Techblog
Three apps that will bolster communications in the workplace
Internal communications cannot be overlooked. It is important that all employees in the company are aware of and in sync with the goals and objectives to be achieved. Communication apps help greatly with this and will allow employees keep abreast of tasks at hand.
Regardless of the size of the business, streamlining communications can improve overall efficiency of the organisation. A free flow of information among employees in the workplace ensures everyone is on the same page and understand the company’s goals and objectives.
With a good internal communication strategy in place, employees are also more aware of one another’s tasks and this improves productivity. Open communication also encourages employees to express their views and opinions that could help improve the business.
Over the years, e-mail has become the preferred communications tool in most businesses. But an overload of e-mails can kill productivity as staff are overwhelmed by the amount of information, and may end up missing out on crucial information. Email interruptions can result in tasks taking up to three times longer, according to The Financial Times.
Below are three easy to implement communication apps that can help improve SME’s internal communications.
Yammer
Yammer is a product included in the Microsoft Office 365 suite. With Yammer, businesses can create different groups across various departments or projects. Yammer has an interface that resembles a social network, where employees can easily comment on another’s updates or announcements. This promotes a work culture that embraces open discussions, which in turn keeps morale, and spirits up. Yammer also allows you to create notes pages or a document library in your group pages and this can help increase efficiency.
This tool also allows businesses to add partners, clients and vendors to various group conversations. They can collaborate on ongoing projects and documents which deepens relationships between stakeholders.
As Yammer is integrated into Microsoft Office, it allows you to preview and edit documents on Yammer itself using Office Online.
Slack
Slack is a communication app that is available on both mobile and desktop. To get another employee's attention, one just has to tag that person. This reduces the need for e-mails as all communication can be done on this platform. This seems more efficient than sending a few emails back and forth to get an update on a project.
The app allows you to create channels across different departments, projects and tasks. This makes employees more efficient in responding to important messages. Slack also allows you to fine-tune your notifications according to your preferences and needs. After all, you don’t want a barrage of notifications as it might turn you off, so you can customise notifications by channel or keywords according to your priorities.
Slack also allows for custom integrations from its app directory. For example, “/Expense” is available for you to track expenses. For SMEs in e-commerce, Chatlio is an app that allows employees talk to your website visitors directly from Slack. Another app, Calbot, lets you add events to your Google or Microsoft calendars from Slack itself.
Quip
Quip streamlines the process of communication and collaboration. Similar to Google Docs, it enables employees to upload and edit documents on its platform. You can make comments on a document, tag the appropriate people and have a conversation with them about changes or edits that should be made. Unlike Google Docs, Quip allows you to create different team chatrooms. This is useful because it ensures that collaboration and communications stay on one piece of platform – minimising confusion or miscommunication among employees.
In summary,
- Internal communications is important to keep employees abreast of various tasks as well as make sure everyone is aligned when it comes to the company’s objectives
- Yammer has a great interface resembling a social network that encourages more open communication, which is good for work culture.
- Slack fosters team communications and its ability to create different channels help employees stay on task.
- Quip combines the process of communication and collaboration thereby improving efficiency.