As we begrudgingly trundle our way towards another year living side-by-side with COVID-19, there’s no doubt that for many of us, the Home Office has become an integrated part of our day-to-day living.

A wide array of organizations have integrated what started off as a somewhat niche decision that the naïve thought would last only a couple of months into a fully-fledged lifeline that has allowed many businesses to stay afloat during this exhausting pandemic.

So, as we edge closer to 2022, we have decided to take a closer look at one of Home Office’s biggest hurdles since going online: remote team collaborations.

According to a study done in 2021 on companies’ shift to remote work, employees became “less interconnected” with one another. Many fell victim to reducing their number of social bridges due to increased isolation, which in turn impacted their work. [1]

While 2020 became a landmark year for the rise of collaborative remote working tools, there are still many tools that we feel would improve remote team collaboration in 2022 & keep the team still feeling very much like a team as the future of remote work unfolds.

1. Zenkit Projects

We couldn’t create a list of the best collaboration tools for remote working without mentioning our very own Zenkit Projects!

Zenkit Projects supports both traditional & Agile project management methodologies. The software has been carefully designed to be intuitive & easy-to-use so that people with different experiences can use it.

It includes some valuable project management tools that make working remotely more sustainable. This includes a 360-degree dashboard, a global Kanban, improved resource management, & dedicated reporting to better manage project progress.

And the greatest benefit? Zenkit Projects is perfectly integrated with the rest of the Zenkit suite, giving remote projects even more power.

2. 3veta

3veta is an all-in-one solution that infuses website creation, white labelling, online meeting scheduling, & instant payments. This has been done to help bolster the work provided by consultants, creators, & service providers.

3. 1password

1password solves the problem of having to remember multiple passwords for various accounts. This platform helps mitigate forgotten passwords by storing all passwords in a secure digital vault & automating form filling. The only one that users need to remember is the master password which is used to open the app.

Thanks to its advanced encryption & security algorithm, users receive security alerts in the event of a breach.

4. Zonka Feedback

With a variety of surveys, interviews, & feedback templates, Zonka Feedback excels at capturing employee feelings & opinions. It accurately assesses all feedback & provides team leaders with invaluable digital insights & the ability to appropriately optimize web experiences.

Regular feedback from team members, especially when working remotely, is an invaluable tool for improving team cohesion & reducing the distance.

It’s not just about surveys, feedback, & understanding how people work. Quizzes are also available from Zonka Feedback as a form of light-hearted entertainment to keep everyone engaged & upbeat.

5. Yammer

Yammer is a Microsoft-owned platform that is used to improve company communication & foster a more friendly & open work environment. It’s a crucial tool for team members to connect with other company teams & external partners.

Because of its simple, user-friendly interface, anyone can quickly learn how to use Yammer.

6. Weekdone

Weekdone is a useful tool for setting & tracking goals. The platform enhances goal setting by configuring remote teams’ OKRs (Objectives & Key Results). Then, it presents overall performance through comprehensive reporting & data visualization.

Weekdone can be easily configured to multiple teams across multiple levels thanks to its extensive customization options. It even has some useful training videos & tutorials to help newcomers get to grips with the platform quickly.

7. Video Window

Video Window is a collaboration platform that aims to bridge the gap between in-office & home office collaborations. It accomplishes this by serving as a secondary “always-on” screen. This facilitates the kind of spontaneous conversations that lead to collaborations & stronger inter-team bonds.

This immersive application aims to foster human connections & collaborations for those who were separated during the pandemic. Plus, it seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues by acting as a window into team members’ work environments.

8. Twist

T

Twist encourages team organization by allowing users to create communication threads for various ongoing projects & tasks. Different team members can be added to different projects. Plus, its communication features like instant messaging & file sharing ensure that all open conversations are organized logically.

Twist also has the ability to respond to messages asynchronously & improve communication management thanks to its cloud database.

9. Troop Messenger

Troop Messenger is an instant messaging service. It uses audio calls, chats, video calling, screen sharing, & other chat-supportive features to improve team communication & keep projects on track.

10. Tettra

Tettra is an internal knowledge base. It organizes dispersed company knowledge & allows users to share information with their teams & the company. The platform easily integrates with services like Slack, Github, & Dropbox to make collaborations feel more seamless

Tettra streamlines onboarding processes & reduces the number of redundant questions asked by team members by creating a centralized knowledge base. In doing so, everyone can remain focused on their top priorities.

11. SuperTeam

SuperTeam automates users’ workflows by quickly & securely connecting their most important productivity tools & the team that uses them via email. Team members can be guided & given valuable feedback through understanding key team behaviours, workflow patterns, & critical lines of communication.

12. Slack

Slack is without a doubt one of the most popular team collaboration & internal communication platforms available today. Users can organize discussions by creating multiple channels tailored to specific topics; collaborate with other team members via Slack Connect, direct messaging, & video calls; & integrate Slack with other apps.

It solves the problem of professional team communication without having to switch apps.

13. Range

Range is a communication platform that uses check-ins to keep team members connected. These check-ins can be integrated with a wide range of other SaaS applications, allowing for a more transparent working schedule.

Range is a smart way to do daily stand-ups that focuses heavily on developing a sense of team culture & progression.

14. QuillBot

QuillBot is an AI EdTech writing tool. It assists those whose jobs require a lot of writing in becoming more efficient & fluent in expressing their thoughts & ideas.

It includes a plethora of useful writing tools, ranging from a Paraphraser & Summarizer to a Grammar Checker & Citation Generator. This is an absolute must-have for any writer out there.

15. Pukkateam

Pukkateam has a novel method of bringing remote teams closer together. It takes automated photos of employees’ faces throughout the day to help notify co-workers when team members are available.

Teams can customize their statuses & stay on top of what task each member is working on at any given time. In addition, the platform integrates with Skype & Slack, & users can start video calls with a single click.

16. ProProfs

ProProfs Project is a project management tool that enables remote teams to work together seamlessly. It includes useful project management tools including insightful workflow reports, accurate timesheets, & drag-&-drop functionality for sharing files on the go. This helps to make remote project work more approachable.

Because of the tool’s intuitive & user-friendly interface, team members from various departments can quickly & easily adopt it.

17. Popwork

Popwork was launched at the start of 2020, during the first wave of the global pandemic. Since then, it has gone out of its way to improve relationships between remote managers & their teams. How does it accomplish this? By promoting simple & effective management techniques.

Popwork assists managers in the creation of weekly one-on-one meetings, monthly set-back sessions, & long-term goal tracking with individual team members. This way, managers can share relevant & valuable feedback with their team while focusing on the right topics.

18. PhotoAiD

While PhotoAiD isn’t exactly a tool for remote collaboration in the traditional sense. However, we felt that we couldn’t leave it out when talking about tools to help teams navigate the pandemic.

PhotoAiD is an AI-based online service for taking biometric passport, ID, & visa photos with just a smartphone. It helps to alleviate the stress of remote team members that need to get a visa or renew a passport. This is even more useful considering travel is still not as flexible as it once was.

19. OnPage

OnPage is a real-time incident alert management system that allows IT teams to streamline communication workflows & accelerate incident resolution. When critical IT infrastructure issues arise, the platform sends critical alerts to the appropriate team. During the pandemic, this has proven to be a useful tool for businesses looking to improve their digital transformation processes.

Based on pre-configured alerting policies & on-call schedules, the system automates the process of delivering alerts to the appropriate team members. If the first on-call person does not respond, the system automatically escalates the alert.

20. nTask

nTask organizes team workflows to make remote work easier. This collaborative tool helps teams manage projects & tasks by setting milestones & tracking progress using an intuitive interface & custom statuses.

With nTask, collaborations are seamless thanks to the creation of clear meeting agendas & the linking of meetings to specific tasks.

21. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is an excellent tool for team communication & collaboration that can be integrated with other Microsoft apps. It offers video calls, internal chats, file sharing, & screen sharing. Plus, the platform includes Apps, dashboards, presentations, & a live event feature to keep the entire team under one roof.

22. Markup Hero

Markup Hero is a tool for annotating & editing documents. It helps improve internal communication & visually sharing ideas with co-workers.

It makes annotation easier by allowing users to add an upload, screenshot, or pasted image. Plus, users can share finished work with colleagues using links, downloadable images, & copying work to the clipboard. It even has a feature that creates a history trail of all edits & screenshots to help with reworking annotations later.

Markup Hero integrates with a variety of management platforms, including Slack & Google Drive. It can also be added to the desktop or browser window, or be used as a Chrome extension.

23. Loom

Loom is an asynchronous collaboration tool where users can instantly record & share video messages with their team to foster relationships. The easy-to-use application allows users to communicate quickly & effectively while also saving valuable time.

24. Krisp

Krisp is a program that helps to eliminate echoing & mutes unwanted background noise during phone & video calls. Non-voice sounds are filtered out by AI technology, bringing the caller’s & recipient’s voices to the foreground. This means there will no longer be any awkward interruptions during phone calls from excited pets or loud neighbours.

25. Join.me

Join.me is a web conferencing tool that includes conference & video calling, screen sharing, & a URL & background that can be customized. There is no software to download because everything is done through a web browser with a simple login.

Because of its intuitive interface & easy-to-use design, Join.me is ideal for small to mid-sized teams.

26. InVideo

InVideo is a media platform for editing & sharing videos with a targeted audience. The platform aims to make video creation simple enough for everyone to create engaging videos.

InVideo has thousands of templates & a neat text to video conversion feature to make the creation process even more streamlined!

27. Hypercontext

Managers can use Hypercontext to help their teams create better workspaces. The platform brings teams together by establishing goals. It also makes meetings more efficient by allowing users to create agendas, assign actions, & maintain continuity between them.

28. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a business-oriented web conferencing software. With clear audio & visuals, as well as on-screen drawing tools, users can proactively engage with one another.

GoToMeeting makes remote collaborations far more approachable. Plus. its Smart Meeting Assistant, a feature that automatically transcribes calls helps with productivity.

29. Google Meeting/Chat

With the use of video meetings & chat functions for instant communication, Google Meeting/Chat connects users to their team.

The platform is praised for its intuitive interface & convenient screen & file sharing features. This allows users to quickly get feedback from clients or other team members. It also integrates easily with Microsoft & other Google applications.

30. Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is a popular communication platform that includes both direct messaging & video calls. It works for teams of all sizes & can be used as a desktop plug-in or a mobile app.

Plus, being a Google product, it also integrates well with other Google apps & can be accessed directly from Gmail.

31. Google Drive

Google Drive is a popular cloud-based storage system that is both convenient & secure for remote workers. Users can create all kinds of useful documents, such as spreadsheets, letters, & slideshows, using a variety of essential office tools.

The platform also supports collaborative editing & is a great tool for team file sharing & storage.

32. Gather

Gather is a browser-based video chat platform. It’s designed to make virtual interactions feel more human & have impromptu meetups with team members in a virtual setting. It also fosters interactions with the use of whiteboards, shared documents, team games, & the ability to build customized spaces.

Gather is ideal for small to mid-sized teams that want to connect & collaborate in a virtual space together.

33. Friday

Friday is a helpful tool for users to better manage their time. It keeps the team connected through transparent communication design & ensures that everyone is in the know.

Friday allows users to keep track of their meetings, daily tasks, team statuses, & personal goals. Plus, with daily check-ins, users can keep track of each other’s progress & submit questions, updates, & feedback to generate reports.

34. FreeConference

FreeConference is a no-frill web conferencing tool that allows users to join a meeting with a simple link.

It’s a great option for small businesses & freelancers looking for a video conferencing platform with no hidden costs.

35. Forest

Forest is an application that adds a unique twist to remote work by rewarding users to not use their phone. It works by setting a timer to determine for how long users want to work. Then, the app rewards those that can make it to the end without being distracted.

Forest has a news section, an achievement log, a screen time counter, & an online store, among other cool features.

36. Flock

Flock is a communication tool that helps teams collaborate by allowing them to message one another, share files, & video conference.

37. Fleep

Fleep is a web & mobile-based instant messaging app that allows teams to communicate & share files & information. It also has a lot of storage, integration options, & even a presence feature that showcases a team member’s activity.

38. Dropbox Business

Dropbox is a file-sharing & storage service. It allows users to create, edit, share, & store content for their team while also controlling access. Its built-in security features, which help protect all important files, are perhaps its most rewarding feature. It also integrates with a variety of third-party applications for a seamless experience.

39. Document360

Document360 is a software-as-a-service platform that allows businesses to create a self-service knowledge base for their customers & employees. It has inbuilt advanced analytics & real-time dashboard data. This helps to report the most important information about customer expectations from the knowledge base & how to improve it.

As a knowledge base, it enables users to create, manage, & publish articles in real-time. For remote developers or employees, centralized information management makes collaboration & productivity easier.

40. Dialpad

Dialpad is suitable for both mid-size & large in-house & remote teams that require a simple, no-frills video conferencing solution. Conference calling, screen-sharing & recording, & mobile access are among the platform’s simple & easy-to-use video calling features.

41. Crystal

Crystal is an insightful platform that uses DISC, a well-established & trusted behavioural framework. DISC is commonly used by organizations to improve internal communications & bolster team collaborations.

The platform supports the philosophy of open communication to encourage teams to listen & learn how to work & communicate more effectively. Furthermore, its tools aren’t just for inter-team collaboration; they can also be used to improve client relations & create a more thought-provoking hiring process.

42. Connecteam

Connecteam is an all-in-one work-from-home software. It keeps managers & employees in touch & organized no matter the time or where they are. The platform boasts a range of communication & time management features to help facilitate remote work.

Managers can use Connecteam to assign tasks & set team reminders. Plus, they can create digital documents like checklists, handbooks, & ready-to-sign forms to keep everyone in the loop. Additionally, team members can easily share files such as photos, videos, training manuals, & policies.

43. Confluence

Confluence is a team collaboration tool from Atlassian. It allows users to create, edit, share, & store documents that are accessible to all team members. It also has some excellent built-in features that aid in the creation of intelligent & well-structured documents. Plus, with a variety of customizable layouts & custom templates, it’s simple to tailor it to meet a variety of requirements.

44. Coda

Coda is a well-designed platform that allows businesses to consolidate all their departments’ documentation into a single location.

Users can collaborate on documents & track project updates & inventory. Plus, with its range of templates, teams can easily schedule meetings that best fits their agenda.

Coda also has excellent support documentation & videos to assist businesses in making a smooth transition. This also allows continuous learning about new features & ways to improve product use.

45. Chanty

Chanty makes it easy for remote teams to collaborate by providing simple communication & collaborative tools. Its Teambook allows users to keep tasks & resources organized & easily manage & analyze activities.

Plus, with its 24/7 customer service, reaching out for technical assistance at any time is made very accessible.

46. CarbonFreeConf.com

Carbonfreeconf.com was founded during the pandemic to assist researchers in sharing their findings virtually rather than in person. As such, it enables researchers from all over the world to collaborate & discuss their work (virtually, of course).

Carbonfreeconf.com enables complex virtual meetings thanks to tools that help share & guide other researchers through their work. This all-in-one carbon-free tool enables researchers to create conferences, manage attendees, host, & record sessions, among other things.

47. Calendly

Calendly simplifies & manages the process of scheduling meetings. The tool makes working remotely more efficient thanks to its automated workflows & use of custom SMS & email notifications. It also has personalized automatic reminders, check-ins, & follow-ups for daily tasks.

48. Blinq

Blinq is paving the way for the digitalization of business cards. Gone are the days when a minor change in a company’s information rendered all cards invalid. If a company needs to make a change, it can do so instantly across all cards using a unified dashboard.

Blinq also allows businesses to control the brand ID of each card. Users control what information can & cannot be shared on a card belonging to a remote developer, manager, or other employees.

Users can also integrate Blinq with their existing CRM system & internal directory. This allows each new contact to be automatically logged & improves employees’ onboarding experience.

49. Basecamp

Basecamp’s user-friendly interface is well-suited for collaborative projects or simply as a gathering place for people to come together.

It can also be used for project management to keep track of projects & events. Plus, it helps to document organization management thanks to its to-do lists, check-ins, message boards, & chat features. The convenience of having all of these features in one location helps to reduce clutter & increase productivity.

50. Ashore

Ashore is an all-in-one creative collaboration tool that aims to make digital collaboration more accessible to everyone. Whilst, it aids in project tracking & integrations, it truly shines in its proofing & approval tools.

This proofing software was created specifically to improve creative proofing. This is achieved by providing more context to client feedback & shortening the review cycle. This helps to eliminate many of the inefficiencies that creatives typically encounter & gets client approvals back in half the time.

So, there you have it. These are our picks for the best remote-working tools that have made it easier for remote teams to soften the impact of moving from the office to home & stay connected.

Whether your team wants to improve collaboration, time management, resource organization, or something else entirely, we hope you’ll find the right tool here to help you stay productive no matter how far apart you are.

Learn how the Zenkit Suite can help your team perform better & work more efficiently on remote projects.

Whether you’re looking to improve project & task management, build an internal knowledge base, or promote team communication, Zenkit has the right tool for the job.

[1] Yang, L. et al., (09.11.21), “The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers”, Nature Human Behaviour

The post Best 50 Tools for Better Remote Team Collaboration 2022 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.

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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.

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.

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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.

It’s hard to believe there was a time before messenger apps. Considered an integral part of personal and business communication, working without the use of chat applications in the workplace seems an absurd, almost alien concept.

Indeed, the innovation of instant messaging and the introduction of messenger apps has changed the game. The way in which we communicate with one another, whether for personal or professional use, is heavily influenced by real-time communication. 

Chat allows us to communicate with anyone on anything in real time. This presents a bunch of benefits such as increasing the speed at which we get information, the efficiency and capacity of our work performance, and the opportunity and convenience of remote work. 

But is this movement of working better, faster, stronger (with the use of messenger apps and other communication tools) actually making us more productive at work?

Having been trained and conditioned to instant communication, we often find ourselves spending more time communicating over tasks rather than getting work done. Is it therefore possible that messenger apps, hailed as the genius invention to boost productivity through communication, could actually be producing a decline in productivity? 

What Are Messenger Apps? 

The way in which we communicate relies on an interactive exchange of messages, verbal or nonverbal, that form a conversation. 

A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means (Wiki)

A messaging app (also known as a chat app) is a private application or platform enabling communication, most of which is 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.

Chat apps are preferred by most consumers and have become the standard by which users communicate, replacing short message service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS). In contrast to SMS, messenger apps operate via instant messaging (IM), which requires an internet connection to enable mobile phone users to communicate. 

Use of Messenger Apps

Communication apps are the most widely used mobile apps affecting the way people use their devices to communicate and how people communicate in the workplace. 

The popularity of messenger apps supports our need for constant and instant communication between family and friends. New chat apps provide rich services offering all kinds of interactions with others and various chat apps initially specialized for distinct audiences and use cases have since developed into cross-sector platforms.

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

Because communication is necessary to get any work done, messaging apps are especially helpful for contacting and sharing information with family or coworkers, and working in groups or teams, whether distributed in different time zones or only an hour’s drive away from one another.

Enterprise messaging applications are a staple tool in the workplace used to facilitate and boost teamwork, communication, and collaboration. Corporate messenger apps function as an all-in-one communication, collaboration, and control tool. 

There is no globally recognized ‘best chat app’ considering people’s personal and professional requirements and preferences. For this reason, the best messenger app is the one all of your friends and family use, although it’s highly likely that you’ll end up using more than one chat app. 

Where enterprise messaging is concerned, the best corporate messenger app will be the one that fulfils all of the company’s professional requirements through its specific feature set. At Zenkit, a productivity software-suite company, we use Zenchat as our enterprise messenger particularly because of the task management feature to keep team members updated on individual tasks or stages in both the project and product development. 

Team members use a variety of chat apps such as WhatsApp, Line, and Kakaotalk outside of the office when communicating with family and friends. Their choice of personal chat apps is strongly dependent on their personal network pool.

(Overview of) 10 Messenger Apps for Business*

*in no particular order

1. WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a free and reliable messaging and calling app, initially created to be an alternative to SMS. The messaging service’s desire is to allow people to communicate and stay in touch with family and friends, anytime and anywhere in the world. WhatsApp is the most-used instant messaging app with approximately 1.6 million monthly active users.

2. Facebook Messenger

Initially known as the chat app of the renowned social networking platform for its users to connect and communicate with another, Facebook Messenger has developed into a standalone communication app. Messenger enables anyone to communicate and connect through text, audio and video messages and calls. Facebook Messenger interacts with other Facebook services and has an estimated 1.3 million monthly active users.

3. Slack

Slack is a web-based instant messaging service that was created as a replacement to email. The productivity platform is designed for team communication. Promoting a better way of communicating with one another or in groups, Slack has established itself as an authority communication service for teamwork in the workplace. The service is widely used in the corporate sector because the service focuses on improving internal communications.

4. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaboration platform designed to facilitate effective team communication. MS Teams’ deep integration with Office 365 supports team communication and collaboration within the corporate environment. Through MS Teams, individual teams and businesses have a central collaboration platform that simultaneously integrates with other Microsoft services.

5. WeChat

WeChat is an all-in-one communication app for text, voice and video calls, and file sharing. The chat app monopolizes the Chinese market with an estimated 1.1 million monthly active users. Since its launch in 2011, WeChat has developed into a cross-sector service to include business, payment, and other networking functions.

6. Zenchat

Zenchat is a free team messenger with a built-in task management part of the Zenkit Suite. Aiming to combine chat and task management for a richer communication experience, Zenchat focuses on the conversion of tasks in conversation. The messenger app seamlessly integrates with the other Zenkit services promoting a more productive and efficient workflow.

7. Telegram

Telegram is a free, cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a primary focus on platform speed and security. With features such as file sharing, broadcasting to unlimited audiences, and contact filtering, Telegram is a combination of SMS and email.

8. Discord

Initially designed as a free chat app specifically for video gamers Discord has widened its scope since its launch in 2015. Servers are organized into topic-based channels allowing users to connect based on common interests. The platform’s atmosphere is similar to YouTube, delivering high community engagement and ease of market entry however the platform does not use end-to-end encryption for its messages.

9. LINE

The Japanese-developed communication app LINE is often referred to as the “Facebook of Japan”. Most popular for its massive library of stickers, the app also has a variety of additional features which include in-app games, storage space, payment options, and news. With a focus on staying connected and thus integrating networking functions on top of the standard communication features, LINE positions itself as an all-in-one communication tool for family and friends, coworkers, and like-minded users with shared interests.

10. KakaoTalk

Similar to WeChat and LINE, KakaoTalk is a fast and multifaceted instant messaging app. Korea’s number one communication app includes additional features such as news, payment options, a calendar and other networking opportunities. Out of the estimated total of 52 million active users worldwide, more than 45 million KakaoTalk users are based in South Korea.

The History of ‘Messenger’

Status Quo of Messenger Apps

According to a January 2020 statistic from Global Web Index, the monthly use of messenger apps and social networking apps from internet users aged 16 to 64 on mobile devices each amount to 89%. In accord, the Global Digital Overview 2020 by We Are Social Inc. shows that WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the most internationally used messenger apps, despite the fact that WeChat dominates the Chinese market.

How Did It All Start?

The introduction of instant messaging in the 1960s paved the way for the evolution of communication applications and platforms. Messaging services rose to prominence in the early 2010s, quickly replacing SMS-based texting due to their convenience and ability to add enhanced features. Nowadays, “over 41 million mobile messages are sent in an online minute”, according to a September 2020 Statista report. Messenger apps are used in recreation and business alike to communicate and collaborate in efficient and dynamic ways.

Use of Messenger Apps at Work

Communication, whether verbal or nonverbal, is necessary to get any work done and enterprise messaging apps are the mode of choice to provide the dialogue. The use of chat apps as a normal or even necessary part of work has been rising in recent years.

Considering that Millennials represent the largest segment of today’s working population with Gen Z nearing their entry, future workforce predictions state an increase and standardization of remote work by 2028. With more and more people working from home, chat has consequently become an essential part of teamwork and an inescapable tool of the modern workplace.

According to a September 2020 Statista report, “There was a more than 100% increase in the number of enterprise devices installed with collaboration apps at the end of March 2020 compared to pre-COVID level, and a 176% increase in mid-May, 2020.”

The use of messenger apps in the workplace offers more than just quick team messaging. Depending on the chat app of choice, a variety of benefits for corporate communication exist, allowing employees and team members to collaborate in an efficient manner.

“People love to chat. It’s human nature. But chat apps don’t provide the structure needed for sustainable productivity like lists and Kanban boards do” says Zenkit CEO Martin Welker. 

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The Dilemma of Messenger Apps and Productivity

Chat apps are wonderful fundamentally because they fulfil their purpose – enabling people to communicate with one another. But solely talking about work doesn’t equate to getting work done.

Good communication is about saying the right thing at the right time. When communicating at work, whether through messenger apps or during meetings, the aim of communicating is to assist in the action of work.

Face-to-face discussion is often the best way to foster connection between team members and build culture, however, a fixation on the act of conversing may prove a risk to productivity rather than an opportunity to make progress. Sometimes important information and tasks can be forgotten simply because of the lack of formal (meeting) documentation. Using a messaging app doesn’t necessarily solve this problem either. Tasks may get lost and forgotten about merely because the effort to relocate them in a chat thread can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Ultimately the question asked is whether being connected outweighs being productive.

While the use of communication apps to provide weekly status updates or quick peer opinions be a conservative, low-intensive practice, the pressure to stay connected is not. To suffice an ingrained request that our responses be as instant as the sending of a message through chat apps, there is a risk of a decline in productivity when new message notifications and demand to answer messages takes urgent priority over the work. Instant messaging is indeed instant, provides ease of use, and allows cross-team and remote team communication. But the swift and efficient method in sending and receiving information doesn’t equate to meaningful and productive communication for working.

And rather than utilizing messenger apps as tools to assist employees with their work, real-time communication can easily become the default response merely because communicating about work is easier than doing work.

This happens when the workplace values staying connected versus staying productive. Real-time, synchronous communication is disruptive and a productivity killer for employees who engage in deep work such as writing code, working creatively and solving complex problems.

Does Being Connected Outweigh Being Productive? 

There’s no debate that instant messaging is a genius innovation that enables swift and efficient communication across any real or virtual distance whether for personal or professional use. The creation of messenger apps changed how people communicate with one another, arguably for the better.

That said, good communication is good because of the quality of the communication. By switching to communicating via chat apps, the mode has merely been replaced with technology. Company policies can define the use of messenger apps in the workplace, but users still have ultimate control in deciding how their workflow is influenced by the various apps and guidelines. Users decide whether to let their workflow and their capacity of producing quality work be influenced by communication apps, whether in the office or at home. 

Finding the right balance between messenger apps benefitting teamwork and project progress, and risking a decline in workplace productivity is a difficult task. It’s a fine line that needs tuning through trial and error, no matter the size or experience of the company.

Further reading:

• Do productivity tools actually make you productive?
• How to ensure productivity software is actually making you productive

Final Thoughts

We regularly use chat in replace of email in our workplace. Using Zenchat allows our team to keep track of tasks in conversation, which is particularly helpful when working in project management. We all use this feature passionately in our chat app whether for updating our content calendar, marking our progress on marketing activities, or simply documenting developer stages. Which type of messenger app does your team use and why?

Cheers, 

Jessica and the Zenkit Team

Image credits: Canva Studio via Pexels, Global Digital Overview 2020 by We Are Social Inc., Chat GIF, Kim’s Convenience GIF

The post Messenger Apps: Genius Invention or Productivity Curse? appeared first on Zenkit.