the IT staff would work, but it would not be as effective when compared to a solution that was created with both the professional input of the team head as well as his informal opinions regarding the current systems in use.

The use of video conferencing in facilitating collaboration between different divisions is important in present day operations since this enables employees to talk to one another in a manner that allows both professional inputs as well as informal opinions to blend into a seamless back-and-forth conversation. As a result, this allows employees across different groups to understand one another in a more desirable manner which makes inter-departmental collaboration easier to accomplish.

How Can This Be Implemented?

The simplest method of implementation is to utilize already present services so that the company will not have to create its own internal system just for video conferencing. Many video conferencing companies can provide the necessary hardware and software to accomplish this task, and all a company would need to do is choose the appropriate package that would suit them the best.

All in all, video conferencing is one of the best methods of facilitating better understanding and collaboration between different departments. By implementing such a system, a company would be able to notice the difference in more effective and efficient operations. Do note though that you should not go overboard. Only get the package that you need and add more onto it as the need arises.