Online work has become increasingly common in recent years, and businesses and teams are increasingly reliant on online collaboration software. In the digital era, these collaboration tools bind teams and organizations together, helping them streamline communication, visualize and plan projects, work virtually, and keep everyone up-to-date and on the same page.

However, with so many online collaboration tools out there in the market, selecting the best ones for your team can be difficult. While selecting the right tools is only half the battle, the other half of it is to avoid overwhelming your employees with too many tools or difficult technology. In fact, 46% of Americans expressed having annoying and troublesome to juggle too many tools.

So, to help you out, we’ve compiled a list of the 35 best online collaboration tools for every purpose from project management and communication to note-taking and file sharing. And don’t worry, the tools on our list are efficient as well as easy to use while suiting the needs of teams of all sizes and types.

What Are Online Collaboration Tools?

Online collaboration tools are platforms that allow teams to collaborate virtually. Companies and organizations can greatly benefit from using these tools to better organize their work lives by collaborating on projects and daily tasks.

The best online collaboration tools automatically sync across devices, keeping everyone up to date and organized at all times, and are usually some form of cloud service. These tools are often known as web collaboration tools and online project management software as well.

Tools for project management, file sharing, instant messaging, video conferencing, note-taking, and knowledge sharing are a few of the different types of work collaboration tools used today.

Now that we know what online collaboration tools are and how they can help, let’s shift our focus to how you find the right tool that aligns best with your needs.

Criteria for Choosing Online Collaboration Tools

There are tools for almost every use case, and some online collaboration tools excel in one area while others excel in all. Here are some things to consider while picking the online collaboration tool for your organization:

1. Look for Multiple Features

Choose tools that provide excellent service and a variety of features for team collaboration. Selecting multiple features will increase your work efficiency and allow people to use them in a variety of ways. Also, when you get the maximum number of required features in a tool, you do not need to subscribe to multiple tools, saving you from burning a hole in your wallet. 

2. Cloud-Based

Cloud-based technology is far superior because it eliminates the headache of version control. All information is stored online and is easily accessible from any location, any time, making it even more convenient for your remote teams to work with flexibility.

3. Easy to Use

Make sure that the tool you invest in is easy to set up and use. It should be adapting to the needs of your team and organization, not the other way around. So, look for a tool that offers an intuitive interface, simple navigation, customer support, and documentation for onboarding, and does not have a steep learning curve.

4. Easy to Integrate & Compatible

As already mentioned, the tool should suit your teams’ and organizations’ needs. This means picking tools that are compatible with your work processes. It should seamlessly integrate with all other tools, platforms, CRMs, etc. you work on to make your workflow easier and more convenient.

5. Security

When you are using a tool, you are putting your data and your client’s data in some other party’s hands. Hence, it is important to look for tools that have clear data policies and guarantee complete data security.

List of the Best Online Collaboration Tools

Here are our top picks for the best online collaboration tools for 2023:

All-In-One Online Collaboration Tools

1. Zenkit Base

Today, digital transformation is the most important challenge for any organization. However, it does not have to be difficult. Zenkit Base allows you to conveniently structure, organize, and merge all pertinent information and workflows in one location. You can then easily restructure and modify them as needed.

Your projects, processes, chats, tasks, assets, clients, documents, and all other business data will no longer be buried in various tools, platforms, or spreadsheets. You will have a centralized platform to manage and access all of this data efficiently. You can connect all of your important data and take advantage of the synergies that exist between them.

There are also multiple views, which allow you to customize your workspace according to your preferences. Additionally, you can choose from a variety of backgrounds, giving you and your team members the flexibility to create a workspace that suits their individual needs. You can easily integrate other tools with Zenkit Base. This will help you to keep your work going without any hassles, even if you are already using other tools.

2. SmartTask

SmartTask is a project management and collaboration software that allows you to manage tasks, projects, teams, and clients all in one place, no matter how big or small your team is. Individuals, teams, and startups can benefit from the platform’s scalability and flexibility.

SmartTask allows you to assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and communicate with one another, avoiding lengthy and inefficient email threads. The time tracking, workload, and timeline features make it extremely simple to monitor and manage all of your work, both project-wide and individually.

Project portfolio, workload management, time tracking, Gantt chart, custom fields, custom charts, and CRM are among the many useful features included in the tool. It even integrates with almost every tool you’ll need, making switching and collaborating between apps easier.

3. Plutio

Plutio is an all-in-one business operations platform that helps you manage and collaborate on projects, share files, create forms, build proposals, create contracts, communicate, and track time.

It lets you organize projects in the list, table, kanban, calendar, and timeline views. You can design, create, and send professional invoices and get paid easily. You can also create stunning proposals with electronic signatures and rich media.

A unified inbox allows you to communicate with anyone via direct messages, project discussions, and email replies. It offers customizable and ready-to-use templates for proposals, contracts, invoices, and forms. It is suitable for freelancers, small businesses, and remote working teams looking to collaborate and work in sync with each other.

Online Chat Tools

4. Zenchat

A significant portion of daily business communication revolves around current and upcoming tasks. This causes you to switch between your task management and chat apps constantly. But with Zenchat and its in-built task manager, you no longer need to use an external tool for managing your tasks. 

The perfect combination of chat and tasks results in seamless communication. This leads to fewer context changes, fewer distractions, and more in-depth work. You also get the topic-chat feature, where you can delve into particular topics (mini chats). This minimizes chat clutter and provides a complete understanding of each discussion without missing out on important details.

And just like other Zenkit tools, Zenchat seamlessly integrates with other apps in the Zenkit suite, providing you with a wholesome experience and smoother workflow management.

5. Slack

Slack is one of the popular online chat tools that keep your team in touch. It is an excellent messaging app for hybrid and fully remote work environments because it can operate in real-time as well as asynchronously.

With Slack, you can not only privately message and video call collaborators, but you can also create groups to discuss tasks with the appropriate team members. Furthermore, Slack comes with a slew of integrations that can be used to make your life easier at work.

6. Rocket.Chat

Rocket.Chat is an open-source messaging platform that supports seamless and secure team collaboration. Designed for distributed teams, Rocket.Chat’s chat includes functionalities like Teams, Discussions, and Threads for more effective communication.

It’s designed with additional security features in mind, meaning that it’s a good choice for organizations in highly-regulated industries like Government and Healthcare.

Supported by the open source community, Rocket.Chat’s newest version is the most secure and scalable yet, designed for teams that want to own their conversations.

7. Troop Messenger

Troop Messenger is a  full-fledged business communication platform that excels in facilitating interactive team collaboration. It is known for its simplicity in implementation, making it an excellent option for any entrepreneurial environment.

It provides teams with access to a wide range of features, including instant messaging, video calls, video conferences, file sharing, desktop sharing, and scheduling tools. By utilizing scheduling tools, teams can keep project information organized and secure all project performance data. This ensures that projects are completed efficiently and effectively and that all team members are on the same page at all times. 

Overall, Troop Messenger is an ideal choice for any team looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly collaboration platform.

8. Chanty

Chanty is a team collaboration app aimed to boost work productivity for teams of all sizes. It is not just a simple team chat. In addition to that, it offers a built-in task manager with the Kanban board that allows you to create messages, assign a team member, and set a due date and a task priority.

It also has audio and video calling capabilities including screen sharing features. Chanty’s Teambook serves as a central platform for managing all of your shared material, including chats, tasks, links, and pinned messages.

Video Conferencing Tools

9. Pumble

Pumble is a reliable team communication tool with robust video conferencing and instant messaging capabilities that foster productivity, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. It caters to small and larger businesses, enabling people to connect with teammates in real-time. 

In addition to one-on-one video calls available in the free plan, pro users can enjoy group calls and make their feedback or brainstorming sessions more effective. As Pumble is a transparent and intuitive tool, users can easily access these features with just a few clicks. And, when trying to explain complex ideas to coworkers, users can also share their screens to ensure everyone’s on the same page. 

10. Zoom

Zoom is one of the market’s leading video conferencing platforms, and it is used by teams for group meetings, virtual activities, and even smaller 1:1 interactions. 

It is incredibly simple to use. To begin a video call, simply create a Zoom meeting in the app and share the link with the people you want to invite. It offers advanced features such as selective screen sharing, where the presenter can select which members can see their screen while others cannot.

It also has breakout rooms, which allow virtual teams to meet inside video calls without losing the main feed. This feature comes in handy when running a training session or group meeting remotely.

11. Fellow

Fellow is an easy-to-use and helpful meeting management platform that every team manager should have! It helps teams conduct productive meetings with collaborative agendas and shared note-taking. 

Teams can use the tool to record meeting notes so that they can easily follow up on key points, and keep track of meeting decisions and assigned tasks from a single space. 

It includes a feedback feature as well as post-meeting action item tracking to help your team become more accountable. It also connects to your favorite work tools to keep you organized.

Project Management Tools

12. Zenkit Projects

Zenkit Projects is a member of the Zenkit family. It is a project management software designed to assist teams in organizing, collaborating, and managing projects.

It allows you to create custom workflows and organize your data however you see fit. Zenkit Projects provides real-time collaboration features, smart views, activity tracking, reporting, and resource planning, allowing your team to progress projects.

The platform lets you invite collaborators, set dependencies, and add milestones, lags, and lead times for better task management across teams. These features can improve collaboration and task management among team members. Click here to learn more about the interview with the developer of the fantastic app.

13. Plaky

Plaky is a robust project management tool that enables you to collaborate with your team smoothly and efficiently. It has a clear and simple user interface that makes it easy to learn even if you aren’t tech-savvy. 

You can keep all your task-related communication in one place. There is no need for long meetings or a bunch of emails anymore. All the information is in one place, and you can always see who is doing what and how your project is progressing.

It allows you to create a board for each project and make it visible to the public or keep it private. It also lets you comment on tasks, mention colleagues in task comments, and share files. 

14. ClientVenue 

ClientVenue is a powerful project management tool that allows teams to collaborate effectively. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, it enables teams to organize tasks, set priorities, and track progress in real-time. 

It also includes messaging and file-sharing capabilities, making it easy for team members to communicate and collaborate anywhere. Whether working on a small project or a large-scale initiative, ClientVenue can help you stay organized, streamline communication, and achieve your goals more efficiently. 

15. ReviewStudio

ReviewStudio is an online proofing software that makes it easy for teams to gather precise and clear feedback on creative project workflows. It is an intuitive proofing platform with effective tools to mark up, share, and get approvals on all file types in one centralized location. 

With ReviewStudio, versions are collated and comments and notes are threaded, making tasks easy to follow and keeping everyone on the same page. Whether you’re working with video, images, web pages, or other document types, ReviewStudio provides a space to keep workflows flowing smoothly.

Content Planning Tools

16. Narrato Workspace

Narrato Workspace is an AI-powered content creation and collaboration platform that helps you manage your entire content workflow in one place. The platform has several AI content planning, ideation, and creation tools that can cut down content production time by almost half. 

The powerful AI writing assistant with multiple use cases and the AI content assistant with grammar, readability, and plagiarism checks make content creation and optimization effortless. 

Content ideation and planning features here, include an AI topic generator, SEO content brief generator, content calendars, custom workflows, workflow automation, and more. Collaborating with your content team is also a breeze with custom user roles and strong team communication features. Narrato can replace a scattered and disjointed content marketing tool stack to boost productivity and efficiency in content creation.

17. Planable Universal Content

Planable’s Universal Content feature is the ultimate platform for content marketers for successful content creation and marketing project management. 

With its easy-to-use content calendar, collaborative tools, and flexible approval workflows, Planable helps marketing teams of all sizes create top-notch content of any form. Whether it’s social media posts, blog articles, newsletters, or any other written content, it streamlines the process and makes management and collaboration efficient.

Online Note-Taking & Document Collaboration Tools

18. Hypernotes

Hypernotes is an online knowledge management platform for teams that is ideal for wikis, documentation, and storing content. You can easily create a semantic network of your knowledge with Hypernotes.

The tool is mobile-ready and has native apps for your devices. It also has complete offline support, ensuring that you never miss anything even on the run. Hypernotes help you organize your text in the proper hierarchy, from concepts to details. You can open every text (“block”) in full-page view. This will give you a bird’s-eye view of every level of detail you want to work on.

Hypernotes seamlessly integrates with all Zenkit apps, from chat to project management. You get all your project details in one place when you collaborate effectively. This saves a lot of time from having to switch from tool to tool.

19. Document360

Document360 is a unified workspace where teams can quickly capture, store, and share information for internal use or customers. Everything you might want in a document collaboration tool is available in this one, including workflow, version history, easy sharing, commenting, tagging, review reminders, and more.

The powerful search bar feature ensures users can easily locate the necessary information. It provides robust security features, including role-based access control, two-factor authentication, and SSL encryption, ensuring your team’s data is safe and secure. 

Integrations with popular apps such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Chrome make Document360 the most effective collaboration tool for teams to work together more efficiently and effectively.

20. ONLYOFFICE

ONLYOFFICE is a complete secure open-source office suite that can be used in the cloud, on servers or on devices. It’s a package of three document editors for professional collaboration on Text files, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Fillable forms with reader and converter of PDF files and eBooks. 

Powerful office solution supports all popular file formats, fully compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenDocument file formats. Create fillable forms, collaborate on them, and export them for filling. Having a collection of custom formal documents ready to fill and sign can automate workflow and reduce time. These documents may include agreements, licenses, invoices, declarations, and others.

21. Contractbook

Contractbook is a contract management software that turns static contracts into a dynamic database which helps keep everyone on the same page about agreements. You can manage the entire contract lifecycle in one location, from document creation and negotiation to signature gathering to post-signature task automation. 

This makes it easy to avoid costly compliance errors and missed deadlines while speeding up the time to a signature. Additionally, it helps prevent your team from wasting time on tedious data entry.

Online Whiteboards

22. Miro

Miro is a whiteboard app ideal for brainstorming and strategic planning online with your remote teams. It has a huge template library to help you create mind maps, charts, user flows, and idea funnels.  

Once you are done working on the document, you can easily share it and collaborate on it with your team to generate better ideas and strategies. Anyone can write, draw, and edit files on the same whiteboard, making it easier to collaborate in real-time.

Miro allows you to have multiple editable boards and an unlimited number of users. This means you can work on multiple projects, with multiple clients at the same time. The tool also integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Dropbox, which ensures smooth workflow, communication, and file sharing.

23. Visme 

Visme is an online whiteboard collaboration and design tool. Its whiteboard tool has everything you need for effective real-time collaboration, design, and planning. It has ready-made customizable templates or you can design your own whiteboard from scratch adding icons, pictures, and any media you need for your project. 

Once the whiteboard is ready you can share the link with your colleagues or download it in JPEG, PNG, PDF, or HTML5 file formats.

Visme also offers multiple integration options such as Slack, Google Drive, Loom, HubSpot, and others.

Employee Engagement Tools

24. Xoxoday Empuls

Empuls is an employee engagement platform that aims to enhance collaboration and communication within the organization. The platform offers features for peer-to-peer recognition. Employees can give each other points and rewards for outstanding performance and achievements. This helps to create a culture of appreciation and recognition that fosters positive relationships and team spirit.

Empuls provides managers with real-time feedback and insights into employee engagement. This allows them to make informed decisions and take action to improve employee morale and productivity. With customizable dashboards and analytics, HR leaders and managers can track key metrics such as employee satisfaction, performance, and retention.

Empuls integrates seamlessly with popular HR and communication tools. This feature makes it easy to integrate into existing workflows and processes. With its cloud-based platform, employees can access Empuls from anywhere, at any time, using any device.

25. Engagedly

Engagedly is an employee performance management platform that helps organizations align their employee’s performance to strategic execution to achieve organizational goals, creates a supportive environment for employees to grow, and provides tools to engage people in the organization.

It helps employers conduct performance reviews, align goals, take employee surveys, provide talent analytics, recognize employees, and share feedback with them. It lets employees communicate in real-time, share knowledge, and help them progress with gamification.

26. Zavvy

Zavvy offers a range of solutions that cover the entire employee lifecycle, from preboarding to engagement. For example, if you’re hiring new employees, Zavvy can help you create a seamless onboarding process that sets them up for success from day one. 

If you want to engage and develop your existing employees’ skills, Zavvy offers tools for performance management, feedback, and training. Zavvy sets itself apart by offering all of its solutions on a single platform, which simplifies the management of all aspects of employee engagement in one place.

27. Zonka Feedback

With the help of Zonka Feedback, an easy-to-use employee feedback tool, businesses of all sizes can quickly set up various employee surveys and collect real-time feedback to enhance employee engagement and experience.

Its user-friendly interface makes it simple for teams without technical expertise to conduct surveys, engage employees on various channels and touchpoints (including tablets, kiosks, emails, SMS, web widgets, QR Codes, and more), and track employee satisfaction in real-time.

28. 360Learning

360Learning is an online learning platform that helps organizations create, deliver, and track training programs for employees. The platform uses a collaborative approach to learning. Users can create and share content, as well as participate in social learning activities like discussion forums and peer reviews.

360Learning enables organizations to create customized training programs that are engaging, interactive, and effective. These training programs help employees develop new skills and stay up-to-date with industry trends. The platform also includes tools for tracking learner progress and measuring the impact of training programs on business outcomes.

Social Media Collaboration Tools

29. SocialBee

SocialBee is a social media management and collaboration platform that helps organizations streamline team workflows and increased efficiency in social media content creation. The platform enables users to build social media approval workflows to ensure error-free posts, with roles assigned and feedback provided via mentions. 

Team members can collaborate effectively on social media goals, reviewing and approving posts for publishing. SocialBee’s collaboration tools enhance the quality of social media content while simplifying the collaboration process. 

By utilizing these features, businesses can achieve their social media objectives more effectively, while ensuring the highest quality of content.

30. Statusbrew

Statusbrew is a social media marketing and management platform built for teams of all sizes. Your team can seamlessly communicate on different campaigns in real-time from a centralized dashboard to resolve tangled interactions to stay on top of the social game. 

Statusbrew enables teams to collaborate on a large scale without missing any messages. This is made possible through notification alerts on Slack and Microsoft Teams, as well as separate team inboxes that keep work organized and clutter-free.

Statusbrew’s approval workflow feature is specifically developed for social media teams. It helps to avoid internal errors by solidifying the review process, making it the main differentiator of the platform.

31. Pallyy

Pallyy is a social media management tool. It allows you to work together with your team members. This includes creating and publishing social media posts, checking your analytics and creating reports, and responding to comments/DM’s.

It allows you to plan, create, and schedule your social media posts across all social platforms for multiple profiles. You can also track and analyze your social media performance and generate custom reports. A unified inbox helps you organize, reply to, and manage all your social conversations in one place.

32. Onlypult

Onlypult is an all-in-one social media management platform that helps you schedule, publish, monitor, and stream social media content. The publishing feature allows you to post content on up to 14 social platforms simultaneously including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google My Business, TikTok, Tumblr, YouTube, WordPress, Telegram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Pinterest, and Medium.

With Onlypult, you can invite team members to run accounts and assign them roles. You can also build an approval process, comment on scheduled posts, and create shareable content calendar links.

Analytics for business accounts on Instagram provides advanced statistics. Plus, it allows you to customize the parameters for analysis the way you need. With the monitoring feature, you can track brand mentions on social networks.

Other Online Collaboration Tools

33. Canva

Any marketer or business development representative should have collaborative work tools in their workflow, such as Canva. It is a simple graphic design tool with rich features. However, it is not as complex as Photoshop or other design software.

You can create unique designs in minutes and share them with your team. It’s excellent for quickly brainstorming social media images, blog headers, or charts. Their template selection is excellent, with a plethora of stock photos and illustrations. You can also upload your own photos/templates and edit them. 

Once the design is complete, you can share it with your team, complete with customizable access settings. You can leave feedback in the form of comments while working on the same design with your teammates. This feature enables collaboration and easy communication within the team.

34. Trivia

Taking some time off and relaxing with your colleagues is necessary. Working without any recreational activities can lead to burnout. That’s where Trivia helps. This tool allows your team to take brief 5-minute breaks within remote workspaces, such as Slack or MS Teams.

Employees can engage in enjoyable social games such as Instant Quizzes, Pictionary, Emoji Rebus, Hangman, and others. They’ll foster camaraderie by discussing the game afterwards, discovering common interests, and deepening their connections with one another.

Zoom videos are just going to lengthen your efforts. Simply go for Trivia and find the true fun within remote work.

35. Google Drive

Google Drive, a part of the Google Workspace family, is a cloud-based storage and syncing service with a generous free storage plan. It can be used to back up files on your computer as well as store documents you create online.

Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive work seamlessly together. This allows users to edit and save Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents uploaded to Google Drive, as well as collaborate on them in real-time.

Google Drive is an amazing tool that can help you store, back up, create, and edit files. It’s designed to work well for both individuals and teams. In addition to sharing files and folders via email or links, the tool automatically syncs offline folders.

Final Thoughts

We have come to the end of our list of the best online collaboration tools. We can assure you that each of these tools is worth trying and will not leave you disappointed.

Now it’s your turn to check which of the tools align with your requirements and fit your budget. Most of these tools offer trials and free plans. You can try out the one you find suitable and understand how it works for you before investing your resources in it. This means you can make an informed decision and reduce the risk of wasting your resources.

Happy Collaborating!

About the author: Pratik Shinde is a Content Creator at Make SaaS Better and an SEO enthusiast. He helps fast-paced B2B SaaS startups acquire customers through organic marketing efforts. He likes reading philosophy, writing non-fiction, thoughtful walking, running, and travelling.

The post 35 Best Online Collaboration Tools for Teams in 2023 appeared first on Zenkit.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a truth that was already bubbling beneath the surface of corporate America: a strict office schedule isn’t necessary for success. In some cases, it can even get in the way of employee productivity.

That’s part of why many employers, despite ushering their employees back to the office, are leaning into flextime policies. Let’s break down what flextime policies are, how they work, and why you should offer them to your employees if possible.

Flextime Policies Explained

Flextime is best understood as a flexible scheduling arrangement. In a nutshell, it gives both full and part-time employees the option to adjust or modify the hours they work in a given workday. Depending on the company, flextime policies can be more comprehensive or fairly limited; in either case, it doesn’t lock employees into ironclad work schedules.

Say that you previously had a corporate policy that mandated all employees had to be in the office from 8 AM to 5 PM, no matter what and no questions asked. However, when you implement a flextime scheduling policy instead, you give employees the option to arrive at work at 9 AM and work until 6 PM instead. Alternatively, you might allow employees to come in at 7 AM and work until 4 PM if that works better for them.

Bottom line: flextime means more flexible time for your employees, plain and simple.

What Are Chronotypes? And Are They “Real”?

Flextime policies have sprung up as a result of new understandings of the human circadian rhythm, especially the fact that humans have different “chronotypes”.

The circadian rhythm is essentially your biological clock. Most humans have a circadian rhythm that roughly works like this:

• We rise with the sun, typically between 6 AM and 8 AM depending on the season
• We have an afternoon slump in energy around 1 PM to 3 PM when we might want to take a nap
• We get another burst of energy between 5 PM and 7 PM
• We’re ready for bed when the sun sets, usually between 8 PM and 10 PM

However, some people have different chronotypes. For example, “night owls” are folks whose circadian rhythms cause them to have a burst of energy at night, while they feel sluggish in the morning.

Odds are your workplace is composed of employees with a great variety of chronotypes. Most people have a standard chronotype that gels well with the standard 9-to-5 workplace schedule. But the rest of your employees might be night owls or just have slightly different circadian rhythms that result in poor productivity in the workplace.

By implementing flextime policies at your business, you give employees the freedom to choose the working hours that best align with their most productive hours.

Why Offer Flextime to Your Employees?

There are many reasons why you might consider offering flextime schedules to your employees. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

Improved Employee Health

Firstly, flextime policies result in greater employee health. By giving your employees the opportunity to adjust their schedules and working hours, they can ensure they always get enough sleep, which is positively correlated with better mental and physical wellness across the board.

Better Employee Morale

Furthermore, flextime often results in better employee morale. That’s partially due to getting more sleep, as described above, but it’s also because your employees will know that you value them and are focused on their well-being.

When employees know that executives care about their wellness, they’re more likely to feel supported and comfortable at work and less likely to feel burnout. That provides many other workplace benefits as well.

Boosted Employee Loyalty

In addition, flextime policies make your employees more loyal to your company. Given a choice between your brand and a business that offers a slightly higher paycheck but stricter workplace schedules, don’t be surprised if most or all of your employees decide to stay with your brand since you give them the freedom to work when they feel best.

More Productivity

Perhaps most importantly, flextime policies can and do result in more brand productivity. Simply put, when your employees feel productive and are at work, they will do more and better work than otherwise.

For instance, if you have a night owl employee and they have the freedom to come in from 12 PM to 9 PM, they might get more work done than if you forced them to come in from 8 AM to 4 PM. They might have six or seven complete hours of productive work, not counting breaks, as opposed to three or four hours at maximum.

Experience the power of efficient project management.
Sign up for free today!

How to Implement Flextime in Your Workplace

Given the advantages of flextime scheduling, lots of business owners and executives are seeking smart ways to implement this new policy. As with any new policy, careful, safe implementation is just as important as improving the workplace in general.

If you don’t know where to start, try these flextime policy implementation ideas and strategies.

Start with Small Adjustments

Don’t completely change everyone’s schedules all at once. Instead, begin with small adjustments, like giving employees the ability to change their working schedule by one hour in each direction.

Not only will this help everyone get used to the new flextime policy, but it will also ensure that your office continues to run relatively smoothly through the transition period. If the initial flextime policy is a success, you can consider expanding it to allow for even more drastic schedule changes, plus enabling it for new employees so they can utilize it starting on their first day of work. 

Refocus Work Culture and Corporate Expectations

Next, be sure to refocus your work culture and corporate expectations from the top down. Specifically, you need to realign your employees’ focus and make sure they know you care about work getting done well, not necessarily when the work gets done (provided everything is accomplished within project timelines).

You can use examples, such as stating that an employee can come into the office and work from 12 PM to 9 PM so long as they get their work done and lock up when they’re finished. 

Don’t Allow Stigma to Take Hold

As an executive or business owner, you must not allow any stigma or negative employee feelings to take hold in the office. Don’t let employees berate or denigrate each other for taking advantage of flextime policies, and make sure that employees don’t feel subpar or lesser for working at different schedules than their peers.

Offer Flexibility in Other Areas

You can also start to offer proven employees flexibility in other areas as well. That’s because there are additional ways that companies can offer flexibility to employees besides the working hours of the day to improve productivity and efficiency. 

For example, many companies may issue certain employees company credit cards to pay directly for approved company expenditures, the idea being that offering the employees the ability to pay with the cards saves them time from having to go through additional hoops of asking a manager or another individual to pay for the expense instead. This is at no extra cost to the employee either, as the company also pays the processing fees, which are normally no higher than 3.5% of the total transaction, or otherwise refunds the employee for it. 

Provide Educational Information to Employees

Implementing flextime policies can be a little rocky at first, especially if many of your traditional employees don’t see the need for the change. That’s why you should offer educational information to your employees, like seminars and training modules, breaking down the information above.

Teach your employees about circadian rhythms and the necessity of flextime schedules. That’ll ensure that your office feels united in its understanding of the new policy, plus minimize any stigma or bullying that might occur otherwise.

Final Thoughts

Flextime policies have the potential to reinvigorate your workplace and give your employees the time and flexibility they need to succeed. Happy, healthy employees create and maintain productive, profitable businesses. So consider implementing flextime scheduling at your brand ASAP.

The post What Are Flextime Policies? appeared first on Zenkit.

Workplaces have changed drastically since the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many people now working remotely, the idea of team bonding may seem like a thing of the past. However, it’s more important than ever to keep your team connected, even if you can’t be in the same room.

An essential part of any team’s success is feeling connected to one another and working towards a common goal. When you’re all in the same office, building relationships and feeling like you’re part of a team is easy. But when everyone is working remotely, it can be harder to create that sense of camaraderie.

That’s why we’ve created this article with tips on how to keep your team connected with virtual team bonding.

What Is Virtual Team Bonding and Why Is It Important?

Before we get into how to do virtual team bonding, let’s first define what it is. Virtual team bonding is when a team comes together online to socialize and build relationships. This can be done in various ways, such as through online games, office management software tools, group chats, or even just virtually hanging out together.

Virtual team bonding is all about connecting with your team members and building relationships, even when you’re not working in the same place. It’s important because it can help to improve communication, increase trust and understanding, and boost morale. 

The importance of virtual bonding

There are several reasons why virtual team bonding is so important for remote teams:

• Creates a strong support system: In any workplace, it’s important to have a strong support system. When you have a real, full-time remote job, that support system is even more important. By building relationships with your team members, you can create a network of people you can rely on and who will understand what you’re going through.
• Strengthens collaboration: Strong collaboration is essential for any team, but it can be harder to achieve when everyone is working remotely. By taking the time to bond with your team members, you can create a foundation of trust and understanding that will make it easier to work together effectively.
• Helps establish company culture: Company culture is as important for remote workers as it is for employees working from an office. Though it can be harder to establish in a remote setting, you can build and maintain company culture by bringing people together virtually and helping them feel connected to the business.

Tips for Virtual Team Bonding

There are lots of different ways you can improve virtual team bonding. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Connect team members from different departments

In any workplace, it’s important to have strong relationships between different departments. But when everyone is working remotely, those relationships can be harder to foster. A great way to build connections between different departments is to set up a virtual break room.

Invite team members to regular virtual coffee chats, where employees from different departments can meet and talk to each other informally. You can also use remote collaboration channels like Slack or Microsoft Teams to create virtual spaces where people from different departments can connect and chat.

2. Send daily “selfies”

A great way to build relationships and get to know your team members is to send daily “selfies.” This can also be done through a chat program like Zenchat. Every day, each team member can send a photo of themselves along with a brief update on what they’re doing that day.

This is excellent for helping people feel connected to each other and the business. It’s also a fun way to get people talking and bonding.

3. Set up regular virtual social events

Just because everyone works remotely doesn’t mean you can’t have regular social events. Fun virtual social event ideas include:

• Virtual happy hours: Get the team together for a virtual happy hour using video conferencing software like Zoom or Google Hangouts. Make sure everyone has a drink in hand and some snacks to munch on. Then just relax and chat with each other.
• Virtual movie nights: Pick a movie everyone can watch together and use video conferencing software to chat while you all watch. 
• Virtual game nights: There are lots of online games that can be played by teams, such as Jackbox Games or online trivia games. Get the team together for a virtual game night and bond over some friendly competition.

Plan and manage events.
Sign up for free today!

4. Encourage recognition and appreciation

Recognition and appreciation are important for any team, but they can be even more important when everyone is working remotely. It’s easy for people to feel like their work is going unnoticed when they’re not in the same physical space as their colleagues.

When employees and managers are celebrated for their successes, it helps to create a positive and motivating work environment. It also helps to build trust and understanding between team members while motivating everyone to do their best work.

5. Host meditation or yoga sessions

Meditation and yoga can help to reduce stress and promote relaxation. They can also be great for bonding with others. You can host virtual meditation or yoga sessions using team video software like Google Hangouts or Zoom. 

If you’re not sure how to get started, there are plenty of online resources that can help, such as guided meditation videos or yoga classes. You could even hire a professional to lead the sessions.

You could also host virtual wellness seminars where you bring in experts to talk about how employees can take care of their (mental) health. 

One topic to discuss should be getting enough sleep, as it is a crucial part of staying healthy. Sleep deprivation can lead to issues like lowered immunity, high blood pressure, and heart disease, not to mention reduced cognitive performance. For example, did you know that driving after 20 hours without sleep is the equivalent of driving with a 0.10% BAC? Teaching your employees how to practice self-care will decrease stress and employee burnout as well as boost productivity.

6. Organize DIY and cooking activities

DIY activities or cooking together can be a great way to bond with others. It’s also a lot of fun! You could organize a virtual bake-off where everyone makes the same recipe and then compares their results. Or you could launch a virtual DIY project where everyone works on their project and then shares their progress with the group.

Final Thoughts

Virtual team bonding is a great way to build relationships and foster teamwork among remote employees. It is safe to say that virtual positions aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so finding ways to build relationships virtually is crucial. Don’t be afraid to have some fun and get creative – your team will thank you for it.

The post Keep Your Team Connected with Virtual Team Bonding appeared first on Zenkit.

For decades, remote work has been a concept reserved for freelancers, creatives, and tech professionals. Although companies allowing home offices for their employees was not a novel phenomenon, it wasn’t mainstream. A paradigm shift came with the pandemic, making working from home a necessity rather than just a benefit of the workplace. 

This rapid shift showed the benefits and challenges of remote working, affecting team communication and project collaboration. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the home office is here to stay and many companies are adopting hybrid models. Upwork predicts that 73% of teams will have remote workers by 2028.

Digital collaboration tools (like the Zenkit Suite!) that promise better teamwork despite the distance compete for the limelight. With much software to choose from, it’s important for teams and companies to adopt tools that will complement team productivity, supporting their workflow within these new standard work models.

What’s the deal with New Work & Industry 4.0?

We live in the age of New Work and Industry 4.0. New Work defines today’s working society in the global and digital age. The integration of intelligent technologies under the term Industry 4.0 promotes a whole new concept of productivity and efficient systems. But what does all this have to do with remote work?

Well, depending on how you look at it, a little or a lot. The publication of the New York Times bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss is a good place to start making the connection. By demonstrating in his book how individuals can be just as productive in less time through process optimization, a stark contrast was created to the entrenched norm of the 40-hour workweek, initially created for production lines.

The appeal of flexible work hours and the nomadic freedom to prioritize work-life balance has only grown. Remote work and home office are the results of technological development enabling and demonstrating that work can be executed successfully without co-location. Flexjobs estimates that 4.7 million people were already working remotely before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Collaboration tools support this type of lifestyle, where professionals work outside of a traditional office environment, yet going fully digital isn’t as simple as it seems. Besides the fact that having a stable internet connection is an imperative requirement, remote work complicates the integration of corporate culture, as well as team communication, and engagement within tasks and projects.

Whether working in an office or remotely, the art of effective team management and the importance of good workplace communication are key elements and indicators for successful team collaboration. 

Types of work models

With an increasing number of modern variations of working models, we’ve described a few of the most common types:

1. 40-Hour-Workweek, or, the classic 9-to-5

Initially instigated in the 19th century, from workers protesting against gruelling long hours and requesting a reduction, the 40-hour-workweek was created to regulate the working hours of the working class. Ford Motor Company advanced the idea in 1914, which led to increased productivity in the production line. Many companies soon followed suit and the popularized phrase of “8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, and 8 hours for what we will” was born.  

Today, most companies and organizations run on the 40-hour-workweek. Albeit, more out of tradition and habit rather than a deliberate decision based on employee productivity. With this knowledge and recent technological developments, individuals and organizations are reexamining the classic 9-to-5 working model. 

2. Hybrid Model, where Home Office is part of the deal

Hybrid models are usually known to be the best of both worlds. Organizations that have adopted hybrid working models allow employees the freedom to work remote or from home, and at times even to manage flexible working hours. This working model has become more popular in recent years as company infrastructure has developed. Owl Labs estimate that 52% of global employees work remotely once a week, and 68% do so at least once per month. Though hybrid models seem to be the answer for the future of work, only a selected range of job sectors can take advantage of these benefits, particularly due to job requirements and tasks.

3. Remote Work, work without co-location

Working with a view of the Swiss Alps in February, at a seaside hotel in Los Angeles in July, and from a coffee shop in downtown Sydney in October, is a dream come true for some. As much as this idealized version of remote work appeals to many, this type of work model is not exempt from challenges, particularly for the self-employed.

Working remotely gives employees the freedom to answer emails and write up project proposals from any given location, yet being able to support this lifestyle can often be quite challenging when working as a freelancer rather than being directly employed by a private company. Creative freelancers often work on a project-basis, which means that their professional and financial security is deadline-reliant. 

Employees working for fully-remote companies like Zapier and Buffer however, receive the benefits of working remotely while being fully integrated in a company. Although working with peace of mind of receiving monthly paychecks, working for fully-remote companies include challenges too. 

That being said, there’s always a list of advantages and disadvantages. What’s important is finding a style and process that fits and suits your needs best. 

4. 4-Day-Workweek, popular work-life-balance model

In short, the 4-day-workweek model is about reducing working hours from a standard 40 hours to just 32 hours for the same pay and benefits. This work model, adopted by various companies worldwide, focuses on achieving the same output as a 40h week, but in a shorter amount of time. Proven by employees and employers to be successful in optimizing use of time in correlation to productivity, the 4-day-workweek offers flexibility and enables individuals to concentrate on what’s important in their lives.

5. Coworking Spaces, the office alternative for professionals

Considering the progression of work models, there’s a good chance that there’s at least one coworking space in every major city. As hubs of productivity, community, and technology, coworking spaces offer an out-of-home office atmosphere and networking opportunities with others who work in a multitude of industries. 

Fun fact: The first official coworking space appeared in 2005 in San Francisco, USA.

6. Work & Travel, the best of both worlds

Desk jobs aren’t your thing and travelling the world has always been but a mere daydream for you? The work and travel model operates on short-term contract work often based on seasonal work such as during harvest time. Adventurers who enjoy taking each day at a time move location to where the work is. In this case, location is the objective and the type of work is the dynamic subjective.

7. Workation, let’s combine work and leisure

The terms ‘workation’ and ‘bleisure’ gained significant traction as a new market trend in light of the pandemic. A concept for travelling workers or working travellers, where work and vacation were combined in a single location. According to Dr Hayley Stainton, “A workation can be defined as a holiday, during which a substantial amount of time is dedicated to work.”

In Japan, the model was originally a way to realize a variety of work styles and promote creativity and networking opportunities in locations outside of the home and office. Today, various travel and tourism organizations offer workation packages for individuals as well as families. 

Currently, travel restrictions and guidelines are subject to constant change. This in-depth guide on how to practice responsible tourism during COVID-19, prepares any traveller for the journey, whether for travelling to holiday destinations or for business trips.

How have things changed?

Before the pandemic, the office was where millions of us spent about a third of our time. With the range of working models already being implemented by organizations worldwide, why would the pandemic be considered a compelling driver to advance the standardization of home office or remote work? 

Simply put, the conditions of Covid-19 affirmed the urgency of digital transformation in business, and brought an unprecedented shift, designating hybrid working conditions a necessity rather than a benefit. 

The mentality of remote working previously highlighted the benefits for individual employees. Today, home office and remote work is considered an asset for individuals as well as an advantage for company productivity and collaboration. 

From one day to the next, the world was required to adjust. Arguably, the potential of remote work has been realized. At the same time, the challenges and conditions in terms of the privilege interlaced with the arrangement were revealed.

Benefits and challenges at a glance 

+ Remote work is reshaping a future new world of work, popularizing modern working habits while disproving old ideas that working from home leads to low productivity with limited opportunity for collaboration. 

+ The office-to-home transition caused a breakdown of emotional and professional barriers, allowing colleagues and clients a more intimate view into each others’ personal lives.

+ Importance of soft skills have increased as working remotely solicits more intentional interpersonal interactions.

– The potential for remote work is determined by tasks and activities, not occupations. 

– Working from home draws a fine line in an individual’s work-life balance. A heightened level of responsibility and trust is required from managers and employees.

– Affecting more than just personal factors, remote work affects engagement, performance management, means less office space, and more.

Benefits of remote working

Workplace values have been redefined: the future of work is remote. Instead of planning activities in life around working hours, remote working enables individuals to incorporate the necessities of their life and work. 

The popular concept of leading a work-life balance lifestyle advocates for similar objectives, but with different intentions. Work-life balance is a concept referring to the level of prioritization between personal and professional activities in an individual’s life. What many early adopters have come to realize is that the work-life balance lifestyle is a cycle rather than a destination or an achievement. 

1. Flexibility: Remote work grants individuals the opportunity to develop a work-life balance due to the flexibility offered through the working model. 

Remote working or working from home grants employees flexibility where it matters, whether that is picking up the children from school on time or allowing the laundry to dry in the sunlight rather than using the dryer. At best, working from home should reinforce an individual’s work-life balance. 

2. A Healthy Balance: Employees are able to manage their health, tasks, and responsibilities better. Eliminating the commute and rigid routines can alleviate stress to allow individuals to do deep work and grow their creativity. 

The flexible lifestyle isn’t the only thing proving beneficial to remote workers’ mental health and likelihood of company loyalty. Working from home simultaneously requires and fosters individual time and task management, and responsibility. 

Cutting travel time and other forms of mundanity from life, employees are able to focus on work. With less time spent commuting for example, employees are able to manage their health, tasks, and responsibilities better. As a result, a silent expectation for employees to rise to the occasion by living up to their potential is present. 

Despite the expectation, swapping out the busyness of crowded train stations for a 30-minute walk in the neighbourhood park with the dog can cause significant changes to an individual’s health. Now, instead of attending company-run in-person team-building activities, some companies set aside time in the week to encourage employees to engage in activities that inspire and empower them for work and life. 

3. Time Management: Remote work possibly requires more management, however simultaneously allows an increase in creative flow and productive output.

What remote work advocates promote, such as Laurel Farrer in her working remote article, is that “work is something you do, not somewhere you go… For knowledge workers whose roles rely on mobile tools, location should be a daily choice, not a lifestyle commitment.” With the right tools and circumstances, work doesn’t need to be chained to an office desk. 

Granted, working remotely makes employee and task supervision more complex. But with less time lost moving from one office room to another for meetings, and no more lines for afternoon coffee, more time can be invested in getting work done.

Discover the ultimate project management tool.
Sign up for free today!

4. Cost-saving (for businesses): Reducing the need for office space enables companies to invest in other things, preferably to the benefit of employees.

With fewer employees in the office, businesses need less office space, decreasing rent cost exponentially. Instead, companies can opt to invest in supplying employees with the necessary work equipment or offering other benefits as an alternative to the cost of the canteen upkeep.

Challenges of remote working

While eliminating location from the equation brings flexibility, certain concerns are also key variables when considering if and how to implement remote work at a company. Working remotely requires high self-management, time management, and team management. 

Engagement is usually what suffers first due to the distance. Managers and colleagues working from home can’t simply walk over to ask a question about the financial proposal or spend time catching up with their morning brew in the office kitchen on Mondays. Instead, an increase of chat notifications, forwarded emails and dedicated meetings to discuss workflow best describe the workday. 

1. Team Culture: The objective to encourage teamwork and cultivate a team and company spirit remains, although the method to achieve this may have changed.

Team meetings over Zoom or Skype are certainly different from those held in the office meeting room. When working with distributed teams, distance should merely be considered a factor rather than an obstacle for team integration. 

The method for scheduling and conducting meetings may have changed, but the objective to encourage teamwork and team spirit remains. Managers as well as coworkers require and should actively seek interpersonal relationships within the workplace. Just like work isn’t tied to a location, company culture isn’t contained in a building. Rather, corporate culture is cultivated by the individuals that make up the company.

The responsibility and journey for cultivating a strong and effective team and company culture is an individual process. That being said, there are ways and certain remote team management mistakes to avoid to make the process easier.

2. Management: Using productivity tools to manage and regulate team, task, and time management is the answer.

Every company uses software for everyday business operations. With oodles to choose from, it’s the team and company’s responsibility to evaluate which tools best support both internal and external business operations. Some companies use Suites, while others mix & match; some even create their own apps for internal processes.

Either way, when it comes down to the wire, productivity tools and team management software is a growing billion dollar business with a mixture of advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, team management software can build stronger teams. At the same time, it’s vital to analyze whether a productivity tool is actually enabling team productivity or not at all.   

3. Party for the privileged? Remote work is only available for those working in sectors or jobs that are primarily made up of online tasks and activities.

Praised for all of the benefits, working remotely isn’t available as a viable option for everyone. Hospitals, supermarkets, hairdressers, and other services will necessarily continue to be in-person. Although technology has certainly enabled medical consultations and other services to be handled online, not everything can be solved digitally. Even with advancements in machine learning and robotics, it’s hard to envision massage parlours or operating rooms to switch to robot-only employees. 

Research into the future of remote work from McKinsey Global Institute indicates that the potential for work is determined by tasks and activities, not occupations. Professionals able to avail of remote work fall into categories of highly skilled, highly educated workers in various industries, occupations, and geographies. For those already working with digital and mobile tools, like those working in the IT, communications, and marketing sector, the option of home office is often already included in the contract.

Collaboration tools for the workplace: the tools that keep employees productive despite distance

One of the most impactful changes the pandemic brought was to the way humans work. Businesses switched to digital collaboration tools for team communication, project management, and more. The best collaboration tools facilitate effective teamwork for tasks and projects, primarily in a streamlined manner.

In this case, there is no ‘one software fits all’, since the tools companies require should strengthen and support individual business operations and the organizational structures.  A countless list of applications and their alternatives are available for any type of work and team size. We’ve listed a few categories essential for remote teams: 

Chat Apps

The most widely used mobile apps are chat apps, because communication is necessary to get any work done. Originally created to replace email conversations, enterprise chat apps are essential internal communication platforms for teams today. Every company uses enterprise messaging applications to facilitate and boost teamwork, communication, and collaboration. 

The most popular enterprise chat apps allow teams to not only communicate with one another but also on specific topics, projects, and tasks. Depending on the interface, chat apps for business include features allowing teams to create channels, categorize topics, use quick edits, manage tasks, share files, conduct export functions, and more.

Top 4 Chat Apps for Business:

1. 1. Zenchat
   2. Slack
   3. Chanty
   4. Yammer

Video Conferencing Tools

Remote teams don’t have the option of organizing a team meeting in the boardroom on a Wednesday morning. Instead, video conferencing tools are used for coaching sessions, the quarterly report, team-building activities like Friday mocktail hour, and the company Christmas party.

The pandemic certainly accelerated the future of video communication. Microsoft Teams received an increase of 55 million users within a 5-month period and the latest report of the conference call company, Zoom, shows an 88% year-over-year jump in revenue.  

But it’s not just the conferencing tool companies who have realized the advantages and profits video communication brings to teams. Switching to video conferencing tools allows individuals to participate in meetings from the convenience of their own home, supports the flexible schedules of working parents and ultimately influences company culture. Significant features of such tools include screen sharing, presentation mode, meeting annotation, and creating subgroups within a meeting.

Top 4 Video Conferencing Tools for Business:

1. 1. Zoom
   2. Skype
   3. Microsoft Teams
   4. GoTo Meeting 

Project Management Software

Managing projects is no simple job. Tracking deadlines, updating task iterations, and communicating the project status to stakeholders are tasks project managers need to handle on a daily basis. 

Project management software enables teams to manage individual tasks and resources within projects.  Built for agile teams, project management tools include features such as tracking project progress, task management, project view switching, and plenty of other collaboration features.      

Top 5 Project Management Tools for Business:

1. 1. Projects
   2. Asana
   3. Wrike
   4. Basecamp
   5. Zoho Projects

Knowledge Management Software

Knowledge management software are excellent tools for teams to manage everything from internal company processes such as onboarding information to managing a customer database. Primarily focused on the collection, storage, and organization of data and information, these tools help teams with all sorts of administrative tasks.

Top 4 Knowledge Management Tools for Business:

1. 1. Hypernotes
   2. Base
   3. Salesforce
   4. Pipedrive

Learn about the different types of knowledge management processes and find more alternatives in Knowledge Management Tools 2021.

Tools for Centralized Storage 

Shoot for the stars, but keep your files secure in the Cloud. Cloud file storage is a necessity for remote teams, permitting file access to team members, whether they live a 30-minute drive from the office or working remotely in another country. The best tools for centralized storage support all file types, sync across multiple devices, track document changes, and integrate well with other applications. 

Top 4 Business Tools for Centralized Storage:

1. 1. Microsoft Sharepoint
   2. Google Drive
   3. Dropbox
   4. Box

We’ve only listed a few tools useful for teams working remotely. Find more alternatives in 50 Must-Have Remote Working Tools And Apps.

Practical tips for a balanced home office routine

The right tools certainly help get the job done, but even with advanced tech running on artificial intelligence, humans still have to put in the work. These are our tips for a balanced home office routine: 

Get dressed

Overcoming the notion to stay in your pajamas all day is a good tangible step that helps you mentally prepare for the workday. Select a few outfits that are both presentable and comfortable, so you are prepared for the odd-chance when your boss unexpectedly calls for a meeting.

Establish boundaries

Distractions are bound to happen. To best navigate such situations, establish boundaries, whether that may be to set specific times to go on breaks, schedule packages to arrive only at certain times, or communicate your availability to your children and spouse. 

Tip: Turn off desktop notifications when doing deep work and set all applications settings on silent, especially when in meetings.

Stick to routines

The urgency of staying online and always being available increases when working from home. Just do as you would in the office: take time to get your coffee, spend a few minutes catching up with a colleague via chat, and respond to emails when you normally do. 

Home office allows more flexibility, however routines help in more than just sticking to a daily schedule. Some things to remember: Make sure to stick to your standard work hours, don’t skip the lunch break, and try not to work overtime.

Tip: Even with boundaries and routines, remember to stay flexible when things don’t go as planned. Humans aren’t robots and that’s a good thing. 

Get out and about (unless self-isolating)

Without the commute, we might spend most of our days enclosed in our houses. Make time for walks around the block, trips to nature parks, or even a quick drive to a local bakery for the morning coffee and breakfast fix. 

Additionally, fresh air and sunshine are great for both the mind and soul. Taking care of one’s health with enough physical activity and time for relaxation is perhaps even more necessary now when most of our daily interactions happen online.

Take regular breaks

Downtime is necessary for technology devices; the same goes for humans. Research states that brief diversions from a task can improve an individual’s ability to focus. When we take a short break from hours of deep work, we essentially reward our brain with a downtime. 

There are various techniques and systems on how to train yourself to focus. And though daily to-do lists are great, the essence of time blocking is to produce high-quality output within a specific amount of time. 

Check in with colleagues regularly

Because it’s not just always about work. Cultivating relationships help any employee to feel at ease and accepted within a company. Most of the time, we may not know what challenges our neighbor may be going through, even more so when we don’t work in back-to-back cubicles or a shared office space.

Even more reason to make it a habit to type your colleagues some greetings every now and then, or send them encouraging messages to make their day. That said, I hope you have a great day!

All remote work statistics are sourced from Review24’s Remote Work Statistics for 2021.

Image credits from Andrew Neel, Daria Shevtsova, Sarah Chai from Pexels;  AltumCode, Sigmund, and ThisisEngineering RAEng from Unsplash; and Giphy.

That’s a wrap! It’s exciting to see how much has changed in a short amount of time. What are your thoughts on the variety of modern working models? Our team has run on a hybrid model within the last year and have experienced the impact that digital collaboration tools have on team productivity and collaboration. We hope, as probably most other companies do too, to navigate back to more in-person meetings and workshops soon. How has your team navigated teamwork this past year? 

Cheers,

Jessica and the Zenkit Team

The post Home Office and Remote Work: How to Improve Team Collaboration appeared first on Zenkit.

Without communication, there is no cake.

Communication is among the top concerns in the workplace. Ineffective communication or lack thereof can have significant detrimental effects on a project outcome and an organization. Just as flour is a key ingredient when baking a cake, good communication is a key ingredient for business. Communication in the workplace is necessary for any project or task, whether you are working alone or in a team.

Communication in the workplace is central to the success of any business. We spend a shocking amount of time, around 80% of our day, communicating. Workplace communication takes different forms: writing emails, phone calls, group meetings, company presentations, coffee break chats, task and project communication… and this list doesn’t even touch on non-verbal communication.

What Is Workplace Communication? 

Workplace communication is the manner by which employees exchange information and ideas within an organization. Communication is a crucial aspect to achieve organizational objectives and get any job done, whether in-person or virtually.

Workplace Communication Is More Important Than Ever Before

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes to work and workplace communication across numerous industries. More businesses find themselves in the process of navigating the effective transition from in-person to virtual business. 

Working from home (also known as remote work and telework) has become the “new normal” for many companies due to the pandemic. This accelerated digital shift also redefines the way we communicate and the function of workplace communication.

With many teams working from home, organizations (now) focus (more) on managing virtual workplace communication via the use of communication tools. The significant increase in businesses investing in communication technology due to the pandemic signals the direct connection between communication and productivity. 

Why Is Communication in the Workplace Important?

Data shows that businesses with engaged management and strong communication networks are more likely to achieve their organizational goals. Teams that have good communication help team members collaborate and participate effectively in achieving defined organizational goals. With everyone on the same page, a high-performance culture is created, all because of good workplace communication.

Interpersonal communication skills are what can distinguish a manager from a leader in the workplace. According to Robert L. Katz, an American social and organizational psychologist and creator of the concept of managerial skills, the three basic types of management skills are technical skills, conceptual skills, and human or interpersonal skills. 

Results of the 2017 GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey show that employers rank and consider communication skills, followed by teamwork and technical skills, most important when hiring new employees. According to the study, companies consider communication skills twice as important as managerial skills.

How to Have Good Communication in the Workplace

Workplace communication plays a vital role in the development of an organization and is a central aspect of completing any job. Without communication, there will be limited progress on tasks, projects, and the development of company goals. 

Productivity is strongly dependent on good communication. Where good workplace communication provides common goals, fosters teamwork, and creates company rapport, ineffective workplace communication can have detrimental consequences to a project or business partnership, such as production mistakes or missed deal-breaker meetings with investors. 

Simplify your project communication and task management with our user-friendly project management software.
Sign up for free today!

What does good communication look like?

• Good communication provides purpose and a common goal.
• Good communication can prevent misunderstandings and avoid confusion.
• Good communication stimulates team building and boosts company culture.
• Good communication encourages employee engagement and improves morale.
• Good communication often results in a more productive and talented workforce.

Tips on how to have effective communication at work:

• Give clear instructions on tasks and state what results are expected.
• Encourage open discussion and feedback exchange.
• Communicate frequently and with transparency.
• Provide specific and descriptive constructive criticism.
• Schedule regular employee check-ins.
• Use the right tools for your business.
• Organize team building activities.
• Continually work on your communication development.

The pandemic has certainly brought a host of structural adjustments. Digital tools and revised approaches for the interpersonal exchange of ideas continue to play a part in today’s work environment and contribute to work culture. 

Helpful Tools to Foster Effective Team Communication

Communication tools and collaborative platforms are now, more than ever, integral parts of a company toolkit. Depending on the company and team size, structure, and needs, employees might use a handful of tools for internal and external communication. 

Choosing the right communication tool for your company hinges on various factors and required features which need to be addressed and defined before starting your search. Although team collaboration tools certainly are beneficial to team and project management, good communication and engaged employees are the top two elements of effective team collaboration, so in some cases, this should be something to work on prior to choosing a tool. 

There are companies that believe implementing a tool will automatically make the team and processes more efficient. Sadly, this is not the case; therefore, the effectiveness of team task management systems should be monitored over a period of time and adjusted if needed. 

The primary goal of any communication medium is to maximize connectivity. Many companies utilise diverse and distinctive tools for communication and collaboration. We’ve listed five standard tools used for workplace communication:

1. Email is here to stay

Probably the most common form of workplace communication is via email. Well suited for both internal and external communication, several companies have tried to replace email with chat. Employee intranet apps and chatbots have helped foster communication in sectors like customer service and sales, however, other sectors like press and business relations continue to be handled best via email and scheduled meetings. 

If your company requires an upgrade and centralization of email conversations for business, switching to an email provider with customer relationship management (CRM) features can help boost the performance of your email outreach. 

2. Project management tools are becoming common for personal and professional use

Many companies and individuals are riding the wave of the mindset of agile work. Project management has crossed from corporate to consumer use with plenty of software to choose from with unique features for every need. 

The use of project management tools is multifaceted. Most software is great for team collaboration (like Zenkit ;)) as well as a suitable tool helping keep University students organized and productive. If your team or company requires shared dashboards to keep tasks updated and team members informed of project progress, safe to say we recommend considering using a project management tool.   

3. Integrating chat into the workflow

It’s no surprise that chat is considered a standard form of communication. Plenty of teams have personal employee chat software where employees and teams can communicate and collaborate over anything work-related (or send pictures of their dog!). 

Corporate chat apps provide unique features best suited for the workplace environment. These tools are preferred by many to keep personal and professional communication separate. Company chat tools are common within international companies with dispersed teams and hubs. Nonetheless, chat apps are continuing to become more of a mainstream method of communication within any size or type of company. 

While some chat apps focus on communicating via channels and integrating a centralized location for workplace communication and data storage, others specialize in combining chat with task management (like Zenchat ;)). If your email inbox quickly gets overrun with a chat-like conversation, we think it’s time to acknowledge the need for a company chat tool.

4. Meetings get a makeover

Although many employees like to complain about sitting in meetings that could have easily been emails, meetings are an indispensable part of work life. Tools have no control over how meetings are run, but they certainly can provide opportunities and features that assist team collaboration and communication.

The pandemic has forced the world to go digital. And with this need, virtual meeting tools have quickly become part of the most used software for business and leisure. Due to the increasing demand for virtual meeting tools, developers have been working at full speed to meet demands for features that allow teams and individuals to replicate in-person meetings as best as possible. 

5. Storing everything in the Cloud

Classic search engines may have us believe that data is pulled from space, however, all our data is actually stored in the Cloud. We produce and store significant amounts of data. In fact, we collectively produce shy of 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day! On a normal day, 306.4 billion emails and 500 million Tweets are sent. (Techjury)

Companies with huge data centers ranging from sizes of football fields to small towns provide users with the ability to store, access and distribute data via the Internet. Upgrading to the Cloud is one of the most beneficial, if not essential, procedures companies should do and invest in. 

Photo credits: krakenimages and Surface via Unsplah, GIF 01 and GIF 02 via Giphy

Final Thoughts

As you can probably tell, good communication has an important role in the workplace. The pandemic has shifted the way in which we communicate and the role communication plays in our daily lives. Who would’ve thought that the entire world would begin to live a nearly virtual life, with working from home and online school becoming the “new normal”? 

Either way, we hope you are staying safe and able to continue life with the help of digital tools. Whether you use project management or team chat tools for professional or personal use, we’d love to know which are your favorite and why.

Cheers,
Jessica and the Zenkit team 

The post Tips and Tools for Effective Workplace Communication appeared first on Zenkit.

We spent most of our day-to-day communicating. Whether that be in the form of verbal communication to our loved ones before leaving the house, through written communication via emails or reading the news, or engaging in (virtual) conversation via chat apps. 

According to the Measurement of Time Spent Communicating, 50-80% of our workday is spent communicating and two-thirds of that time is spent talking. Now that’s a LOT of chatting, I’d say.

Conversation Is the Core of Life

Communication is at the heart of everything. Disagree with me? Communication is one of the most intrinsic parts of life. Life without the ability to communicate seems unimaginable. Even those who cannot communicate verbally have ways to communicate with others in society through, for example, sign language. 

Communication is the ability to interact with others and the world; to communicate is to live. We love to communicate and in the digital age use technology such as chat apps or social media to express ourselves, share our opinions, and engage in (digital) conversation.

Chat apps are considered an integral part of personal and business communication. Whether the use of chat apps in the workplace benefit employee productivity is a separate debate in and of itself. However, more often than not, the people we see glued to their phones have a chat app open. Even if they are currently reading the news or scrolling through social media, the (message and) share button and our intrinsic need to connect with others veer us toward sharing this consumed information with others (eventually).

“Human beings need a medium to communicate emotions, instinctive or intuitive feelings as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.” – Dr. Suman Kumar Katsuri

Why Good Communication Isn’t a Given

Just like any skill in life, communication is an art form. You’d think that because we all communicate, we’d all be experts at it, but this is sadly not the case. Communication is very complex and incorporates the action and understanding of a variety of factors such as verbal communication, the act of ‘converting’ concepts such as ideas or emotions into words, our body language… 

There’s even a field dedicated to understanding how humans communicate called anthroposemiotics wherein experts analyze and aim to explain human interaction. The complexity of communication makes interaction difficult at times while simultaneously providing a variety of alternate opportunities to be creative and expand current knowledge. Good communication is therefore not a given, due to a diversity of factors rather than for lack of a predetermined system. The beauty of communication thus lies in complexity. 

Tools We Use to Communicate

Now that we’ve established that communication is an intrinsic part of life, let’s look at one of the most common forms we use almost daily to communicate with one another. We use tools like chat apps, email and other forms of media to communicate with family, friends, colleagues, businesses, and even strangers at times. Chat apps, however, take the cake as the number one preferred medium of communication for ease of use and accessibility.

Simplify your project communication and task management with our user-friendly project management software.
Sign up for free today!

Chat apps have since upgraded from the original instant messaging (IM), and have surpassed the use of short message service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS) entirely. Alongside the development of new chat apps and mediums of communication, new and specific features have been developed to match users’ needs and demands. 

The rise of emojis, originally created in Japan in the 1990s, in conversation was a milestone for chat apps. Not being tied solely to a text-based conversation, emoticons, better known as emojis, allowed for further expression in conversation. Those who can remember manually typing a smiley face in conversation understand the limitations keyboard shortcuts had on facial expressions. Likewise, those who never knew a time before emojis have probably never written a message or email without using one. 

In the time span of a decade, chat apps have expanded to include voice and video messages, calls, and business or payment options incorporated as features in the app itself. 

Before we group chat apps into use cases, though, it’s important to define what a chat app actually is. 

Definition of a Chat App

A chat app (also known as a messaging app) is a private application or platform enabling communication, mainly transmitted via messages. A message, which may be delivered by various means, is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. (Wiki)

Messages sent via chat apps are secured by end-to-end encryption between two or more people. Many chat apps have developed into broad platforms to include news, business, payment, and other various networking functions.

List of Most Common Chat Apps and Alternatives (per Use Case)

Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s take a look at a variety of different chat apps according to their most common use case.

The most classic chat apps are far from standard considering the number of new features that have been rolled out in the last few years alone and the timeline of features to come. These chat apps have a high international user base and are considered the standard for chat apps.

1. WhatsApp

First and foremost we have WhatsApp, a free and reliable messaging and calling app allowing people to communicate and stay in touch with family and friends. With an approximate monthly active user base of 1.6 million, WhatsApp is considered the most-used instant messaging app on the market. 

Download WhatsApp: Android, iOS

2. Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is the chat app of the social networking platform Facebook but has developed into an impressive standalone communication app users use to connect and communicate with one another. The most significant benefit is that Messenger interacts with other Facebook services giving users access to a variety of features outside of the standard feature set in chat apps.

Download Messenger: Android, iOS

3. Viber Messenger

A popular alternative that often seems to fall under the radar is Viber Messenger. Viber includes prized features such as the ability to edit and delete conversations and pictures, use a self-destruct timer to set disappearing messages, worldwide news, community building, and an extensive sticker library. 

Download Viber: Android, iOS

The Snowden revelations in 2013 set off a significant wave towards self-governance and data privacy. Where conversation is concerned, no one wishes their personal chat to be accessed by a third party. For users who wish to protect their privacy and data as much as possible, these privacy-conscious chat apps are the best alternatives. 

4. Signal

Arguably the most common chat app advertising privacy and data security is Signal. Built for security and usability, many users value Signal for its open-source, peer-reviewed and scalable encryption for conversation. Signal operates as an independent nonprofit, which truly makes it one-of-a-kind. 

Download Signal: Android, iOS

5. Telegram Messenger

A similarly strong competitor putting security and privacy above all else is Telegram. Aiming for accessibility and usability, Telegram’s features include heavily encrypted and self-destructing chats, the ability to customize the messenger to personal taste, and has no size limit for media and chats that can hold up to 200,000 group members.

Download Telegram: Android, iOS

6. Threema

Another popular chat app making its statement on security and data privacy is the Swiss-run app Threema. Apart from the standard open source and contact verification requirement, Threema enables anonymous chats, the use of distribution lists and polls, and the use of bots to send messages or interact with other applications.  

Download Threema: Android, iOS

Communication is integral for any business. Depending on the company size or sector and team makeup, investing in the use of a chat app for the company or an employee chat app can be game-changing. Chat apps created for business have diverse features and functions particularly geared toward business relations, whether internal or external company needs. 

7. Zenchat

Priorities for team messaging have shifted with the increase of remote teams and working from home. Zenchat is a team messenger with built-in task management aiming to solve the disorganized mess of chat and work to make team chat more productive.

Download Zenchat: Android, iOS

8. Slack

As one of the most popular chat apps for business, Slack is known for its channels and integration of third-party apps like Google Drive, Giphy, project management tools and other business products. Initially created as a replacement to email, Slack was designed for team communication promoting a better way of communicating and focusing on improving internal communications in the corporate sector, wherein Microsoft Teams is a strong contender.

Download Slack: Android, iOS

9. Skype

Probably one of the most recognizable apps for business is Skype. With extensive cross-platform support and reliable video and voice calls, even directly to phone numbers, the app continues to be a favorite in the corporate sector for team conversations and meetings.

Download Skype: Android, iOS

We all have individual wants and needs. For users looking for particular features closely tied to their niche or better fitting to their preferences, these chat apps with unique features stand out from the rest in their sector.

10. WeChat

With a strong monopoly in the Chinese market, WeChat is a dynamic all-in-one communication app. The cross-sector service with an estimated 1.1 million monthly active users includes features such as payment options, business connections, and other networking functions.

Download Snapchat: Android, iOS

11. LINE

Often referred to as the “Facebook of Japan”, the Japanese-developed chat app LINE positions itself as an all-in-one communication tool. Additional features include an extensive sticker library, in-app games, worldwide news, and payment options. LINE prioritizes integrating networking functions to enhance users’ ability to communicate and interact with one another.

Download LINE: Android, iOS

12. Discord

A current popular choice for users outside the gaming community is Discord. The chat app is organized into topic-based channels and likens to YouTube, wherein users produce content for community engagement. While Discord is gaining popularity amongst the younger generation, it is important to note that the platform does not use end-to-end encryption for its messages.  

Download Discord: Android, iOS

You’ve hopefully been able to gain a concise overview and understanding of how chat apps seem to govern our day-to-day, whether at work or in our free time. Although all types of chat apps have the classic required feature set, not all chat apps share a similar focus. If we truly communicate so much every day, it certainly pays off to choose the type of chat app that allows you to communicate the way best suited to your personal needs. 

Photo credits: Adem Azys and Robin Worrall via Unsplash

Final Thoughts

I have become more and more aware of how often I communicate personally with colleagues, friends and family via chat apps. I use a variety of chat apps for both work and personal communication. Do you also use more than one chat app? I’d love to know what your preferences are and why.

Cheers,
Jessica and the Zenkit Team

The post Chat – The (Digital) Replacement for Conversation appeared first on Zenkit.

If you hear the term “wiki”, chances are you immediately think of Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia or WikiLeaks, Julian Assange’s multinational media organization and associated library.

But what a lot of people don’t know is that there’s a whole realm of wiki that isn’t limited to the two aforementioned websites.

In this article, we’ll not only take a look at wiki as you know it, but also at wiki software, team wiki, personal wiki, and how it all contributes towards excellent team collaboration.

What Is a Wiki?

According to Wikipedia, perhaps the most well-known wiki, a wiki is a “knowledge base website on which users collaboratively modify content and structure directly from the web browser.”

Launched in 1995, the first-ever wiki was created by Ward Cunningham called the WikiWikiWeb (it still exists today!). Cunningham wanted to build something that would enable a quick exchange of information between programmers, hence why he chose the name “wiki”, which derives from the Hawaiian word for “quick”.

A wiki website differs from viewing-only websites as it welcomes people to collaborate on the information. The intention of a wiki is not to draw in experts or professionals on a certain topic, instead, it encourages everyday visitors to contribute and collaborate on the content. This is why most wiki designs are based on simplicity.

Attributes of a Wiki

According to Cunningham and his co-author, Bo Leuf, of the book The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web, a wiki requires the following prerequisites:

• Members of a certain wiki can easily upload and edit all pages of the wiki, using standard, simple text that doesn’t include extra add-ons.
• Pages within the wiki site can be linked to one another with associated topics.
• A wiki encourages an ongoing creation and collaboration of knowledge and information between members of a wiki and regular visitors.

The Misuse of Wikis

Wikis often get a bad rap as sources of reliable information due to their openness and promotion of contribution. While it is common for wikis to only allow members to edit and publish content, there are wikis that don’t require membership at all, and editing and uploading text is open to the public. This can, of course, invite vandals to a page.

Vandalism

There is a high potential for vandalism on publicly-accessible wikis. Because contribution isn’t restricted to members only, anyone can add profanity, upload explicit images, or even delete the content of a page.

However, just as it’s easy for people to misuse a wiki, the damage can be rectified just as quickly. Most wikis enable readers to report mishandled information, and admins can block repeat offenders.

Edit Wars

Edit wars are a more subtle form of vandalism where two or more people edit a wiki page to more strongly reflect their opinions on a topic. Most prevalent with controversial topics, an edit war will see a page constantly being edited, re-edited, and reverted so that the various outlooks are expressed to a greater or lesser degree.

Wiki Software

Your beloved wiki websites are operated on what is known as wiki software. A great tool for online team collaboration, wiki software allows users to create and edit pages through a web browser. There are three types of commonly used wiki software:

Public Wiki

Public wiki is perhaps what most people are familiar with. These are websites such as Wikipedia, WikiHow, and Wiktionary, where anyone is invited to edit their content. Oftentimes, however, users are required to register if they want to contribute. Public wikis are the ones most susceptible to misuse and vandalism.

Team Wiki

Common within enterprises and organizations, a private team wiki is a great way to communicate and collaborate with individuals across a company. Basically a knowledge base or intranet, it’s closed off and accessible to only the employees of an organization, with different levels of access given to various individuals.

Having a company wiki tool can encourage staff members to share their expertise with the rest of the team. Someone in the sales department, for instance, can give public speaking tips, or someone in the back office can advise on how to use the recycling bins correctly. It would also be an ideal platform for virtual teams to collaborate on.

Given that the team wiki has to be used by various members with, presumably, various levels of technical skill, it’s always best to use wiki software that’s user-friendly and easy to edit.

Personal Wiki

A personal wiki allows an individual to organize their data in a style that’s comparable to traditional, community-edited wikis. It usually doesn’t enable multiple-user access, meaning that access is limited to you (the user).

A wiki tool can be used to help you to be more productive. You can organize personal data, plan a hobby project, or manage work information. And because it’s private only to you—and the people you authorize access to—you can store confidential and personal information without the risk of it being vandalized or misused.

Who Would Benefit from Using a Wiki Tool?

Wikis are a great platform for collaboration between like-minded people and those who share a common objective (such as colleagues or students who attend the same institution). Here are some examples of how wikis can be used:

Fan Groups and Communities

Wikis are a great way to relay information between people who are passionate about a common interest. Just imagine the content contribution efforts from a group of people who are enthusiastic about the same topic!

Whether it’s a television franchise such as RuPaul’s Drag Race or an association of dog lovers, there are many groups and communities that could use a wiki to share news and updates, discuss the topic in-depth, or simply express their love and passion.

Education Bods

Introducing a wiki tool in the classroom can benefit both teachers and students as it supports a collaborative working environment. It can help lay the foundations for self-education and strengthen online learning.

By collaborating on a wiki, students are no longer just absorbers of information, but also creators. And teachers can use them to plan course curricula and to share information with other teachers.

Businesses, Big or Small

As a great content management system, businesses can use wiki software on an enterprise level for their company intranet and/or knowledge base system. It would work as a great communication network between departments and offices.

It would also be a great tool for facilitating business processes such as employee onboarding. New staff members would have the ability to locate any information they need to successfully integrate into the new company.

Freelancers

Whether you’re a self-employed writer, designer, or consultant, freelancers can use personal wikis to organize their clients and commissions.

Experienced freelancers can accumulate a range of clients with commissions from different industries or with varying formats. Using a wiki tool as a database can be ideal to locate and archive all of your assignments and projects. It can also be used as a simple CRM tool.

The Benefits of Using a Wiki Tool to Enhance Collaboration

The notion of collaborative work is that it’s supposed to improve as more people contribute. Here’s how using a wiki tool within your school, organization, or community can help boost collaboration amongst its members.

1. It fosters knowledge sharing

Sharing knowledge is always great because there’s something new you can learn every day. Not only can using a wiki tool promote further learning, but it can increase a collective’s brainpower. For instance, if everyone within an organization were to share bits of knowledge, then the organization’s intelligence level would also increase.

2. It requires contribution from others

Simply put, a wiki won’t work without contributions from multiple users. The very nature of its format is dependent on input from more than one person, and the input isn’t just adding text on text.

Wikis encourage content improvement. The purpose of it being accessible to multiple people is so that if someone knows more about a topic than what’s currently stated, they have the opportunity to add it in. There’s also room for editing and correcting which helps to refine the content.

3. It’s open to everyone

Cunningham’s intention when developing the wiki was to create something that everyone could contribute to. There is enough content out there written by experts, and what makes a wiki special is that it’s open to everyone. This is a huge part of the reason why wikis are traditionally easy to use and simple in structure.

4. It encourages engagement

Having the opportunity to contribute to a wiki can be enough to encourage engagement. Seeing your peers provide information can be an inspiration for anyone to do the same thing. It can offer a sense of involvement and enhance collaboration.

Final Thoughts

By fostering knowledge sharing, emphasizing contribution, encouraging engagement, and being a simple enough tool for anyone to access, wikis can be a great source of information.

Whether you’re looking for details on a unique topic or you want to facilitate your work, due to the collaborative efforts of multiple users, the information shared isn’t really comparable to anything else you can find online.

What’s your favourite wiki?

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post How Using a Wiki Tool Can Enhance Collaboration appeared first on Zenkit.

Your team is your business’s most valuable asset.

But there’s more to a successful team than simply grouping a bunch of people together and expecting them to deliver quality results.

For your team to be truly effective, not only does each member have to possess the necessary skills, qualities, and characteristics that can contribute to the team’s prosperity, but they all have to be able to work together—as a team if you will.

In this article, we’ll show you why these team effectiveness models are so popular and how you can use them with your team.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn from this article:

• What makes each model so unique
• Which model you should use with your team

7 Popular Team Effectiveness Models and For What They’re Best Suited

The following models can help to measure team effectiveness in your company.

1. Rubin, Plovnick, and Fry’s GRPI Model of Team Effectiveness

The GRPI model stands for goals, roles, procedures, and interpersonal relationships. As one of the oldest models for team effectiveness, it was first introduced by Richard Beckhard in 1972 to help with understanding team behaviour. It was then made popular in 1977 by doctors Irwin Rubin, Mark Plovnick, and Ronald Fry.

The model consists of four components:

Goals: Teams must have clear objectives and desired accomplishments in order to be effective. Without evident direction, it can lead to disputes and disagreements. 

Roles: Each and every team member is required to know their responsibilities, authority, and what they’re accountable for. Not knowing this can also lead to conflict.

Procedures: There have to be set processes in place in order for the team to operate successfully. This includes, but isn’t limited to, decision-making methods, workflow procedures, conflict resolution strategies, and communication best practices.

Interpersonal relationships: It’s crucial for team members to develop relationships with one another that are based on trust, good communication, and adaptability.

Best suited for: Teams who have lost their direction and need to find their way back into the swing of things.

2. Tuckman’s FSNP Model

Bruce Tuckman introduced the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing (FNSP) model in 1965. It is made up of four sequential stages in group development, from the first time the team meet to the completion of the project. In 1977, along with Mary Ann Jensen, he added a fifth stage, Adjourning.

The stages required to achieve team effectiveness are:

• Forming: This is the very first stage where team members first meet each other, and goals and objectives are agreed upon. Because everyone would have just met, it’s not unusual for people to still act independently.
• Storming: The second stage is when people start to open up and trust begins to build. Team members begin to understand each other’s different working styles and figure out how to work as a team. Managing complaints and conflict for the first time also happens in this stage.
• Norming: Team members realize the importance of working towards the team’s success and taking on responsibility. They start to accept and tolerate everyone’s quirks for the sake of the group.
• Performing: By this stage, the team has built trust with each other and is motivated to work together to achieve shared goals.
• Adjourning: Once the project is over, an assessment is performed. Plans are made for changes and individual contributions are acknowledged.

Best suited for: People who want to understand the various stages that make up team development within group projects.

3. The Katzenbach and Smith Model

Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith developed this team effectiveness model in 1993 after studying various teams who were experiencing challenges in their work environments.

They define a team as “a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable.” The model suggests that there are five levels of teamwork:

1. 1. Working group: Team members are operating as individuals and not together.
   2. Pseudo-team: Team members think they’re operating as a team, but are in fact, still working as individuals.
   3. Potential team: Team members are starting to work together.
   4. Real team: The team has accomplished a shared goal.
   5. High-performing team: Team members go beyond working together and are dedicated to each other’s development.

Their model showcases effective teams in a triangular diagram with the potential three outcomes (and what teams should strive for) as the three points: collective work products, personal growth, and performance results.

To get there, they must work on the following three-team effectiveness factors, which make up the sides of the triangle:

• Skills: Problem-solving, technical, and interpersonal are a few examples of the skills every team member should possess.
• Accountability: There should be mutual accountability as well as individual accountability when it comes to group projects and tasks.
• Commitment: Dedication to work is more likely when everyone on the team is engaged and focused on group objectives.

Best suited for: Teams with members who are finding it difficult to transition from an individual working mindset to a team working mindset.

4. The LaFasto and Larson Model

In their version of a team effectiveness model, Dr. Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson studied 6,00o team members and leaders across various industries and organizations in 2001 to come up with the elements of an effective team.

Initially called the “Five Dynamics of Team Work and Collaboration”, they narrowed it down to five elements:

1. Team member: What kind of skills and characteristics do they possess? Are they the right fit for the role?
2. Team relationships: When you select someone with a great attitude, then forming good working relationships won’t be so difficult.
3. Team problem solving: When there are good working relationships within the team, it can assist in making group decisions easier and reduce conflict.
4. Team leadership: Having a leader that encourages and engages their team is crucial to their success.
5. Organization environment: The likelihood of commitment from a team is increased when there are the right methods and company culture in place.

LaFasto and Larson determined that although as individuals we may possess high talent, it’s futile unless we’re able to figure out how we can pool our talents together to work as a team. It’s as a team that we can solve the most significant problems.

Best suited for: People who want to learn about the dynamics of teamwork and collaboration. 

Finally, a project management platform that prioritizes the teams in charge.
Get started for free now.

5. The T7 Model of Team Effectiveness

Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger developed the T7 Model in 1995 in hopes of better understanding the factors behind team effectiveness. What they came up with were five internal factors and two external factors—all beginning with the letter “T”, hence the name.

Internal factors:

1. Thrust: The team has a shared purpose.
2. Trust: Team members have confidence in each other and can rely on each other.
3. Talent: Skills to make things happen.
4. Teaming skills: The ability to work as a team.
5. Task skills: The successful execution of tasks.

External factors:

1. Team leader fit: How well the leader works with the team.
2. Team support from the organization: How well the organization works with the team which includes resource support and the authority to do things.

All seven factors are imperative in ensuring high team performance and effectiveness. The effort of the internal factors would be wasted if the external factors didn’t come into play.

Best suited for: Teams and/or people who want to understand the elements that impact team effectiveness, and how they operate with one another.

6. The Hackman Model

Richard Hackman put forth a new model in his 2002 book, “Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances”. This model proposed that if you had certain conditions, the probability of team effectiveness is pretty high.

As one of the world’s leading experts on group and organizational behaviour, he believed that teams were at their best when certain conditions were created by leaders to allow them to manage themselves effectively. He believed that it was the leader’s responsibility to ensure the teams were self-sustainable.

Five essential conditions that make up a successful team:

1. Team stability
2. Clear and engaging direction
3. Enabling structure
4. Supportive organizational context
5. Expert coaching

Best suited for: Leaders looking for insight on how to best structure and guide their teams so they can be self-sustaining.

7. The Lencioni Model

Patrick Lencioni’s book, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, presents a team effectiveness model that is slightly different to the others. Instead of focusing on the elements your team should have, this one focuses on the things it shouldn’t have. 

This model suggests that knowing the dysfunctions of your team can help you establish an effective team as you know what to expect and how to manage it effectively. 

The five dysfunctions are:

1. Absence of Trust: If team members can’t be vulnerable to one another, it may prevent the trust from being built within the team.
2. Fear of Conflict: Pretending to get along for the sake of artificial harmony can stop a potential conflict that can actually result in productive ideas.
3. Lack of Commitment: If team members aren’t dedicated then it will hinder their decision making and meeting deadlines.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: People need to get over any discomfort and hold each other accountable.
5. Inattention to Results: If team members prioritize personal goals over common success, then details on how to improve will be overlooked.

Best suited for: People who want to acquire knowledge of factors that could potentially cause a team’s demise, but also know how to manage them should they ever face them.

Final Thoughts

When individuals work together, it can produce better output for the business. Everyone on the team needs to be able to communicate, cooperate, and collaborate in order to innovate and get the best possible results.

Team effectiveness is essential to attain growth and accomplish goals, and the best way to achieve this is to understand the individuals within your team and how to best work with them. The aforementioned models do their best to map this so that teams and leaders are on the right path toward success.

Which team effectiveness model best suits your team?

The post 7 Popular Team Effectiveness Models and for What They’re Best Suited appeared first on Zenkit.

• Small business benefits
• Microsoft Teams vs Slack
• The grand plan

Collaboration can bring many benefits to a small business. It can lead to employee engagement, build stronger relationships, and nurture talent and creativity. And it all starts with communication.

Effective communication isn’t just about using the right language, it also requires having suitable tools at your disposal. So when it comes to sharing information, swapping knowledge, and general discussion with colleagues, you’re going to want something that can impart a relaxed and familiar feel. The instantaneous nature of team chat apps can offer exactly that.

In this article, I’ll compare team collaboration software giants, Microsoft Teams and Slack, and see how much value they can add to your small business.

Photo by Rawpixel via Unsplash

Why Group Chat Collaboration Is Good for Your Small Business

Since the good ol’ days of AOL, ICQ, and MSN, messaging apps have been a popular way to communicate with family and friends. Nowadays, with apps like Microsoft Teams and Slack, along with the decline of formality in the workplace, they’re becoming a staple tool for office interaction.

Team messaging apps are platforms used in the workplace which enable employees to participate in group chats, share documents and files, and set up video conference calls. Comparable to a virtual water cooler, team chat apps are a space where colleagues can discuss anything from weekend plans to lunch ideas to global controversies (and, of course, collaborate on tasks and projects).

Group chat tools have transformed the way we communicate in the workplace. The telephone is rarely used these days, and compared to email, they’re more efficient as they are a quick way to send and receive messages across teams, departments, and even countries. The immediacy provided is ideal for creating a closer working culture for remote employees. The beauty of team chat apps is that they present a laid-back way of communicating and instant connectivity to anyone within your business.

Microsoft Teams vs Slack

Team chat apps have changed the workplace communication game and the two products on top of the league are Microsoft Teams and Slack. Both are collaboration tools designed to make internal communication and collaboration a simpler and better experience, with features such as a searchable discussion archive, the ability to organize conversations, and integration with other tools.

Let’s do a Teams vs Slack comparison, shall we?

Part of the Office 365 suite of services, Microsoft Teams is a collaborative software that was created as a direct competitor to Slack. Launched in New York in 2017, it’s considered to be the next step from Microsoft Skype for Business in its evolution path. It includes the standard messaging, calling, video conferencing, and meeting set-up features, as well as allowing communities, groups, and teams to join via invitation.

Microsoft Teams Features

• For quick commands, you can use “@” or “/” to reveal a list of commands to use.
• Conversation thread.
• Search bar tool.
• The free version supports up to 300 people.
• 2GB of personal storage and an extra 10GB of storage space shared across the team for loaded files (free version).
• Guest access (this refers to people who you collaborate with but don’t want to permit all access to your discussions) and unlimited integrations on the free version.
• Plans start from $5.00 USD/month.
• Available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
• Is soon to be available for integration with Zenkit.

Slack is also a collaborative software aimed at professionals. Since its launch in 2013, it has been a popular team chat app amongst many businesses around the world, with 8 million daily active users. Originally designed to be an organizational communication tool, it has since developed into a community platform where groups and communities are categorized by topics of interest.

Slack Features

• Quick commands. Use “/” to find a list of quick commands when inputting into the search bar.
• Conversation thread.
• Search bar tool.
• An unrestricted number of people can join your account.
• The free version restricts the search to the most recent 10,000 messages.
• Over 1,500 apps you can integrate with (limited to only 10 on the free version).
• No group calls on the free version, and no screen sharing.
• No guest access to the free version.
• Plans start from $8.00 USD/month.
• Available on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
• Can be integrated with Zenkit via Zapier.

Both Microsoft Teams and Slack are worthy contenders for any small business looking for a new team messaging app. Which solution you should go for depends on your business. If your business relies on Office 365 to conduct daily operations, then your best bet is to go with Teams as it already supports the software and there’s no additional cost to implement it.

If your business is more flexible, then perhaps Slack’s features that have had more years of development could sway you. Also, as it’s a product on its own, it means you don’t have to be signed up for any software bundle to join. Whichever software you decide to go for, make sure you have an implementation strategy in place so your business can smoothly adapt to the solution.

Team Chat Apps Are Only One Part of the Grand Plan

Regardless of where you stand on the Microsoft Teams vs Slack debate, it’s important to keep in mind that they’re only one part of the bigger picture. Although group chat tools are great for communicating within businesses and fostering collaboration, they aren’t the ultimate solution.

Every small business should have some type of strategy that deals with its collaboration and communication objectives. One that includes how to overcome obstacles that are regularly found when a group of people are newly put to work together. Collaboration can bring in new insights, strengthen working relationships, and cultivate creativity, but it doesn’t come inherently. That’s why it’s important to have a plan in place.

Team chat apps aren’t designed to accommodate everything. While they’re great for quick and concise communication, when it comes to locating shared documents and tracking progress on a task, for instance, they aren’t the ideal platform of choice. A project management tool that can track tasks, streamline workflows, and store shared files would be a more suitable option.

Discover the ultimate project management tool.
Sign up for free today!

Chat apps also leave little room for in-depth discussions. The casual and compulsive nature of how they operate means they’re probably best for simpler conversations. If a momentous issue requires solving, then perhaps an email or face-to-face meeting may prove to be a more advantageous solution.

Using team messaging apps is a great way to build camaraderie amongst your employees. And with happiness in the workplace is linked to enhancing productivity this is something that should be encouraged. However, one of the biggest downsides of chatting is that it can get a bit, well, chatty. Unless monitored carefully, team chat apps can become a hub for distraction and can make employees lose focus on the task at hand. Ensure your strategy includes a protocol on how the chat app is used.

Final Thoughts

Irrespective of where you stand in the Microsoft Teams vs Slack discussion, you now know that team chat apps are a must-have for every small business. Seen as a more efficient way of communicating compared to email, they can foster collaboration, productivity, and team morale.

But remember, chat apps should only be part of your overall strategic collaboration and communication plan. It can’t be your be-all-end-all solution. You need to have other tools and systems in place that align with your business’s objectives and complement your chosen chat app.

Let us know in the comments section below where you stand on the Microsoft Teams vs Slack debate, or if there’s an alternative solution to the big two. We’re always curious to know what tools help our readers enhance their productivity!

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Group Chat Collaboration: Microsoft Teams or Slack? appeared first on Zenkit.

Team meetings can be a drag and they’re not on everyone’s favourite-things-to-do-at-work list. In fact, a Clarizen survey concluded that 46% of the 2,066 adults surveyed would rather do any unpleasant activity than endure a status meeting, with 17% preferring to watch paint dry.

But the reality is that meetings are an unavoidable aspect of working life. And so, in this article, I’ll show you how you can make your next meeting worthwhile by ensuring that it’s as effective and engaging as it can be.

(Please note that the focus is on in-person meetings, not virtual—perhaps another topic for another time?)

Are Team Meetings Necessary?

Snazzy new technology has allowed teams to communicate and share information conveniently and from all aspects. With email, instant messaging, and task management tools, you no longer have to have everyone involved in the same room at the same time to go over pressing topics and resolve issues. Sounds like meetings are no longer needed, right?

Wrong.

Although technology has enabled us to change the way we work and collaborate, there are still moments where discussing information via text simply won’t cut it. There are still objectives that can’t be accomplished or decisions that can’t be settled without first-hand, face-to-face discussion.

Plan team meetings with ease.
Sign up for free today!

A team meeting’s purpose is to help you achieve goals in a more effective and timely manner. If done correctly, it can yield quality results and ensure tasks and projects don’t exceed their deadlines.

There are various reasons why team meetings are organized. They include, but aren’t limited to, the following:

• Brainstorming ideas: team meetings provide a safe space for new concepts to be shared and topics to be discussed.
• Team building: smaller gatherings give colleagues the chance to get to know each other better and understand everyone’s different quirks and ways of working.
• Collecting feedback: feedback is key for improvement and team meetings offer a great opportunity for reflection.

In saying that, however, team meetings get a bad rap. They are known to drag on for an unnecessary amount of time and touch on topics that aren’t always relevant, making them unproductive and a complete waste of time.

So, how can you avoid that?

6 Tips on How to Run Productive Team Meetings

To conduct a team meeting that doesn’t sap the soul out of your team members, consider the following factors when making arrangements for your next huddle:

1. Determine if it’s essential

Before writing up the agenda and sending out the calendar invites, ask yourself if what you want to discuss is something that can be resolved in an email or another communication platform.

While there are moments that do require in-depth discussion and analysis, there are also times when gathering a group of busy people together isn’t the most effective way to get things done.

2. Assess the invite list

Despite the old adage, in this instance, more isn’t always the merrier. A bigger group is always trickier to manage and adding more people to the table who don’t add value won’t make it easier.

When settling the list, think about who you’re about to invite. Do these people either a) have the authority to make decisions, or b) are experts on the subject that will be discussed. If the answer is no to both, then you may want to rethink their invitation.

You may also want to consider allowing participants who are no longer needed in the team meeting to leave early. It’s fruitless to keep someone there who isn’t providing input as not only will they just sit there disengaged, but it also keeps them away from their work.

3. Have an agenda

If you want your team meeting to be effective, then having an agenda prepared is vital. Not only will this inform participants about what is going to be discussed, but it also acts as a facilitator, keeping everything and everyone on track. It will also ensure that the meeting will end in something actionable (because if it doesn’t, what’s the point?).

Distributing the agenda prior to the meeting, let’s say a day or two in advance, gives people the chance to review and comprehend what’s going to be talked about. This also gives them enough time to frame their ideas and opinions for contribution. This is especially helpful for more introverted participants who aren’t as eager to give their two cents.

Use Zenkit’s Weekly Team Meeting Agenda Template to plan your next meeting!

4. Rotate the leader

Employee engagement is a crucial factor for an effective meeting as everyone has a unique perspective that can add value to the discussion. But it’s not always the easiest to attain.

Alternating who leads the discussion is a great way to encourage engagement, as well as ensure everybody is alert during the meeting. A good way to do this is to have the team leader or whoever called the meeting to kick things off, then pass the baton onto various team members when a new item on the agenda comes up, preferably someone knowledgeable in that area.

5. Get creative

Team meetings can get a bit repetitive, especially if they’re scheduled on a regular basis. Switching things up and introducing something different in every meeting can keep participants stimulated and can spur innovative ideas and solutions.

It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. For example, start every session off with a new joke, or if weather permits, go outside for a change of scenery, or, if all else fails, provide snacks—food always wins a crowd.

6. Collect feedback

As previously mentioned, feedback is important for improvement. It is valuable information that can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a person, group, or business. It is something that everyone can benefit greatly.

Receiving feedback after a meeting, whether positive or negative, not only reveals that participants were paying attention, but it also indicates that they are interested in getting more out of the meetings. By expressing what they found useful and what they think needs improving, they are assisting in making sure that the next meeting is structured in a way that can optimize everyone’s time and productivity.

Final Thoughts

Conducting a team meeting that doesn’t suck isn’t rocket science. Although it may take you a few attempts to get things right, it is something worth perfecting. You have to ensure that you’re not wasting people’s time, that there is a genuine purpose to it, and that it results in something actionable. Otherwise, it’s probably best saved for an email.

What keeps you engaged in team meetings? Do share your tips in the comment section as we love hearing the many different ways people stay productive.

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post How to Conduct Team Meetings That Don’t Suck appeared first on Zenkit.