Guide to seamless communication & collaboration while working remotely

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WHO just announced that the COVID-19, a new strain of the novel CoronaVirus, is a  global pandemic. Italy had over 2000 cases and 200 deaths in the last 24 hours. Nations are entering lockdowns. 

What does it mean for the business world?

With the equity market collapsing and oil prices crashing, it is not time for the business community to bail but rather march together and ensure that business continuity is delivered. 

It is paramount, even more so for the B2B businesses because other companies are dependant on their products and services. They are an essential link in the chain. Now is the time we realize we are all connected and dependent on one another. 

Major events and conferences are cancelled or postponed across the globe due to travel restrictions: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Adobe Summit, to name a few. 

Of which, Adobe Summit has switched to online-only events. 

As events get cancelled, companies are concerned about the health and safety of their employees. Companies like Google, Twitter, Apple, Facebook have made it mandatory for their employees to work from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and stay safe. 

I know, it’s difficult for some people to adapt to a work from home lifestyle. But it’s an exciting time for fans of remote workers. Employees are taking it to social media as panic and optimism engulfs them. The transition to working remotely is painful for some companies, especially if your tech-stack isn’t already entirely cloud-based. 

Amidst all this, there is something new that is surging. It’s VIDEOS.

It’s evident from the surge in Zoom stocks. 

Zoom ZM, +1.66%, which offers teleconferencing services including video meetings, voice, webinars and chat across desktops and mobile devices, has seen its stock soar 47% in a month as the coronavirus has spread and more companies direct employees to work from home.

Along with Zoom, video communication suites and video platforms are in high demand.

Face-to-face is undeniably the best mode of communication as it’s authentic. 

With the epidemic outbreak, the next best option for having a face-to-face conversation type of communication is videos.

Because what matters the most in remote working is seamless communication. Without which, it’s a failure, agree?

Okay, relax! Let’s face it. 

How are remote workers adapting to the remote working lifestyle?

With the right set of tools in place, you can maintain a compact and productive environment, no matter where your team is based. 

Here’s a list of tools that you need to begin your remote working journey.

Zoom – Virtual collaboration to the rescue

Whether you’re holding a team meeting, a training session, a customer support call, or an important sales presentation, Zoom meetings will enable you to conduct all your business communications online.

Zoom is also used as a webinar or virtual events software. It’s also a great solution to broadcasting live events through Facebook or YouTube integrations. 

Hippo Video – The complete video communication suite for remote workers

A video marketing platform like Hippo Video is a hub for screen recording, video hosting, video emails, sharing, and tracking videos. 

Record your screen with webcam to explain complex ideas

A lot of you must have tried recording your screen in an attempt to lecture. It’s a popular means of creating videos around the globe. 

Screen recording lets you record everything that appears on your screen with/without audio and webcam. It allows you to create quick explainer videos by narrating over the screen.

With Hippo Video Chrome Extension, you will be able to create professional screen recordings and share it with your team instantly. 

Screen recordings are useful when you want to explain hard-to-grasp concepts to your team. When you send a video, your team will be able to view them multiple times to understand the concept better. It saves time and increases your team’s productivity.

Record presentations to send out video sales pitches

Recording video presentations to send out video pitches is a good choice to increase collaboration while working remotely. 

With Hippo Video’s GSuite integration, creating an excellent video presentation is faster than ever.  It makes it easy to share your screen, record your webcam, or a combination of both to make a video presentation, without any technical difficulties.

Send out video emails instead of text emails to increase authenticity

Like cookies and milk, video and email are only better together. 

So how can you make your emails effective by adding a video?

Here’s my checklist to send a fantastic video email to your prospects or customers. 

• Let the recipients know that there is a video inside. Add it in the subject line.
• Introduce yourself through video instead of text.
• Make clear in the email body that the video is personal and not automated.
• Hold a whiteboard, sticky note or tablet in your video thumbnail or GIF preview with a custom note. This encourages people to click to play.
• Write down the recipient’s name, a relevant detail by briefly researching the person (even adding their company logo will help)
• Add an appropriate CTA inside the video (book a meeting, survey, poll, lead generation form)

Lastly, keep an eye out for notifications and alerts to confirm the email is opened and played.

Video adds an enticing interactive component to the texts in the compose box and boosts email click-through rates.

Read the best practices to lift your email conversion rates by 500% with personalized videos.

Slack – Collaborate with your team productively

Collaborate with your team via different channels and give everyone in your team a shared view of progress and purpose. 

Facetime, Skype, Hangouts – Free online calls and chats

Chat, talk, connect and collaborate with your coworkers with simple tools like Facetime, Skype and Hangouts. 

What to expect?

As internet connectivity has reached even remote areas in the past few years, there’s absolutely no reason why companies cannot run virtual conferences until the threat passes or is significantly reduced.

But overall, remote working is such an obvious and timely, life-saving and work-enhancing way forward for both individuals and broader society. 

Let’s hope it’s here to stay.