Video conferencing is an effective tool for building rapport between staff.

Nothing can beat the value of a face-to-face chat for fostering workplace collaboration, productivity and good-will. However, many businesses don't have this option when dealing with a mobile workforce. 

It can be hard to establish a rapport with someone if you've only ever interacted with them via email, or only ever heard their voice over the phone. But it needn't be so. By taking advantage of unified communications, the distance between teams becomes a non-factor. In the absence of in-person communications, video conferencing is by far the next best thing for improving employee relations.

Video conferencing helps build the formation of trust.

Face-to-face is better, but video conferencing is the next best thing

We are fortunate that in today's society there are an abundance of communication options at our fingertips. They offer a diverse range of platforms with which to engage and build relationships, yet not every mode weighs the same.  

A study by the University of Michigan looked into the four most popular platforms of communication and how they fostered the formation of trust. Face-to-face and three computer-mediated communication types: video, audio and text, were compared. While collaborating in person was the most effective mode of communicating, the study found that video conferencing was the next best thing, followed closely by audio. Compared to a text-based communication system like email or chat, which did poorly, video offers the richest medium with which to connect remote employees and - more importantly - build trust. 

It takes more than just sitting down in front of a webcam to build trust. To improve the quality of video collaboration, the Harvard Business Review suggests employees can leverage several tricks to ensure the formation of long-lasting trust:

• Be proactive about being personal. Taking a few minutes to establish a personal connection and focus on the individuals rather than the work will help form a more meaningful connection.
• Predictable communication. Just like how you wouldn't show up to an in-person meeting late, neither should you do so online.
• Share and rotate power. By shifting control between members who have the most relevant knowledge to the issue at hand, you create a more equal-footed platform to communicate with.

While video conferencing is the way to go for building trust between employees, there's no need to use it on its own. With Fonality's Heads Up Display, all your communication channels are hosted in a single, accessible location, so your employees can take advantage of multiple forms of collaboration in a seamless experience.

To find out more, get in touch with the team at Fonality today.