One of the best qualities of a successful business is transparency. Transparency in your leadership, in your communication with the rest of your team is crucial. It affects outcomes, the quality of your team’s output, the morale.

It’s about trust—building it, keeping it. That’s why Hillary Clinton’s private email was bad news. Using a sophisticated ‘homebrew’ email was, as one writer from the Washington Post put it, “not exactly the height of transparency for someone who is the de facto Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.”

Of course, it’s entirely understandable for a family as politically prominent as the Clintons to want to exercise more control over their email correspondence. But the prevailing impression you get from this issue is that, though entirely defensible, the lack of openness is grounds for mistrust. And the takeaway?

It’s lack of transparency that breeds mistrust.

The trust deficit

That’s why transparency in organizations is important. The more transparent you are, the more your team, or the people that you work with, trust you. More trust often leads to better performance levels, positivity and maximum productivity for teams in the work place. Harvard Business School says there are plenty of reasons for the trust deficit that exists between management and employees. However, what strongly comes across, based on responses to the article, is that the biggest roadblock between managers and employees often stem from an inability of managers to deliver on their promises.

Addressing the issue

One of the ways leaders can address this issue is to make sure that transparency is present. Transparency, especially when done with honesty and consistency, is the quality that successfully bridges the trust gap. And how do you encourage transparency at all times? One way to make that happen is to employ tools that reinforce transparent communications as much as possible. Good thing there are plenty of technologies these days that are wholly right and ideal for this.

Video technology

Web-based video technology ranks among the most popular in this case. Given the level of usability and the sheer convenience users get to enjoy, that’s not a surprise. If your team still hasn’t explored the many ways your communication infrastructure could improve through video technology, there’s no better time than now to start.

For starters, here’s a list of top brands in the industry. Try one on for size and see if the system fits. With web conferencing tools, you and your team are going to enjoy better transparency in your communications.

• Blue Jeans: Offering cloud based solutions, the Blue Jeans Network is one of the most popular and trusted names in the industry, with features that include face to face collaboration, mobile-friendly and content sharing with video sharing, screen sharing and even zoom capability. So whether you want to send and share files, go over sections or specific slides of a presentation, you can. Video communication with Blue Jeans is compatible with multiple devices. Using mobile or Lync? Blue Jeans can connect you, whether by mobile or Lync, to the same video meeting. It’s ready for any-device collaborations. There’s also a new recording feature you can use to record your meetings and even turn these into lectures or seminars later on for the new hires. With a ton of features capable of providing for your communication needs, this is one solution that really hits the mark.
  

• Skype: Download the app then start exploring. Backed by a user base of about 300 million people, Skype is a long-time player in the internet calling services industry. Offering free chats and calls, along with file transfers, video conferencing, video calls and a whole lot of others, Skype is often the go-to choice for many companies. The free messaging service is also ideal for startups and small business who wish to keep their operating costs well below the red. It’s free and functional and less buggy, compared to other applications. If you want something simple that works, go for Skype.

• GoToMeeting: If you want a video conferencing system that focuses on the basics, on the no-frills design, GoToMeeting has you covered. It doesn’t offer HD for your video calls but the user interface is great. It’s easy to use and simple to understand. You can get the conference for free, but only if there are three participants in the call. Otherwise, go for the upgrade, the GoToWebinar. If you need to share your presentation with 1,000 people—that’s the max count—you can. Want to teach an online class? Start with that upgrade.

• Google Hangouts: If you want variety, Google Hangouts offers you so many different ways to use Google Hangouts. Whether for chats and virtual meetings or content sharing, it works, it’s free and it’s not as buggy, considering that it’s relatively new, when you view it alongside all the other players on this list. However, since it is new, you can bet Google still has a ton of modifications and changes for this platform so if you want something that doesn’t change as often or one with less updates, consider looking elsewhere.