Barclays - Video Conferencing
A recent article in the New York Times (15th March 2009) details the current trend that face to face business meetings are increasingly being cancelled due to cost-savings.Some companies are managing these cancellations by using video-conferencing, but without an understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of using this medium, the meetings can often fall flat and not accomplish what was needed in the first place.
Barclays Bank is one of the companies looking to cut down on the amount of time and money its employees spend travelling between sites for face to face meetings. Therefore the Insights & Propositions Team found themselves talking to each other by video almost daily.
This team know each other pretty well, but they found that talking between Coventry and London on a daily basis down the lens of a camera didn't quite have had the effect they wanted. Indeed, they even seemed to give off mixed messages: on the one hand wanting/needing to talk but on the other, niggling questions also arose such as: how long is this going on for? Are you talking to me – I can't quite see? Are you really interested in what I have to say?
This was all quite surprising to them, because they are a dynamic, passionate team, very motivated by their work and doing well for the bank.
So... they brought in Impact Factory's Senior Partner Graham Bennett and David Bliss to assist on creating a programme to ensure their video conferencing was nearly as good as face to face.
The things Graham and David were able to look at with them were:
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- Getting familiar with the technical kit
- Becoming comfortable with all it can do
- Staying in control of the camera and thus how people were being seen
- Controlling volume
- Preparing effectively
A videoconference 'meeting' was set up between two rooms at Barclays at Canary Wharf. In most cases 90% of preparation for meetings tends to be about what information people are going to impart, but 90% of the impact of that information is determined by body language and tone of voice. So this is what much of the day was focussed on, and in the process, delegates discovered that the body language of the listeners in a videoconference can be crucial; something as simple as a smile can make an enormous difference to how a message is received.
The day was a big success – Graham and David have already done a follow up, with another one to come for other members of the team. Hardly surprising, when the first group said things like:
"Just a note to say that the course Amy organised today was excellent..."
"I was a bit of a sceptic beforehand but it really opened my eyes to how we can use our VC sessions to build stronger links across teams and sites and to communicate much better!"
"...The trainers were really good too - it was a very good day!"
Immediately this team's meetings have become more productive and enjoyable, and ultimately more beneficial to Barclays. Impact Factory has enabled this team to take their meetings to a new level, and to present confidently via the camera, and they have enhanced their skills and their ability to take on the challenges of this current climate.
If you would like to talk to us about a Video Conferencing Programme or any of the soft skills development work we do, call us on
020 7226 1877
or e-mail us at
enquiries@impactfactory.com
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