Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.
Effective communication within the office is essential for productivity and efficiency. Therefore, implementing certain communication applications by teams and departments can be tremendously valuable.
Teams have many options when selecting the best apps to improve internal communication. Besides communication enhancements, some of these apps offer additional tools that can be used for real-time collaboration on work projects or tracking progress.
The Advantages of Using Communication Apps in the Workplace
They Improve Communication Tremendously
Can you imagine how distracting it would be to stand up and shout company announcements for every coworker? Thankfully, we have email for that. But what about physically going to someone’s desk whenever you want to assign them a new task? Physical interrupting somebody while trying to focus is counterproductive, which is why using communication apps is so important.
The Work Process Becomes Much More Efficient
With team channels, everybody feels more involved. Individuals can observe the conversations between coworkers and learn more about certain aspects of the project. This is especially useful for new team members who might feel like imposters when they need to ask questions. However, with communication and collaboration tools, team members can easily reach each other without being disruptive and benefit from better-organized communication threads they can refer back to.
Improved Coworker Relationships
Team members can develop better relationships when they understand each other’s work and pain points. Improved communication using various tools fosters relationships and creates an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing more innovative ideas and creative solutions.
Time Savings, When Used Correctly
If you have to get up and talk to people in person to understand each other better, there is something wrong with how you communicate, or your use of team chat is not particularly effective. With the right communication and collaboration tools, you should be able to minimize such in-person meetings, which will save you so much time.
More Effective Project Management
It all comes down to how enhancing communication will allow you to oversee projects more effectively and improve results. When more than one person is working on a project, you need effective coordination. And that’s the advantage of using communication apps. It doesn’t matter if it is just a team chat. What matters is how you use it to reduce mistakes and eliminate misunderstandings.
Better Individual Accountability
Managing people is hard. Therefore, an effective communication tool can help you do better. One of the ways of doing so is by offering a medium in which staff members can see each other’s roles and responsibilities. This way, they can hold each other accountable for their role. This will help everyone be more diligent in meeting deadlines and reporting results.
Deciphering Workplace Conduct: Yelling, Harassment, and Boundaries
Team Communication Apps & Collaboration Tools
Skype
Skype has been around for ages. By now, it’s a classic, must-have communication software. Owned by Microsoft, you can easily set up Skype using your Windows account. It allows for direct messaging, conference calls, small file sharing, and group chats.
Of course, the classic emoji package got updated in recent years with better-quality animation, making chats a tad more fun. Another great feature of Skype is the screen-sharing option, which makes collaboration and working on group projects much easier. However, Skype is probably not the best option to keep remote team members updated. Group chats have limited organizational features. As a result, communication can become chaotic. Skype is a great communication tool for many instances, but it is not the most convenient option for deep collaborative synergies.
Slack
Slack is an instant messaging platform that has quickly become the go-to co-working tool for companies. It allows for instant messaging and file sharing. One of the most prominent features is the creation of chat rooms, or channels, where coworkers can chat and collaborate.
The free version of Slack keeps a history of the previous 10,000 messages within a channel, while the paid version has no limit. Another great feature of Slack is the various integrations that can be applied to the platform. Integrations include Google Drive, Trello, DropBox, and many more, making file sharing and project collaboration a breeze. There are also mobile versions for Android and iOS, so you can easily track what is going on through your phone. Slack has been the leading collaboration and communication tool for quite some time, but there are a few alternatives you can also explore.
How to save money on your groceries
Discord
The Discord platform was designed to accommodate the needs of the gaming world. But it can be used as an office team collaboration tool as well. You can create servers and various channels within them. As a server owner, you have complete control over who sees what.
It is often compared to Slack because they have similar features and interfaces. The free version of Discord has far fewer limitations than the free version of Slack. Therefore, it could be the preferable communication app for teams on a budget. The free version of Discord is ideal for teams of 10 to 20 members. At this size, you can easily get away without using the premium package. There is a downloadable software interface, or you can easily access your server through a browser.
Facebook Workplace
If you don’t mind being watched by Mark even while you work, Workplace by Facebook might be the communication tool for your team or your entire organization. Other than workplace chats, team groups, conference calls, and file storage, Workplace boats several other exciting features.
Some of the more interesting features include real-time auto-translation of messages in foreign languages, integration of third-party tools, IT monitoring, and integration with Windows Azure AD, G Suite, and Okta, as well as a high level of security. It is important to note that the premium plan is free for non-profit groups.
