Most people want to feel a sense of connection with their colleagues and according to research, 55% of all communication is nonverbal. Nonverbal communication helps create good impressions, builds trust, increases engagement, and facilitates collaboration.
Nonverbal communication isn’t new to the workplace, or even the natural world. It’s seen in nature where animals use movement, gestures, and facial expressions to relay information, but today’s digital work world hasn’t embraced it.
Many hybrid work experiences don’t allow people to draw upon nonverbal cues, even though they are supposed to bring people together. Often, outdated conferencing tools fail to create an engaging hybrid experience.
Bring nonverbal communications into hybrid meetings with the proper technology and tools, with these four steps.
Establish trust and connection
In hybrid work, where face-to-face interactions are limited, nonverbal cues play a crucial role, especially in building rapport among team members and with clients who haven’t ever met in person.
• Enable teams to make the right impression and strong connections with pro-grade video and ultra-HD cameras
• Support “camera on” policies that build camaraderie and trust with AI-driven software that automatically adjusts exposure to put everyone in the best light
Clarify intentions and emotions
Facial expressions and gestures, just like tone of voice can convey nuance and emotions that words alone may not fully express. This is especially important when discussing sensitive topics with clients or providing feedback in a hybrid setting.
• Let those joining remotely see the whole room with conference room cameras that capture everyone in true-to-life detail whether they are seated up front or in the back
• Give everyone in the room the ability to be seen with technology that creates a close-up frame for each in-person participant and presents them in a single stream composited gallery
Maintain engagement and drive participation
Nonverbal signals such as eye contact, nodding, facial expressions, and posture all indicate whether people are listening and engaged. These signals can also encourage others to be engaged and contribute to the discussion at hand.
• Facilitate more dynamic presentation with cameras that zoom in to frame one main speaker on screen then follow them in real time as they move
• Give remote participants a seat at the table with professional webcams that feature exceptional optics and AI-driven low-light compensation
Facilitate team collaboration
Effective collaboration relies on nonverbal cues to help create a natural flow of ideas. Collaboration can be hampered by people talking over each other or one person dominating a discussion because they can see that other people are signalling to chime in.
• Allow remote participants to track who in the room is speaking with technology that zooms in and frames the active speaker on screen
• Keep the focus on the room with technology that defines parameters and prevents the camera from capturing faces on the other side of glass walls or windows
With nonverbal cues being so critical to effective connections, you need hybrid work video solutions designed to elevate all your team’s communications.
Let HP Poly help you find the right tools to take your hybrid meetings to a whole new level.