A new generation is entering the management ranks of companies worldwide, and like previous generations, they will bring with them their own preferred ways of communicating and collaborating. A global study announced by Cisco revealed that the majority of these next-generation executives intend to depend heavily upon business-class video to connect with their teams, colleagues, suppliers, customers and prospects, as well as to help their businesses deliver new products and services.
Afraid of the camera?!
Nevertheless, many aspiring leaders are still camera-shy. In a global comparison, the Germans have the most concern that their chaotic desk would be seen. With 52 percent of them, they are on top here, together with the Scandinavians. 44 percent complain that they can not eat anything at the same time, and 41 percent do not want to be seen in a T-shirt or other casual clothing. No problem, however, is the parallel use of other devices: Only 32 percent would not do that.
Top findings include:
- Three out of five young executives say they will rely more heavily on business-class video during the next five to 10 years.
- 87 percent believe video has a significant and positive impact on an organization, citing benefits ranging from enhancing the experience of telecommuters to saving money on travel costs and even attracting top talent.
- 94 percent of those organizations with less than 400 employees value video as a way to break down language barriers in the increasingly global marketplace.
- 87 percent say they would choose to work for a video-enabled organization over a company that has not invested in business-class video communications, because the video-enabled organization "cares about using technology to fuel business growth."
Obstacles for video conferencing:
One obstacle is the as yet still often complex and cumbersome use. If video conferencing was as easy to us and as widespread as other means of communication, 81 percent in Germany and 84 percent worldwide would use it for a large part of their virtual interactions. In addition, young leaders call for a high-quality video transmission.
The 2013 Cisco Global Young Executives' Video Attitudes Survey gives insight into what management-track leaders aged 34 and under think about business-class video, which delivers high-quality, reliable, and highly secure lifelike video to users. Cisco commissioned Redshift Research to conduct the survey of more than 1,300 global respondents.
