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Over the past decade, virtual meetings have taken a much larger role in the workday.
Employees are using interactive multimedia platforms every day to engage with coworkers, with video playing an enormous role. And the shift to remote and hybrid work due to the COVID-19 pandemic likely put both real-time and asynchronous video front-and-center in each of your workdays.
If you're looking to understand the benefits of asynchronous video and ways to incorporate videos in the office, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the reasons you should use video content to improve employee engagement and productivity in 2023.
1. Allows for customized and personalized content 📝
With videos in the workplace, you can personalize instructions or feedback videos at a whole new level. It’s much easier to tailor the content to the needs of each individual (or team, breakout group, etc.) as compared to live group meetings, where you have to pause to give one-on-one attention.
For example, you can customize your feedback for each co-worker in advance. And instead of delivering it and requiring the individual or team to react in real time, you can give the person time to synthesize the feedback and then react during synchronous meetings! This makes for a much more effective feedback session.
2. Supports multimodal experiences 🎧
People take in information in many different ways. Some absorb information well through reading and writing, while some excel with audio and visual materials such as slide decks.
Video acts a great equalizer, allowing you to provide multimodal experiences, which caters to all styles. Multimodal learning engages more than one sense, using different “modes” like speech, audio, written text, and visuals.
Employees can see and hear the video, observe your facial expressions and tone of voice, read subtitles, learn with visuals, and perform tasks as instructed on the video. Using more senses equals better learning, which benefits all no matter their preferred style.
3. Gives the ability to easily review and repeat sessions 🔄
Repetition aids learning, but sometimes you may lack the 1-1 time to review as often as needed while still covering new content. Video instruction gives your co-workers a handy tool to review and repeat subject matter at their own pace. Not only does this save you time, but it also sets the stage for self-directed pacing.
This has been proven in the EDU context. In fact, in the 2020 Speak Up survey, 56% of teachers said one of the perks of video lessons in the classroom was encouraging more self-directed student learning. With effective video resources, students can rewatch lessons whenever they need to and better absorb the material. This leads to faster topic and subject mastery.
Learning this way doesn't stop when people leave school however. These habits and learning styles carry throughout their lives!
4. Allows IT staff to build accessible knowledge bases 💡
Unlike synchronous meetings — which once they are completed they are gone — you can save videos for future use.
You can work together with co-workers and IT staff members to create a library of videos to use across all departments. Address FAQs from new or current employees, as well as questions around how to use the video tools or submit their work. The next time an employee asks how to perform that same task, you direct them to the library of videos to find the answer.
This type of accessible knowledge base does take time to build, but once it's available, it’s around forever. You’re freed up to have more one-on-one time co-workers. This library will expand and improve over the years, and entire organizations can share materials to promote better learning.
5. Addresses absences, especially extended absences 💻
Whether it's an addition to a family, an extended illness or vacation, people are going to be out of the office from time to time. When that absence becomes extended (two-week quarantine, anyone?), it’s all too easy to fall behind. And catching everyone up when they return demands time that you may not have.
With video tech in the workplace, you can simply record your meetings with important updates. When they return, getting caught up takes minimal effort.
In other words, extended absences no longer have to leave employees completely out of the loop and they can keep up with what's going on at a pace they prefer!
Bonus! Helpful tips to remember when using videos ✅
Video is a powerful workplace tool that’s right at your fingertips. As it grows in popularity with the rise of hybrid workplaces and flipped meeting structures, it pays to know how to use it effectively. Here are some tips that can help you create engaging videos that will be an asset to your classroom.
- Speak clearly. Make sure to record in a quiet environment and speak at a slow enough pace for everyone to easily follow along.
- Repeat and clarify any key points in the video. Just like in live meeting, make sure you're using repetition to help everyone retain information. You can include a summary of the key takeaways at the end, or use text and visuals to recap important info.
- Use annotations to make important info stand out. Sprinkle in simple visual elements like highlighting, circling, arrows, and more to draw attention to where it needs to be.
- Captions. Visual learners and people with hearing loss can use videos with closed captioning to gather the information presented orally that they can't hear well. Providing a multimedia-friendly environment helps ensure everyone has equal accessibility
- Crop the video to show only a certain portion of the screen. This eliminates distractions and helps zero in on important information.
- Blur out any sensitive information. Make sure sensitive and private information in presentations, like customer data or private internal documents aren't clearly shown in the video.
- Even out volume levels across clips for a consistent sound. If you have footage from multiple sources or locations, like a screenrecorded segment and a live segment, use editing tools to balance the volume so everyone can listen comfortably.
- Consult the IT department. Ensure you have the right equipment to streamline your video projects and that you're properly cataloguing important videos for future use by other employees.
Bring effective asynchronous video to the office with Screencastify
Screencastify is an innovative tool you can use to add video to your workflow. Interactive videos are easy to create and distribute using the video creation and sharing tools.
With Screencastify, you can maximize your time and use multimedia video clips to increase employee engagement and improve productivity.
Are you ready to get started making asynchronous videos for work? Try Screencastify in your classroom today for free, and see just how easy it is to capture the benefits of video.
