How Cisco Finance Uses Video

As promised last time, we’d like to cover a few other ways that Cisco uses video internally, and share some lessons learned by each group. Let’s look at how Cisco Finance uses it:

Cisco’s Finance team employs a variety of video solutions in day to day operations, All Hands meetings, training, and executive communications. Finance first began this practice back in 2000. At first, usage was mostly for staff meetings, but has evolved over time to include both more activities and greater frequency. Business benefits include the ability to build strong working relationships globally, ensure regulatory compliance, provide consistent messaging across all groups, train more effectively and more efficiently deal with change management.

Day to Day Operations:
More than 40,000 Cisco employees have a desktop video camera associated with their phone. This enables them to easily turn a phone call into a video call if they wish. The finance team uses them to allow controllers around the globe to interact with each other “face to face” on a daily basis. The desktop video helps them establish and maintain great working relationships with teammates and accelerate their working effectiveness, even though they may only meet in-person once or twice a year.

All Hands Meetings:
All Hands Meetings, generally held quarterly, bring together the entire Finance team for updates on major initiatives. The team found that video is actually more effective to the overall presentations, scoring a satisfaction rating of 4.4 out of 5.0 vs. 4.1 for slides alone. Viewers also comment that video messaging tends has higher impact that stays with them longer.

Training:
Cisco Finance has a 40 hour “take or teach” program, in which employees can take any type of training and can also teach others in an area of their expertise. Jim Gould, VP of Finance notes, “There is actually a fair mix of both take and teach – with much of it done using live IPTV broadcasts and Video on Demand.”

A good example of this was when new Sarbanes-Oxley corporate compliance requirements were rolled out. Understandably, this required a lot of training of the Finance staff. Internal training was done utilizing audio/web conferencing powered by Cisco MeetingPlace, as well as a mix of video conferencing, live broadcasts and VoDs. One Finance VP notes that “video allows us to be proactive, not reactive, and is a major tool in staying on the offensive. Video enables us to now rollout major initiatives quarterly, instead of just two times per year. Not only do we save a lot of time and hassle from not sending people around to do in-person training, but the overall quality is actually better and more uniform.”

Executive Communications:
The Finance team also takes advantage of video to convey executive messages to effect consistent, global communications across large functional groups. It also allows executives to connect on a more personal level with their audience, even displaying a bit of humor. Pre-recorded messages from the functional leaders can be included in any communications, underscoring their expectations and follow up steps.

Externally, Cisco uses both its own website and 3rd party sites like YouTube to provide executive communications about key items of interest, such as quarterly results. For example, you can watch CFO Frank Calderoni provide an update on our fiscal 2008 performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV3YMi4FIj4

Next Steps for Finance:
In addition to IPTV, VoD and other web-based video, Cisco Finance is now adding in TelePresence for both internal and external meetings. It is helping to build relationships internally, as well as allow the finance team to meet with outside parties that they might not have had the time to travel to meet.

Lessons learned:

• Have a communication strategy in mind for the entire year, rather than event by event, and to consider the mix of media appropriate to each event.
• What can be done centrally and what can/should be done locally? What needs to reflect local/culturally accepted practices? This might affect what technology is purchased and where it is deployed.
• Have people on the extended team who can act as “experts” in available technologies, how to schedule or organize them, develop relationships with people both inside and outside the company who can provide various services, and develop strategies and processes for when various needs arise.
• It’s also important to utilize video when appropriate to the situation. If people feel like they are going “on the record”, they might not ask certain questions, share information or provide the candid feedback they might otherwise in a private setting.