A remote team offers your company immense potential for growth and collaboration! You can bring in the best talent from around the world, serve clients and customers in multiple time zones, and enjoy better productivity and lower overhead costs. Benefits aside, it can be difficult to manage and motivate a remote team. If you’ve ever had a major miscommunication emerge through email, you understand why.
Despite the incredible array of project management tools and messaging platforms, it’s challenging to get remote team members on the same page. There are no office whiteboards or in-person chats to help! Thankfully, there is an easy, affordable way to keep everyone on track: explainer videos. Just as explainer videos attract new customers on social media, they also can educate and guide your internal team. Here are three ideas to try.
An Inspirational “Company Story” Video
Your company’s core values, mission, and history make up its heart. As an executive, you probably live, eat, and breathe these elements. But does your team? If they don’t, they may miss out on the motivation they need to perform their best.
Many business leaders wrongly assume that their team members fully understand their company’s key attributes. The truth is, most people learn about the company when they’re onboarded, but without regular reminders, they tend to fall into their own work style and ideology. This is even more true for remote teams.
To address this issue, create an inspirational video that expresses your company’s story, values, and vision. You can talk about the history of the company, what you hope to achieve in the next 5 or 10 years, and how your values play out in daily work. Try not to make the video a glorified PowerPoint: instead, fold in stories from longtime team members and show team members “behind the scenes” they may not otherwise see. Focus on the human element rather than an uninspired list of goals and talking points.
Video Overviews of New Policies and Goals
It’s important to keep your team informed about changes to workflows, protocols, software, etc. You should also communicate major structural changes, new goals, and overall shifts in your company’s vision. Otherwise, you risk your team resisting these changes — or simply not understanding them.
Rather than sending your team lengthy updates to read (which they won’t) or having them sit through a Zoom orientation, create an explainer video that walks them through the changes. New project management system? Record a screen-capture video highlighting the key features. Revising your COVID protocol? Film a short skit demonstrating the changes. Your team members will be much more likely to retain the new information.
Explainer Videos for Reports and Updates
Many of your team members aren’t as invested in your company’s progress as you are. Especially among remote teams, there is a tendency to be “navel-gazing.” Everyone focuses on their immediate tasks rather than conceiving their work as part of a larger paradigm. You can change that by regularly communicating your goals and how your team members are supporting them.
However, no one wants to look at a bunch of charts and graphs. Make it interesting with an explainer video, where you can use animations, clips from your executive team, and footage of products/facilities to engage your team. You can even include input from team members, such as demos of their projects for the quarter. These videos are much more engaging and inspiring than yet another PowerPoint full of boring slides.
Staying on the Same Page with Video
Explainer videos are an excellent way to engage your team members and make them feel like part of your company’s success. They present valuable information in an easily digestible format, without the need for lengthy presentations or meetings. This saves both you and your team a lot of time while motivating your people to perform their best work.
Eager to start making explainer videos part of your internal communications strategy? Reach out to us and tell us what you have in mind!
