![\"FlexibleWorking_Blackwire435\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/FlexibleWorking_Blackwire435-1024x683.jpg\")
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It is time to say goodbye to the written company memo at your small business? \u00a0One CEO thinks so. When Julie Sweet became CEO of Accenture\u2019s North American business last year, she banned corporate memos and replaced them with live-streamed conversations and even pre-taped video messages in order to be \u201cmore authentic and less scripted,\u201d she told CNBC.<\/a> The move, which Sweet describes as one of the best leadership decisions she has ever made, has improved communication with the firm\u2019s 50,000 employees and she recommends other companies do it, even though transforming a corporate culture can be difficult.<\/p>\n Video meeting tools, whether video conferencing or webcasts, which can enable real-time feedback through social media applications, live Q&A, online polling and more,\u00a0 increasingly are being used by small and large companies to communicate with employees as well as customers. \u00a0While reducing travel expenses is a key driver, the use of a video meeting to convey a message also helps to improve transparency. Often for the sake of brevity email and text messages don\u2019t include the important underlying information that is critical to fully understand a situation.\u00a0 A speaker can better communicate some of these finer points.<\/p>\n Also seeing someone is far more engaging than hearing someone address a group in an audio conference, not to mention listeners miss out on the nonverbal cues, which tell a lot. Research shows, too, that employees don\u2019t give their undivided attention during calls. A study <\/a>by West Unified Communications Services of over 500 full-time employees found that 82% of participants work on unrelated items while on a mobile conference call. Some even shop (21%) and play video games (25%). Roughly two-thirds do other work.<\/p>\n As the number of remote workers rises, video meeting tools are enabling employees who work at home, on the road, at a co-working space or even at a customer site to feel more engaged and connected with each other and the company. Companies also are using webcasting and video conferences to conduct training classes for remote employees; and video conferencing for interviewing<\/a> is on the rise. A study of 270 small businesses Plantronics conducted earlier this year through the Corporate Executive Board Small Business Practice found that over one fourth now are conducting interviews over video conferencing.( A few years ago, I hired someone from Houston for our Plantronics Small & Medium Business team in California over a Skype video call.)<\/p>\nConnect with remote workers<\/h4>\n
Ensure technology works<\/h4>\n