Collaboration technology is now vital for every role

[Marc-Alexis Rémond (Marc-Alexis_Rémond)]

We live in a world filled with distance. In every type of industry, distance – in all of its many manifestations – is a challenge that we face and need to adapt to. Voice and video collaboration solutions help the world defy distance in many unique ways. But defying distance is not just about the miles that stretch between meeting room A and conference room B, but also about the misunderstanding that lingers between a CEO and multiple stakeholders, service representatives and customers, a hiring manager and a candidate, a supply chain and partners.

Five years ago, I thought that it would be nearly impossible to work in a global marketing role in a technology firm headquartered in the US and remain based in Asia because of “distance”. But high-quality video collaboration technology has made it possible. French by birth, I am now responsible for Industry Solutions and Market Development worldwide for Polycom based in Singapore. My role partly consists of managing a virtual team of twelve subject-matter experts spread around the world, as well as helping customers to improve their operations and service through the adoption of unified communications and collaboration technology. As a team, we defy distance every day and bridge all kind of gaps: cultural, geographical, technical and more…

As a business function executive, you can also leverage technology to replace “being there” with a much more efficient and cost-effective alternative. Voice, video and content collaboration solutions allow you to improve operations and workflows while creating new career opportunities and building high performing teams. Collaboration benefits every organisation, function, department or role. Let me share with you how it directly supports your mission, based on my experience:

CEO: Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage

• Manage greater scale to grow the company
• Foster human capital and innovation to drive business value
• Increase productivity and business agility while reducing costs
• Improve engagement with stakeholders to ensure sustainable development

Customer Service: Improve Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

• Personalise service to improve customer relationships
• Create a culture of innovation to meet customer expectations
• Localise global service to scale resources
• Clean up communication to manage cultural differences

Engineering: Create Market Differentiation through Products/Services Innovation

• Innovate the development process for faster time to market
• Integrate the supply chain to manage costs
• Optimise R&D investments to improve competitiveness
• Build a strong culture of sharing best practices to enable high performing teams

Facilities Management: Create a Workplace of the Future

• Balance cost, productivity and flexibility to optimise workspaces
• Streamline project management to increase time-to-completion
• Manage remote stakeholders to launch and maintain facilities
• Create flexible, collaborative workspaces to improve productivity

Finance: Meet Financial Objectives through Cost Control and Quality Investments

• Integrate with the strategic planning process to support growth opportunities
• Develop effective operational strategies to streamline financial close
• Control costs and improve productivity to increase margins
• Harness business intelligence to strengthen strategic decision-making

Human Resources: Attain ‘Best Employer’ Status through Effective Human Capital Management

• Attract globally dispersed employees to expand the talent pool
• Reduce recruitment time to secure talent
• Utilise anytime, pre-recorded information to reduce onboarding time
• Invest in developing and engaging employees to drive performance

IT: Improve Performance with Strategic Use of Technology

• Merge the back office and front office to drive customer-centric innovation
• Refresh and future-proof IT architecture to support growth-oriented projects
• Manage initiatives on big data, mobility, social to increase business potential
• Leverage new business and deployment models to optimise IT budgets

Marketing: Make Every Customer Brand Experience Consistent and Positive

• Build compelling campaigns by developing customer-centric initiatives
• Keep communications consistent to shape the company’s public profile
• Coordinate launches across geographies and segments for successful localisation
• Leverageon insights to develop profit-directed promotion programmes

Sales: Drive Growth through Strong Customer Relationships

• Get face time with customers to reduce sales cycles
• Gain access to critical stakeholders to upsell and cross sell
• Move from a vendor to an advisor by building trust with customers
• Use technology to gather and analyse information to increase sales effectiveness

In a world where expectations are growing, budgets are shrinking, competition is fiercer than ever and employees are increasingly on-the-go, voice and video solutions empower a level of collaboration that can help nearly any person in any role to defy distance. What began as futuristic technology is now a game-changer, and the most effective way to improve every aspect of a business. And like I always say, just like the way you “Fed-Ex” documents or “Google” information, you should now “Polycom” your meeting because video collaboration has become the new standard of consumer and enterprise communications.

If you happen to be at TEAM Polycom, in Vancouver on 11-13 Feb, 2014, look for me and my team at the Industry Solutions Showcase, booth 401.  If you are not at the event, feel free to contact me via marc-alexis.remond@polycom.com or on Twitter: @MarcRemond – but remember – meeting using standards-based video communications technology is always preferred!