It seems like the only topic of business articles and blogs these days: the sudden shift to videoconferencing brought on by the working world’s response to Covid-19. In a timely Fast Company article on April 20, Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, says “the pandemic has resulted in what is effectively the largest ‘work from home’ experiment ever conducted in human history.”
In the same article, Jeff Richards, partner at venture capital firm GGV Capital, comments that “doing board meetings, interviews, and other mission-critical meetings via video chat has been normalized”, adding that “in the past, if you joined via video, you were thought of as ‘mailing it in.’ Now it’s become an accepted form of participation.”
So like it or not, a new normal is taking shape. In the post-covid 19 business world, coming across professionally and persuasively in online video conferencing is a vital skill.
Learn more about the Face It! Video Impact Excellence Course today.
But here’s the thing: think about the meetings on videoconference that you attend. Think about how your colleagues, managers, vendors and service providers come across when they are stuck in a box on a screen. To say the least, it can be challenging to either stay engaged or avoid being distracted by the cropped heads, fast talkers, dead facial expressions and monotonous speakers not looking you in the eye. For job and scholarship seekers, these behaviors can make the difference between acceptance and rejection.
It seems clear it takes more than a click to join a virtual meeting or interview and come across with the same level of personal impact and connection that we have when we are face to face.
A timely new tool for virtual meetings
As global Executive Coaches and Trainers, we have heard many of our clients express their reluctance to use the webcam, despite being perfectly comfortable video-chatting with their friends and family. Why would so many feel uncomfortable to use a simple technology that enables people to feel connected, build rapport and trust, and facilitate collaboration? The answers come down to fundamental human feelings that run the gamut from personal insecurity and lack of confidence to feeling intimidated and just plain shy.
In answer to this, we developed an online course - Face It! – that teaches the communication skills needed for videoconference success. The soft skills that users master in Face It! are an essential part of ensuring a productive and collaborative work environment. The course is self-paced and takes 1 – 3 hours to complete. Remember: the camera never lies! What makes this course unique is that users do not just watch videos with tips – they do their own recorded practice exercises and guided self-coaching. This is the most powerful and effective way for users to learn their strengths and weaknesses and concentrate on developing the precise skills they need.
Charles Darwin observed in the Origin of the Species that it is not the most intelligent nor strongest that survive, but rather those who are able to adjust best to their changing environment. In a March 31 Forbes article, Enrique Dans bluntly affirms how the same concept applies today, saying “the survival of your business could depend on how successful you are at transitioning from face-to-face to virtual meetings”. Coming across with impact and personal presence is no doubt a key feature of this survival. Face It!