March 1, 2023
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Have you ever found yourself searching through your seemingly endless Slack channels trying to find an important post? Well, yo 're not alone. Most of today’s companies use project management tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for much more than their intended purpose. These synchronous communication tools were built for instant communication among small-groups, but were not optimized for large, thoughtful group discussions.
“When urgency trumps importance, we prioritize streams of information and deprioritize thoughtful communication,” says Sarah Peck, founder and executive director of the online community Startup Pregnant.
Overcrowded Slack and Teams platforms with comment threads discussing both work and non-work related matters creates a distracting mix of digital communication that’s hard to keep up with and can overcrowd important business-critical information.
With so many communications coming from different sources, it’d be near impossible to keep up with everything without feeling stressed out or experiencing “work fatigue”.
An unorganised digital workplace also has negative effects on employees' ability to concentrate and be productive. Interruptions are unavoidable when using the same platform for both personal and business communications. The problem is that returning to a task takes an average person around 23 minutes.
Multiplying that by the amount of time spent every day dealing with interruptions times the number employees and the lost in efficiency becomes painfully obvious. Distractions on synchronous business communication channels are costing your company valuable time and money.
Companies have seen the following benefits when separating work from non-work communication:
It’s especially important in today’s hybrid work environment to use effective tools or your employees are at a higher risk of burnout. Today company’s find they need to employ both synchronous (e.g. Slack or Teams) and asynchronous (e.g. OfficeAccord) tools to ensure employees are not overwhelmed or less productive.
Determine the types of internal communication you want to encourage. Communication about work-related matters is an obvious must-have. Non-work communication that aims to improve the employee culture and experience should also be encouraged - but in the right way.
Use tools that are built for purpose. Repurposing the tools you rely on to run your business, like Slack, Teams, and email, for non-business purposes is, as we’ve seen, not efficient. Instead, use an asynchronous community-built tool like OfficeAccord that was designed for non-work communication to thrive.
Stop the noise in group chats with quality change management. Changing the way your organization has traditionally communicated is no easy task. But with the right tool and buy-in from management, it can be done. Communicate to everyone in the organization why keeping business and non-business matters separate is important for the growth of the company. Here are a few reasons that can help convince them:
Synchronous communications can be great for quick responses - they're what make Slack, Teams, and similar internal chat apps so useful. But there's also a place for asynchronous communications - ones where an immediate reply isn't expected. These lend themselves better to more thoughtful conversations. Here are some advantages of asynchronous communication:
You can separate non‑business and business communications and allow employees to communicate asynchronously using tools like OfficeAccord. Our platform was designed for purpose and provides companies an all-in one solutions to engage and communicate with their talent throughout their entire employee lifecycle. For employees we act a digital headquarters and also empower them to communicate with each other.
With OfficeAccord's simple and social features, you can easily find or create content and communicate quickly and easily. Here are some of our favorites:
Our announcements tool allows employees to get important company updates via email, text message, or banner alerts. It also lets employers know which employees have seen their messages so they can ensure their direct message has been read by who they need to see it.
Come together around a shared interest with your coworkers by using our Spaces module. Spaces is provides your entire team a more full-featured and efficient way to create your Running, Dog Lovers, or Sustainability Club. Keeping interest groups in OfficeAccord reduces the noise in Slack/Teams so they can be dedicated to running your business.
OfficeAccord provides a place for you to post and view all upcoming events. This way, employees have an organized layout of all event dates, plans, and information. Not only will this ensure everyone remains up to date, but your events will likely have higher attendance rates since no notifications are lost beneath other messages.
We understand finding that lost message can be frustrating and time-consuming. That's why OfficeAccord allows users to smart search. Type in any keyword and our smart search will give you every document, message, or post mentioning the subject. Instead of scrolling and scrolling through endless chats to find one specific message, everything your company needs you to know is now searchable and just a click away.
Lose distractions and separate your work and non-work communication. Build a strong and productive company culture with a customizable solution that integrates and connects with all your favorite tools, yet doesn’t require IT to integrate it into your company. With OfficeAccord, you can focus on what matters most – growing your business.
OfficeAccord is an all-in-one Employee Experience solution to improve the hybrid work experience and increase employee retention. Connect to learn more at hello@officeaccord.com.
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