Case study
January 2011
A video communication platform offers the potential to improve how employees collaborate while reducing the costs of business travel. But productivity gains can only be realized if employees actually make video calls regularly. The challenge is that meetings are an integral part of an organization's culture–and culture can be hard to change.
Bell has successfully made that culture shift with the deployment of VideoZone, the largest internal deployment of video units in Canada. Every day, employees make hundreds of video calls using more than 800 video endpoints on desks and in conference rooms across the country, including six telepresence suites. Due to high usage of VideoZone and an associated reduction in travel, the company has achieved a rapid ROI for each unit deployed. A conference room unit, for example, pays for itself within three to six months and costs for a desktop unit are recouped when just two business trips are avoided.
Planning how to integrate video into an organization's culture is just as important as planning for its integration into the corporate network. Here are a few lessons Bell learned about implementing change management practices to encourage user adoption.
Lesson #1: Deploy tech with the user in mind–it has to be as simple as making a phone call
If employees haven't seen modern–day, business–grade video calling in action, they may be sceptical about whether it's easy to use, and whether its quality will inhibit a meeting. But the reality is that when a video platform is deployed well, the technology is practically invisible–as intuitive as the telephone and highly conducive to effective communication.
However, it's essential that organizations deploy video with the user in mind. The user experience should be simple and standardized, with settings locked down to prevent overzealous tinkering, so employees will know what to expect every time they make a call. To help users initiate calls from their desktop, provision a directory of both internal colleagues and, where possible, external partners who use video with a presence or status indicator.
Positive user experiences will help to reinforce the value of video calling every time it is used.
Lesson #2: Develop an ongoing communication plan to encourage adoption
Some people will naturally be more inclined to give video a try than others, but first you need to let employees know that video calling is even an option.
A thorough communication plan should be developed to raise awareness and educate employees about video's benefits. This can involve everything from lunch–and–learns and promotional campaigns in high–traffic areas of the corporate offices, to internal newsletter articles and live demonstrations.
It's important to start with directors and managers, who can in turn encourage their direct reports to adopt video as well. (The flip side to this is that if managers aren't supportive of using video, their teams may not embrace it.) Similarly, getting executives to be among the first to use video regularly will help demonstrate its value and communicate benefits to employees.
Lesson #3: Commit to more training, less support
How do you ensure that IT resources won't be overwhelmed with requests to help set up video calls? The trick is to provide effective training from the start. By giving users a full orientation on booking, initiating and managing video sessions, you will both enable adoption and minimize support demands. Vendors can be a good source for training and ongoing support services, but if your organization decides to use internal resources, be sure to train personnel in technical troubleshooting as well as comprehensive knowledge about using the video platform.
Lesson #4: Align your travel policy
Simply providing access to video calls may not be enough to deter travel–some employees will still book costly trips. Consider formally restricting travel policies to limit what constitutes a valid reason to get on a plane: requiring VP approval for anything greater than a 30–minute drive places the onus on employees to assess whether the trip is really necessary. With video, there really are fewer legitimate reasons for losing an hour or more of productivity to travel.
A new travel policy usually requires executive–level support, so reach out to the individuals who can make it happen. But remember, in order for this to become an effective tool for driving adoption of video, company–wide communication initiatives for the new policy must also promote video calls as an acceptable alternative.
Enforcing a new travel policy might seem drastic, but keep in mind that an organization can recoup the cost of a desktop unit if it replaces just two business trips. Just ensure that it's easy for employees to apply to managers for a desktop unit and they can get set up quickly.
Lesson #5: Gather feedback
Pilot programs can be an effective means by which you can not only iron out any technical kinks from the system, but also discover how video changes employees' methods of collaborating on a daily basis. Plan to hold working sessions a month or two after you roll out video to a department so you can assess what management challenges they face and collectively find a way to address them.
Working sessions also offer an opportunity to gather anecdotal evidence about how early adopters are using video and identify potential internal champions for the program.
Combined with the full monitoring, back–end analytics and statistical reporting capabilities of most video platforms, working sessions help you paint a complete picture of what's working in the program, and what gaps still exist.
Lesson #6: Keep demonstrating the benefits
The deployment of a video platform is typically a long, gradual process, so be careful not to lose sight of the desired outcomes. Continue to calculate savings–time and money– associated with the displacement of travel, but even gathering anecdotal information about improved productivity can help reinforce the overall direction of the program.
Finally, it's important to continue reviewing how video is being used and its ongoing affects on workplace culture. For example, meetings are typically more effective simply by virtue of the greater focus employees commit (they are less able to multitask while on camera), but also due to the improved communication that comes with facial expressions.
Enabling the culture shift
With thorough plans for driving adoption to support the business case, any organization can experience the benefits of video communication. Embracing video will change for the better how an organization conducts meetings, how employees collaborate and generally how it communicates–all key components of workplace culture and organizational productivity.
At Bell, video has become for many employees an essential communication tool that helps them be more effective in their jobs. We continue to learn lessons from VideoZone and are eager to share them with you.
Watch VideoZone in action
Want to get see how VideoZone works? Check out this video of top executives from Bell discussing how the video network was deployed and how this communication tool has changed their daily work.
Learn more
For more information, read about how Bell addressed the technology challenges posed by the deployment of a video network. Then, contact your Bell representative, or request that a Bell representative contact you.