How to Build an Engaged, Video-on Virtual Workforce

For most,the adjustment to working 100 percent remotelyhas been a journey' to say the least each of us having faced uniquechallenges in adapting to this new way of working. While some enjoy their newarrangements, others are itching to get back into the office. Regardless ofwhere you sit on that spectrum, one thing is for sure: video calls willcontinue to be an integral part of how we collaborate with our team.

How video affects your corporateculture

On thesurface, the increased use of video in our day-to-day work lives may seembenign, but the effects that a video-heavy work culture can have on youroverall corporate culture are worth noting. For a clearer picture of this, takestock of how interactive your meetings are who is contributing most duringteam calls, and who doesn't get a chance to speak up?

This lackof two-way communication is unnatural and can leave people feeling overlookedand disengaged with the projects discussed during the call. Now that video isthe primary way most of us collaborate, it's critical that we engageparticipants so that they leave meetings ready to execute and feeling energizedby a positive social interaction with their teammates.

Why employee engagement should be apriority

Accordingto a study by ADP, employee engagement should be a priority for organizationsbecause it's known that when employees don't feel engaged, the organizationsuffers. Trust or psychological safety' in the workplace plays a significantrole in ensuring everyone feels relaxed and confident enough to turn theircamera on, speak up, and contribute their perspectives.

Psychological safety' is a term coined back in 1999 by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson that refers to the understanding that it is safe to take risks and that a person won't be punished or shamed for speaking up with questions, concerns, ideas, asking for help or admitting mistakes. According to ADP, this begins and ends with a team's leader. When the most engaged teams were put under the microscope, it was found that by far the strongest indication of employee engagement was whether the team members trusted their manager.

So, what to do? Take note are there still members of your team who are perpetually on mute' or have their camera turned off? Prompt them to engage by asking them how their day is going or what they think about a point raised during the call.

How to combat subconscious biases

It'simportant to acknowledge subconscious biases that might be below the surface ofthis disparity. As Renee Cullinan shared in Harvard Business Review, two segmentsof the workforce that are routinely overlooked are introverts and women andthis is only exacerbated in a remote-only working scenario.

Chancesare leaders aren't consciously silencing these individuals, rather it's morelikely that there are several hidden biases at play. For instance, Cullinanexplains that our unconscious bias is that smart people think on their feet.'However, she explains what's really going on is that extroverts talk to processtheir thoughts, and introverts take longer to process information and thinkcarefully before speaking.

Furthermore,the well-studied unconscious biases that men have more to contribute' and arebetter suited to leadership positions' are deeply ingrained and will takeconscious work to unlearn. There have been multiple studies that have concludedthat women are interrupted far more than men during meetings, and their ideasare taken less seriously. These unconscious biases undermine the quality ofdialogues and put a significant dent in your team's collaborative potential. Toovercome these, consider the following ground rules.

4 ways to increase your team'sengagement

Leadersshould reflect on current patterns and make an effort to adjust communicationflows with some ground rules for team calls so that everyone feels engaged.Here are four things you can do to help increase your team's engagement.

1. Cultivate a video-on culture

Stronglyencourage all meeting participants to turn their camera on. Naturally, aface-to-face video interaction will be more engaging for all parties.Additionally, a video-on culture will discourage multitasking, result in agreater sense of respect and increase the quality of interpersonal interactions.If there are external factors influencing why someone can't have their cameraon, be understanding and make an effort to engage them regardless.

2. Comradery is your secret weapon toan engaged workforce

Creatingspace for comradery is an important ingredient in employee engagement.According to Sterling, a thriving corporate culture results in higher employeeengagement, better retention and more productive employees. While a poorcorporate culture leads to increased attrition rates, expensive hiring costsand a longer time before roles are filled by new hires.

But, nowthat we're all working from home, much of our team communication is purelytask-related, leaving little to no time for small talk and niceties. Sincein-person team building is not an option, allocate the first five minutes of eachcall to catching up about personal interests or hobbies, or taking turns toshare quick updates. These small, yet impactful, interactions go a long way increating a feeling of belonging and breaking the ice before diving intobusiness.

3. Take a moment to pause

One of thereasons some people don't engage is that they are not left an opening to sharetheir thoughts without interrupting. A good rule of thumb for engaging thequiet ones' and combatting unconscious biases is to involve all parties bysoliciting feedback, asking them for their opinions and periodically pausingfor input.

4. Circulate a meeting summary

For largermeetings, it's not realistic nor completely necessary to hear from everyone onthe line. However, some people might have ideas or clarifying questions thatthey either didn't get a chance to ask during the call or didn't have the nerveto speak up in front of so many people. Not to mention introverted types mightstill be processing information long after the call is over.

Forinstances such as these, consider proactively soliciting engagement bycirculating a meeting summary with something along the lines of, If anyone hasinsights on any of the topics discussed please let me know, I'd love to hearfrom you.

Building a remote culture for the longhaul

Building aremote culture of trust and engagement will require more effort than it did inthe office. Leaders that are serious about creating or maintaining a vibrantand collaborative working environment will need to spearhead the unworking ofbad habits within their organization and pay extra attention to communicationpatterns during virtual meetings. With a little extra work and some greattechnology from CDW and our collaboration partners, such as Poly, organizations can unlock the full potential of theirteam's collective thinking and create a thriving virtual culture where everyonefeels welcomed and valuable.