Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

April 2022

13 Telegram Alternatives for Your Secure Messaging Needs

Are you seeking Telegram Alternatives? Then read this blog to learn about alternatives to Telegram and get a quick overview. Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging software that is freeware and cross-platform. End-to-end encrypted video calling, file sharing, VoIP, and other functions are also available. It was released in October 2013 for Android and on 14 August 2013 for iOS. Nikolai and Pavel Durov, who were also the inventors of the Russian online social site RK, launched Telegram in 2013.

Tips for writing better Jira tickets

Jira is an extremely useful product that has made working easier for countless businesses – but it does occasionally get something of a bad name. The key issue here is not that Jira causes problems by itself, instead it is the human input issue that creates the challenges. When Jira is poorly managed or misused it can make everything feel far more complicated than it needs to. If you can start using Jira the way it is intended, it can have positive influences on productivity and efficiency.

The Secrets to Seamless Connection and Collaboration

During a recent panel discussion hosted by The Economist, "Cloud, collaboration, and connectivity: How can seamless communication be delivered?", M-Files CEO Antti Nivala took on some of the toughest issues facing businesses in our time of digital transformation. For many, the new ways of working are freeing, but there are unanswered questions: How do businesses communicate seamlessly in a work-from-anywhere world? What does a good office environment look like in the cloud era?

How Dropbox's Virtual First Toolkit in Miro supercharges distributed teamwork

Chances are that you are reading this from your home office (AKA bedroom, living room, or even kitchen). By now, many of us are not only used to working remotely, but have uncovered some real opportunities for efficiency. With our Virtual First strategy for distributed teams, Dropbox committed early on to guiding employees on the behavioral shifts necessary and to providing resources to be effective working from virtually anywhere.

Shareholder Activism Trends in 2022 and Beyond

Increasingly, companies are being challenged by shareholders seeking to influence change and exercise power over corporate activities, practices, and policies. Shareholder activists use their stake in the company to enact campaigns that can contribute to the overall company value or advocate for a social cause. Giving shareholders a voice has proven to increase corporate efficiency and mitigate any practice that can hinder the company from achieving optimal value.

Top 5 Indian Super Apps in 2022

Are you exhausted from switching between applications to fulfill different needs, such as buying clothes on Myntra, ordering meals on Zomato, or booking a ride on Ola? Then, you must look into super apps, especially Indian Super apps, which are an aggregation of apps that allow you to manage your everyday tasks from a single app without any exasperation.

How Airtable Time Tracking Works (Plus 5 Alternatives)

Airtable is a no-code / low-code cloud-based collaboration platform where you can build apps and automate workflows. It showcases all data in a user-friendly spreadsheet format for easy access. Team members can view records, edit information, and collaborate efficiently through the Airtable database itself. The tool does feature a time tracker but only in the Pro Plan. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can use Airtable time tracking and two key drawbacks of the time tracking app.

How Under Armour drives innovation with Miro

The Under Armour team is deeply committed to designing products that help athletes perform better on the field. In their office, teamwork and collaboration are the mission-critical values they apply to consistently innovate. To keep the collaborative magic alive during a new era of remote and hybrid teams, Under Armor Implemented Miro to create a virtual conference room that keeps conversations inclusive and teams aligned.

The Melding of Culture and Communications: How Hubspot's Culture Code Enables Employee Ambassadors to Foster Their Brand

There is a thought in tech that there are internal and external goals. And never the twain shall meet. However, at Hubspot, nothing could be further than the truth. In the 13th episode of Simpplr’s Cohesion Podcast, Amanda Berry, Manager of Corporate Brand & Communications and Head of Internal Communications, explored the intersection of company culture and communication with Sophie Hamersley, Manager of Internal Communications at HubSpot.

Zoom Webinar vs Meeting: Which Platform Works Best for Your Virtual Event?

Hybrid and remote working are increasingly becoming prevalent in today’s world. People can stay productive, connected, and engaged from anywhere with video collaboration solutions, thus they have proved themselves to be very efficient. But for most businesses, the dilemma isn’t if they need a video collaboration, but rather what type of video collaboration suits them the best.

The Best Employee Appreciation Gifts: How to Show Your Employees You Care

Nowadays, recognizing employees, showing your gratitude, and acknowledging them are vital leadership skills! Especially in this post-Covid hectic life when retaining top talent is getting harder! Therefore, establishing an employee recognition program is not a plan to consider. Instead, it is a vital strategy to settle in your business. What’s the best way to recognize employees? With the best employee appreciation gifts, of course! What’s the perfect employee gift?

Europe takes a stance: large messaging services will have to open up

Gone are the days when email was the main channel of digital communication. In 2022, messaging apps are the way we all communicate in our personal and professional lives. We use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Viber, and others to communicate with friends and family. At work, we rely on platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Rocket.Chat. However, some of these messaging platforms have one big disadvantage compared to email - the lack of interoperability (or cross-platform messaging).

Cancelling WFH caused the Great Resignation. Why push for it?

We humans are forgetful creatures. Hopping from one crisis to the next, we forget the staggering lengths we’ve been through to get where we are. We forget the chaos, and the uncertainty. Cast your mind back to March 2020 – if you haven’t blocked it all out, that is. The UK, USA, and most other countries around the world had either entered or were entering a national lockdown, in response to Covid-19.

How can Internal Communications Help with the Return-to-the-Office Transition?

In March 2020, many employees were sent home due to COVID-19. Two years later, reintegrating employees and teams after working from home for an extended period will be challenging for leaders and internal communications. Hundreds (or thousands) of employees may be coming back the same week. You also might have hundreds of employees hired during the pandemic and have never been to the office.

How open source software benefits public sector organizations

In the last two decades, digital transformation was one of the overarching trends in the world of business. Due to the constant technological advancements, organizations are always working on adopting new tools and finding better ways to serve customers with higher efficiency. Increased cybersecurity challenges together with the need for flexible solutions have put open source solutions on the map.

The implications of the European Commission's Open Source Strategy

Open source solutions are becoming increasingly popular due to their many benefits. Organizations use them to leverage open source code’s transparency and flexibility. Now, government-related organizations across the world are also adopting open source software. One of the most prominent European Union governing bodies, the European Commission (EC), has been supporting the use of open source for a while.

Navigating through SGX's ESG Disclosure Requirements

The concept of ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) is an emerging trend among organisations and investors. In Singapore, more investors are now demanding companies to report their sustainability impact, issues, and efforts, alongside financial factors of their annual performance. Hence, this focuses on integrating ESG factors into business operations. Policymakers and regulating authorities are now rolling out requirements and standards with measurable targets and objectives.

Introducing Threads in Beta!

Trying to keep track of several conversations in one timeline at once can often feel (and look) like long division! Cross-talk, replies, and reactions make your timeline feel disjointed and messy. It’s less than ideal, especially if you use Element to enhance your productivity. Threads help you separate conversations from the main timeline.

What's new with Trello: the latest (and upcoming) features for teams | Team '22 | Atlassian

Trello has been a work management staple for over a decade. To keep pace with our users' growing needs, Trello has made major investments in unlocking more ways to use our flexible, tactile tool for more use cases. This talk will be focused on how Trello's new Views features are unlocking powerful use cases for collaborative teams while still staying true to the familiar, visual, tactile characteristics that have made Trello a well-loved tool.

Collaboration Tools: The Guide to Implementing and Cutting the Costs

Following the current world events, your company’s financial health is probably consuming your thoughts more than normal. You can be more cost-effective with your employees, time, and assets by collaborating in innovative ways. Many businesses save money by eliminating the need for several communication apps by using an all-in-one collaboration tool. Using a single tool allows you to focus on other integral parts of your organization.

Increase Sales and Conversions with Proactive Live Chat Software

Proactive live chat is a feature of live chat software that allows you to start chatting with visitors even before they initiate a conversation. This can be a great way to engage visitors and provide them with the information they need, while also establishing yourself as an authority in your industry. On a global average, over 70% of consumers have a more favorable view of a company that offers proactive customer service notifications and are more likely to purchase from that company.

Pandemic Paradigm Shift: Employees now spend 36% less time on strategy

Not all work is created equal—especially in our new, more agile work environment. Whether you’re an individual contributor, a manager, or a leader in the C-Suite, your day includes some mix of strategic work, skilled work, and “work about work.” Read this article in French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Dutch, Korean, Swedish, Italian, Polish, or Japanese.

9 Tips for Working Effectively With Developer Portals

The experience developers go through using developer portals is not always perfect. What leads to this? What is the difference between a perfect experience and one that does not work for developers? Sometimes, a poor experience might be a result of an unreliable API. However, most of the time, it is caused by issues with the website developers use to gain access to the APIs. This website is known as the developer portal.

You Need a Product Strategy with John Kodumal

In this month's "Hacking the Engineering Process" meetup, John Kodumal (CTO and Cofounder at LaunchDarkly) discusses his experience and thoughts on developing a reliable and successful product strategy for an efficient engineering team. This talk is recommended for founders, product leaders, and engineers interested in mapping their work up to strategy.

Increase the Efficiency of Your Board Post-Meeting Processes

During board meetings, the directors set goals and strategies and resolve critical issues that need urgent attention. But in reality, optimizing the organization’s performance doesn’t end during board meetings. What happens outside meetings is equally important as what happens during board meetings. Most of the time, directors need time to ponder before coming up with a sound decision. Moreover, their hectic schedule makes it difficult to monitor action items that need to be accomplished.

WhatsApp vs Slack: How Our Team Spotted the Champ

WhatsApp is one of the most famous mobile-first tools. The messenger started out in 2009 as an idea to send notifications to friends. At the moment, 1.5 billion people use WhatsApp for both personal and work-related conversations. The company has recently launched WhatsApp Business – a separate application for small companies. Steady progress in the business communication industry makes WhatsApp a rival for other team chat apps.

4 Major Workplace Communication Styles: Which Is Effective?

Effective Communication is one of the hallmarks of having a successful business. In today's world, with many varying styles and types of Communication, it can be quite hard to distinguish and check which of these are most effective. Oftentimes, businesses don't even know what style of Communication they use in the workplace, as these can grow seemingly unnoticed depending on the culture and the people involved.

You Need a Product Strategy with John Kodumal (Co-Founder and CTO at LaunchDarkly)

Welcome to the "Hacking the Engineering Process" meetup livestream! Join John Kodumal (CTO and Cofounder at LaunchDarkly) as he discusses his experience and thoughts on developing a reliable and successful product strategy for an efficient engineering team. This talk is recommended for founders, product leaders, and engineers interested in mapping their work up to strategy.

10 Easy Empathy Exercises For Building a More Empathetic Customer Service Team

Customers want to feel understood and heard, and this requires empathy. People with strong empathic abilities are better at establishing long-term customer relationships. But the problem is empathy can be a difficult skill to teach. Since it’s an emotional subject, it can be challenging to find hands-on learning activities, and you don’t want training to feel too forced or heavy-handed.

ESG Disclosures: Its Importance, Challenges, and Best Practices

For the past years, companies and organizations faced new operational threats and compliance risks, both in their industries and communities. One beneficial strategy to address these matters is through a sustainability lens, or environmental, social, governance (ESG) lens. Businesses and investors have set their eyes on evolving ESG criteria to comply with regulations, and improve their entire operations and performance.

How to Improve Developer Productivity for Your Organization

Fostering a developer team that is empowered to consistently and quickly produce their best work is a necessary goal for every software team. But the demands on developer teams to produce more code faster than ever — combined with the challenges of remote work — can create an environment that isn’t conducive to developer productivity. Want to improve developer productivity at your organization?

Team Structure: How To Create a Team?

Employees are the most valuable asset of any organization, and creating a proper team structure offers an opportunity to maximize their talents. An efficient collaboration within multi-talented team members is a gateway to a company’s success. Three in four employees consider teamwork and collaboration as “very important,” but unfortunately, 39% of employees globally say their firms don’t collaborate enough. The reason?

Why Collaboration Keeps Growing in the Remote Work World

For years, experts have been saying that telecommuting—otherwise known as working from home—would be the "wave of future." However, few predicted the wave would rapidly crash into the real world so quickly to become the "new normal." A recent study showed about 20% of people said they worked from home prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. As of late 2021, 71% of workers were reportedly working from home.

Everything that happened at Atlassian TEAM 2022

We’re back! After what feels like so many years of travel restrictions, uncertainty and covid-related chaos, the ClearHub team is so excited to be back in Las Vegas for Atlassian’s flagship conference event. TEAM ‘22 is our 13th Atlassian conference, and our first in-person conference since 2019, so it’s safe to say we’ve all been pretty excited about it.

The 10 Best Video Calling Apps for Businesses

Video calling apps have become an essential part of everyday life, whether personal or business. Everyone, especially during the pandemic, had a strong desire to know the whereabouts of others, which video calls made possible. While some people were evaluating their relatives, friends, etc., health, others were checking their employees' both health and resources to continue with their regular operations while working remotely.

What we launched in March 2022

Behind the scenes, we’ve been continuously improving Miro’s features for seamless collaboration, no matter where or how you work. To make sure we meet the security and scalability needs of enterprises of all sizes, everything we launch — whether it’s a new feature or enhancement — is enterprise-ready, and we’re continuing to focus on ADVANCED SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE.

Emerging Cloud Security Threats & How to Address Them

Cloud hosting is becoming the norm due to its efficiency, accessibility, flexibility, and scalability. Not only that, but it also optimizes IT expenses and encourages collaboration. However, with the rise of digitalization comes the surge of cyber attacks. With such threats, business leaders must be attentive to the cloud security of their businesses.

A guide to navigating the Digital Markets Act

A couple of weeks ago the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe agreed on the main guidelines for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA is legislation aiming to create a more competitive digital market in Europe by mandating competition-friendly practices from the ‘gatekeepers’ i.e. the largest tech companies (see below for full definition).

CIO Classified: Helping employees thrive in the hybrid workplace

With technological innovation accelerating faster than ever—and the pandemic entering a new phase—CIOs have never faced more uncertainty and complexity. That’s why we’ve partnered with Caspian Studios to sponsor Season 3 of the CIO Classified podcast. CIO Classified is a podcast for CIOs, decision-makers, and technology leaders that want to push their business forward and stay on the cutting edge.

Four Benefits of Online Help Chat Software

Benefits of Online Help Chat Software: Businesses love to improve their processes while assisting their customers. You may wonder how you can help those people while also giving your employees more tools to work with. With this in mind, your business could utilize live help chat software and reach out to more of your buyers. If you feel hesitant to use such software, you should check out these four points to understand how Online help chat software can benefit your business.

Building Product Notifications That Users Love

Product notifications should never spoil a user’s experience—they should contribute to it. Otherwise, users are prone to turn off the notifications. According to Statista, 39% of smartphone users who receive too many notifications turn them off in response. So how do you create product notifications that delight a user no matter how harried? Consider your users and their many different experiences as you design and build your product, not after.

5 open source Intercom alternatives to consider in 2022

Intercom has become an industry standard for talking to customers via live chat. In its 10 year history, Intercom set the bar for customer engagement with SaaS businesses pretty high. However, open source challengers are on the rise. The indisputable advantages of open source software over its proprietary counterparts have experts looking for open source alternatives to Intercom, too.

What is a Digital Workplace?

The digital workplace is a phenomenon that has grown in leaps and bounds in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The adoption of technologies has increased and changed all aspects of our lives today, including how we work. However, today’s workplace is very different from the traditional workplace. For one thing, its definition is no longer limited to the physical sense.

Optimise Jira for your company; why - and how?

Do you drive a car? If you do, it probably has four wheels, four doors and four reasonably comfortable seats. If you have kids (or maybe even if you don’t), it’s probably smeared with snacks, the boot’s likely stuffed with sun tents and footballs and kites, and whatever else you’ve shoved in there and forgotten about. It’s not the fastest thing in the world – but it goes. Now, compare that to the vehicles of Formula 1. One seat, if you can call it that. No doors.

Does a 4 Day Work Week Actually Work?

Have you heard about the recent workplace buzz? The 4 day work week is a trendy workplace practice that is being talked about a lot. The key goal is to have three days off to achieve a better work-life balance. However, there are differing views on whether the 4 day work week achieves the desired objectives for both employees and the organization.

Webinar Demo: Unlocking your IT Helpdesk with chatbot for Hybrid workplace

Learn how 80% of repetitive IT Support issues & requests can be automated for your employees faster, instantly using IT Helpdesk Chatbot. Augment your IT Helpdesk team with Slack or Microsoft Teams chatbot and app workflow automation, from Workativ.

Product Customization: Benefits, Examples, & Tips

Imagine opening your Netflix account and seeing four independent Turkish television shows, an advertisement for a German horror movie, and three movies you’ve already seen, but didn’t really like. Not very helpful, right? Fortunately, Netflix has customized their product to offer personalized recommendations in a way that will please their users, and keep them coming back for more.

6 Tips for Stress-Free Corporate Travel Planning

Planning corporate travel can be one of the most stressful aspects of any business trip. It’s incredibly easy to overlook little details that might come back to bite you during your time away from home or office. According to Reportlinker, the global market for business travel is all set to rise up to USD 829.5 billion by 2027.

Creative ways to stay connected with remote coworkers (that aren't a virtual happy hour)

As the months of remote work add up, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to partake in the virtual coffee dates and happy hours we relied on in the early days of the pandemic. Zoom fatigue is setting in, and it often feels better to simply opt out of the activities that aren’t required. Of course, we all need to make choices about how we spend our energy right now.