What is it about team messaging apps that make it such a major game changer for businesses? Is it really possible for one tool to transform the way people work together?
Today, many businesses function in a dynamic way — they are no longer contained in brick and mortar buildings or limited to a certain geography . Team messaging apps allow distributed or remote teams the ability to collaborate with speed and efficiency, while offering an open source platform to develop customized apps that suit their needs.
A team messenger is a game changer for everyone. Here are some top-line benefits:
1. Stay connected with more than one team
The ‘teams’ feature in many messaging apps available today lets you collaborate with multiple teams, both those within the organization and outside of it — all on the same platform. Through teams, you can get company news and updates on the organization-wide team, discuss details with a separate team about an ongoing project, and keep up to date on industry trends with a separate team that includes industry peers and experts from all over the world.
2. Stay organized
Team messengers help you to stay organized—specific ideas, relevant documents, and conversation is stored within specific groups. Team messengers allow all users to create function or project-specific groups within each team and give appropriate labels for easy discovery. You can access any information or conversation just by dropping into the group.
3. Be part of a knowledge driven ecosystem
Team collaboration apps make it possible for you to stay connected with colleagues, industry peers and experts all on one platform. To bring other like-minded industry peers together, you can create public channels or make them closed and invite-only. The sheer ease of collaborating and exchanging information helps in nurturing knowledge ecosystems and fostering collaborative learning and conversations.
4. Never miss out on anything
Took a day off? Launch the app on your phone and stay up-to-date as the cloud pulls in all the messages you missed. Need to access a vital document while you are at home? Just log into the team collaboration app on your smartphone or home computer, and access all documents and files shared previously on the messenger.
5. Customize integrations to meet unique needs
Unlike other traditional forms of collaboration, a team messenger comes equipped with various app integrations — a mix of third party apps or apps that are built from ground up. This gives each team the freedom to use integrations that are vital to their function or enhance productivity.
For instance, a social media team within an organization can have Google Analytics, Twitter integrations, and more within their team messenger app, saving them from switching apps or devices. Teams can use those APIs to fully customize their solutions and create a variety of unique tools.
6. Collaborate seamlessly during pressing situations
Workplace emergencies will become easier to handle with a team collaboration app that gives you the entire company directory at your fingertips. You can contact anyone from your team, organization and vendor/client/customer circle at once. With easy-to-find search history, accountability can be maintained. Real-time push notifications let everyone know about the crisis at hand regardless of their location, so more minds collaborating can make a difference.
7. Allows speedy decision-making
Team messaging apps have eliminated the need for face-to-face meetings. Instead, meetings can now be held via video conferencing or group chat. Save big on time by making important decisions by using the poll app. Set reminders for important meetings using the reminder app. These nifty features play a crucial role in better time utilization and enhance fast decision-making capabilities.
8. Empowers mobile teams
Remotely operating field staff can use real-time messaging to increase overall efficiency and streamline operations. Schedule changes can be managed with notifications that reach your entire team. Read receipts will confirm whether important messages are read. Share images and videos to keep headquarters up to speed on the status of a project. The ‘teams’ feature that is available in some enterprise messaging apps is a boon for your sales team. Your sales team can create separate teams within the same app for vendors, partners, and dealers. No longer do your sales personnel have to switch back and forth between accounts and/or devices for team messaging. Secure and easy sharing of documents invoices, brochures and price lists can all be done at your fingertips.
9. Disconnect when you need to
Worried that too much noise from the multiple groups will disturb your planned work schedule? You can choose to mute some out. Out on an important meeting, or on vacation? Opt for the ‘do not disturb’ mode. You’ll be kept off the noise but your attention can be drawn to anything important or urgent with @mentions.
10. Build a future-ready workforce
Seamless communication without official hierarchy or physical walls getting in your way is the future of team collaboration. Team messengers have succeeded in bringing the entire organization into a common platform. Whether it’s creating groups with those that have similar interests or directly communicating your ‘out-of-the-box-idea’ to your team lead, team messaging apps let you do so. There is a high potential for all members to add to the discussion, provide unexpected ideas, experience or solutions.
The 10 situations that we have described above are just the icing on the cake. The possibilities are immense when you can successfully utilize a communication tool to improve productivity, communication, and collaboration. Furthermore, with team apps opening their own platforms for the building of custom apps, the possibilities for enhanced organizational efficiency are multi-fold.
Authored by Ninad Raval, Product and Design Head, Flock
