There can be no doubt that video production as an internal communication method for large multi-nationals can be of great benefit to those companies, but what's the case for SMEs?
An SME employs between 1 and 250 people and turnover can be up to €50 million; in a company with 250 employees it's easy to see how an internal communication by video could save money and time, especially if those employees are located in different buildings, cities or even countries.
Change management, or policy change issues can often be effectively communicated by video. As usually the issues surrounding these changes can be complex, thus to deliver these changes via email, memo or any other normal convention, can be either ineffective and or expensive.
Ask a thousand employees at a thousand different companies, of varying amounts and types of department; 'Are you over worked and is your department under subscribed?' Most of them would answer yes. Thus information about company changes disseminated by email or series of meetings is likely to achieve fairly low retention levels, especially if this information is being disseminated by over worked managers!
Video works as a delivery method mainly because the modern workforce is made up of a collection of internet savvy employees who are used to watching youtube and other video sharing websites to get their news, gossip and entertainment. Add to that the fact that we're in a social media boom, whereby video has become part of the popular lexicon and the case for video is clear.
But that's OK for a company with dozens or maybe even a couple of hundred employees, but what of smaller businesses with between 3 and 10 employees, can there be any possible reason to use video as an internal communication for these enterprises?
As far as change management and policy changes are concerned you'd think not, however as far as training and health & safety are concerned there could be a compelling case for a lot of small businesses. All businesses are required under UK law to provide adequate health & safety provisions and training to their staff.
This could be as simple as having a fire extinguisher and a first aid box and lessons on how to sit properly at your computer, to much more complex and detailed requirements set by the health & safety executive relevant to the particular industry. Using video in these circumstances can save time with new employees and can also be constantly used to keep longer term employees up to scratch.
The same could be said for training, whether it be sales & marketing training or operational training, the case for video is obvious, the training remains consistent rather than changing over time like a Chinese whisper and it can be reviewed again and again.
So overall the case for video as an internal communication method for SMEs is strong, no doubt stronger in some cases than others, but still relevant across the spectrum.
Double R Productions website
