Use of video grows in internal communications

Corporate video for internal communications once amounted to setting a group of new employees in front of a TV to watch actors play workers facing ethical decisions.

Now it is a dynamic means of capturing employees’ attention—and it is increasingly becoming a YouTube-like platform for internal dialogue.

Employees were once inclined to delete an email that showed up at the wrong moment, but now they are more willing to click on a video link, especially if it means they can post comments underneath or add a link of their own.

Companies no longer face a high cost barrier to get involved in video, says Paolo Tosolini, a consultant who launched and managed Microsoft’s YouTube-like internal platform to share knowledge among the company’s 90,000 employees.

Showcasing staff expertise

Such a video exchange can create incentives for staff to get involved; they can attract a following internally and showcase their expertise by posting their work.

“You establish yourself as a subject-matter expert in your particular arena, just because you created all these materials that people have been able to download, to watch, to comment upon,” Tosolini says.