Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

May 2022

Tips For Successfully Leading Remote Teams

Develop explicit remote-work regulations and training in advance; nevertheless, in times of crisis or even other quickly changing conditions, this degree of planning may not be possible. Luckily, there are precise, research-based strategies like how to fill out a w9 that managers have to take to boost the employee engagement and motivation of remote employees without putting in a lot of effort.

5 Awesome Developer Tools to Make You More Productive

Your productivity as a developer will influence your career for the rest of your life. If you are more productive then you can learn faster, write code more efficiently and unlock new opportunities for you, from salary increases to becoming a tech lead. And to be a successful developer, you must adopt the best developer tools for a variety of use cases, and let them drive your daily workflow.

Which is the Best Employee Intranet Software

How do modern intranets support digital work environments? The digital workplace has become a necessity when employees are spread out – across the country, or even around the globe. Finding successful ways to bring employees together and simplify communication, onboarding, and more can be a massive challenge.

What is B2B Customer Service and How to Improve it With Examples and Tips

It’s common knowledge that the sales and marketing strategies to win over B2B clients are very different from those that are used to attract B2C customers. We use different channels, expect different behaviors and create specific personas for each of these buyers. Similarly, when it comes to customer support, B2B customers have unique needs and resolution journeys that make B2B customer service a distinct category by itself.

How to manage the innovation process with your team

Every business needs to grow and adapt to its surroundings. If it doesn’t, chances are it won’t succeed — especially if competitors are taking steps to develop in the marketplace. Simply put, if your business doesn’t change to keep up with customer demands, it might not survive. This is where an innovation process can help. With a solid innovation process in place, your business can find the best avenue of growth.

How To Use B2B CRM To Improve B2B Relationships

According to Forbes, 44% of companies focus on customer acquisition, while only 18% focus on customer retention. However, research has also found that just one bad customer experience can lead to customers leaving your services for a competitor. It’s no secret that customer acquisition comes at a cost. However, when you focus on customer retention, you can bring down customer acquisition costs significantly, as well as lay the foundation for forecastable revenue via repeat customers.

How to Set Up a Company Retreat for Your Remote Team [Step by Step Guide]

In a world where remote teams are quickly becoming the favored norm among many working professionals, it may or may not have crossed your mind to set up a company retreat. After all, when you introduce company retreats into your remote work culture, it can only help strengthen ties between team members and make employees feel like they’re valued where they are. If you’re wondering whether or not a company retreat for your remote team is the next best step, read on.

White label messaging app: 5 benefits and best practices

Organizations know the power of communication, and they also know the power of branding. That’s why they’re increasingly looking to purchase white label messaging apps. These apps allow them to connect with their customers or enable their employees to connect internally via instant messaging. Messaging apps can also be implemented as an in-app chat to guide users through the app or website.

Communicate With Precision and Purpose

Simpplr is introducing an innovative Live EX platform feature to transition into a new era of Internal Communications. The world of internal communications is evolving. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the employee experience. Many workers found themselves isolated, and leaders had to learn to institute technological changes to cross those divides and provide clarity around organizational priorities and values.

14 Motivational Gifts Ideas to Boost Employee Morale

Sometimes it’s a hassle coming up with unique and affordable appreciation gifts for employees. Gone are the days when employees used to get excited from the usual and monotonous presents like notebooks with a brand logo or candy bags. To solve this problem, we have articulated a list of 14 unique motivational gifts ideas for your employees, and that too on a pocket-friendly budget. If you are a company owner your should remind your employees that they are valued and appreciated.

How Does IT Deliver on the Promise of Employee Experience?

Employees struggle at work. Outdated systems, departments that operate as independent silos, a lack of communication and knowledge sharing, and the ever-increasing pressure to be more productive are additional challenges that can lead to negative employee experiences and satisfaction. The topic of employee experience (EX) has traditionally focused on the Human Resources department, but what about IT’s role in this evolving area?

Product Insider - Atlassian Analytics | Community Leaders | Atlassian

Inder Singh, Senior Product Manager for Analytics Visualization Platform, and Tracy Chow, Senior Support Engineer for Atlassian Analytics, will give a demo of the new no-code visualization builder and interactive dashboards, talk about how users can leverage it, and be available for Q&A about Atlassian Analytics and the Atlassian Data Lake.

Announcing Courier Automations: Application Logic for Notifications

We’re excited to announce a powerful new feature for the Courier platform: Courier Automations. Courier Automations is a toolset that includes both an API and a visual builder that allows anyone to easily configure logic for notification workflows. Need to send a reminder to class attendees 10 minutes before the class starts? Need to page an on-call engineer on multiple channels until they respond? These use cases and more can be achieved quickly and easily with Automations.

How Our Culture of High-Impact Openness at Mattermost Drives Results

As an open source organization, openness is part of our DNA here at Mattermost. But that openness is about more than just opening up our source code — it’s a core part of our culture and the way we do business. I’d like to share a bit more about why we’ve adopted this culture of high-impact openness and how we practice it every day across the various communication and collaboration channels that we use.

The unique reason Gen Z workers are made for this urgent moment

When you’re about as old as the iPhone, you’re going to have a unique relationship with technology. Generation Z has just that. They know that this intuitive understanding of the most powerful digital tools is an incredible force for good. Gen Z—the moniker for the group of people born between 1997 and the early 2010s—understands the creator economy innately, how to start businesses on a smartphone, and how to scale those early successes. And they are only getting started.

How to create a successful business innovation strategy

The phrase ‘business innovation’ is thrown around a lot. So much so that it’s become a bit of a buzzword. But there’s a reason it’s such a well-used term. Businesses need innovation to survive. It’s as simple as that. Without it, you risk falling behind in the marketplace and losing business to competitors. And if you don’t turn things around, you’ll eventually be out of business.

9 Strategies To Boost Employee Motivation In The Workplace

Employee motivation plays a significant role in a company’s success. Their commitment to being the best at what they do affects their team productivity and the business’s ability to grow and serve customers. A low level of employee motivation can negatively impact your business processes and ability to convert visitors to customers. Given its importance, how can business owners boost their employee’s motivation? Fortunately, there are a lot of proven ways to do so.

White label chat app: 4 advantages over custom-made chat apps

As customer-facing businesses grow, they are trying to find new ways to serve their customers. However, they want to keep their brand aligned across all communication channels. White label chat app helps them do exactly that. Compared to custom-developed chat apps, white-labeled ones can be implemented faster and require fewer resources. Read on to find out what are the advantages of white label chat over custom-made chat apps, and why organizations opt for white-labeled chat products.

Forrester's 2022 Now Tech report on secure communications platforms includes Element

Forrester, the research and advisory firm, recently published its Now Tech: Secure Communications, Q2 2022 report which provides an overview of 25 providers and helps enterprises understand the value of a secure communications platform. And (we’re all flushed in the face), Element is listed as one of the secure communication providers (available to view here).

11 Key Steps Towards Achieving a Safe Workplace

No company is immune to accidents, but certain companies, by virtue of their safety standards and procedures, are more likely than others to suffer them. By taking the right precautions, you can create a safer workplace and reduce the risk of injuries. Here are the 11 most important steps to take.

Rocket.Chat and Nextcloud Integration: Your Open Source Digital Collaboration Hub

The COVID-19 pandemic hugely accelerated digital collaboration in businesses across industries and geographies. We’re all familiar with working from home and, for the most part, the companies we work for have learned to adapt. As a result, cloud-based proprietary code platforms such as Office 365, Dropbox, and Slack have and continue to explode in popularity. Here’s the catch though: By using these platforms, all of your data, communication, and digital lives will be (or already are) at the mercy of big corporations without control, privacy and with a huge vendor lock-in.

16 open-source projects to contribute to in 2022

The world of open-source is stronger than ever. As the world gets more connected, more people are interested in being a part of building amazing new technologies. However, there are many more advantages to open-source software than just that. Specifically, there is probably no better way to learn and grow as a developer than to contribute to open-source projects. But, it’s hard to choose from so many different options!

5 workflow hacks every developer needs

Building better software and products should be the focus of every modern company. But most organizations struggle with challenges that keep their team from doing their best work — from contending with an overload of toil to a lack of cross-team collaboration. How do we ensure our developers are engaged, challenged, and moving forward in their work? We’ll look at 5 key developer workflow hacks to keep your team not just on track, but surging forward.

Online Chat Software: Why It Should Be Your Priority In 2022

Online chat software is an online application that businesses use to communicate with website visitors and offer timely services to the end-user. The support team and customers exchange instant messages, enabling them to solve customer issues in real-time. Quality customer care plays a crucial role in the success and growth of your organization.

Looking for a new messenger?

There are many messaging apps out there, but surprisingly little choice. Yet you’ll find most people use messaging apps that only fulfil one (or two if you’re lucky) of those requirements. But why settle for less when you can have it all?! Let’s run through the main problems with most messaging apps, and then take a look at Element.

How We Built Our Documentation On Docusaurus

It requires an ample amount of time, effort, and resources to produce great, user-friendly documentation. Good documentation is fundamental to the way engineers get started with a product and ultimately use it in the long run, which makes it essential to both user retention and growth. Building our documentation at Courier was a task we therefore took very seriously.

How Switching To Remote Work Can Transform Your Income And Life?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to work remotely, at least temporarily. But even after the pandemic ends, more and more people are likely to continue working from home, at least some of the time. There are many advantages to working remotely, including increased flexibility, fewer distractions, and no commute. But one of the biggest advantages is the potential to increase your income. Here are some of the major ways that working remotely can transform your income and life.

9 Essential Marketing Tools for Small Teams

Competing with bigger companies with larger teams is no easy feat for a small business. Often, founders run a tight ship and only have a few employees to gear towards marketing activities. However, just because you have a small team doesn't mean you can't contend with the big boys. Over the years, many marketing tools have arrived to help small teams operate on the same levels as bigger ones.

Visually collaborate in meetings with Miro and Google Meet

Why do we always have our best ideas in the shower? It’s because the shower is one of the most distraction-free places people find themselves all day. When you remove your mind from its normal environment, it’s free to wander to interesting places. Idea management is a bit like being in the shower, except you can write down your ideas without getting the paper wet.

Idea management 101: How to hold a successful idea management workshop

Why do we always have our best ideas in the shower? It’s because the shower is one of the most distraction-free places people find themselves all day. When you remove your mind from its normal environment, it’s free to wander to interesting places. Idea management is a bit like being in the shower, except you can write down your ideas without getting the paper wet.

11 best communication software and platforms for businesses

Communication software is one of the technologies that have a profound impact on our lives. Now, more than ever, we can stay in touch with friends and family no matter how far apart we are. Moreover, communication and collaboration solutions are an integral part of digital workplaces, and they enable employees to be more flexible than ever. Nowadays, teams can collaborate on projects across countries and time zones.

What will software development look like in 2030?

Cast your mind back, if you will, to 2010. Do you remember what the biggest leaps in consumer and business technology were back then? It was the year that Instagram launched. The first iPad was introduced. Cloud computing went mainstream, with Microsoft Azure going up against AWS. Major disruptors had yet to even enter the market. Uber? Not a thing until 2011. Same goes for Snapchat and Minecraft. The most powerful games consoles in 2010 were the PS3 and XBox 360.

[Meetup Live] Lessons from Facebook Engineering with Jeff Meyerson

Welcome to the "Hacking the Engineering Process" meetup! You've probably heard him speak while hosting his podcast Software Engineering Daily. He recently wrote a book, Move Fast: How Facebook Builds Software where he shares his many lessons learned during his time there. This meetup will be an open discussion for software engineers and tech enthusiasts to share their thoughts on the leading topic, pose thought-provoking questions for each other, and learn more about how various engineering teams measure developer productivity amongst themselves.

What is a HIPAA Risk Assessment and is it Important?

If your business operates in the healthcare industry, then you need to be up to speed with the ins and outs of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA for short. For your information, some team chat apps are also employed with HIPAA standards to protect the business data. Like many pieces of legislation, this act requires compliance from organizations in a given sector in order to provide benefits to service users and customers.

10 Super Apps That Will Dominate The World In 2022

We are living in a world where everyone has their own pace but when it comes to the digital world we have to abide by its pace, otherwise, we may become obsolete, and ‘super apps’ are the current evolution version. I will not be shocked if people in the future refer to us as the "digital age" rather than referring to the "generation" since Mankind will most likely continue to evolve at a rapid pace.

What we launched in April 2022

Every day at Miro, we’re cooking up new ways for teams to collaborate seamlessly, no matter where or how you work. This month, we released enhancements designed to streamline co-creation, improve security for your company’s internal processes, and increase accessibility for screen reader users. To see how Miro’s latest improvements can help your team innovate and connect, check out our roundup of releases from April.

How Rocket.Chat meets the needs of government agencies across the globe

Governmental agencies and public sector organizations are catching on to the digital transformation trend. Besides the need to upgrade their internal processes and services to citizens, they need to be extremely careful about data privacy and data security. Organizations in this sector look for secure ways to collaborate internally and with external partners. Moreover, they want to efficiently manage incoming citizens’ inquiries and requests.

12 Morning Motivation Tips to Kickstart a Productive Day

While it may be difficult, you shouldn’t ideally hurry into your day or despise mornings. They’re meant to be the highlight of the day. We have the perfect morning motivation ideas for you to empower your early hour routines and transform the mornings of your life. In this blog, you’ll uncover why mornings are so important for not only your day but your entire lifestyle and different ideas on how you can make them more motivated and inspirational.

Scaling Application to User Communication in an Event Driven Architecture

Troy Goode CEO of Courier, an API and UI for product notification infrastructure gives a talk on what one needs to think about when building a system like this, the complexities of it all, and the cost. Courier is the fastest way to design your notifications once and deliver them through push notifications, direct messages like Slack and Facebook Messenger, SMS, and email–with a single Courier API rather than having to integrate each provider API separately.

Collaborate more efficiently with the new Rocket.Chat's Trello App

As a team collaboration solution, we at Rocket.Chat are always looking for ways to make collaboration more efficient. Today, we are happy to announce a new app to the Rocket.Chat Marketplace that will make it even more easy for teams to work together and get more done. Most teams use a project management app to keep up with their day-to-day tasks as well as bigger projects.

How to use Jira for project management

Atlassian’s flagship products include the mighty Jira – born as a tool designed to track the status and progress of issues and bugs in software development. But Jira has come a long way since its first release in 2002. Today, Jira can be deeply customised, and integrated with the whole Atlassian stack. It has evolved into an incredibly powerful tool – and not just for development.

Frontline workers and messenger apps; how to solve shadow IT

Around 2.7 billion people are frontline workers - that’s about 80 percent of the world’s working population. It covers a huge range of roles, spanning in-home support, hospitality, agriculture, logistics, construction, emergency services and much more. Being on the frontline means that people are often operating from a mobile device. So it’s easy to understand why 53% of frontline workers end up using unapproved consumer-grade messaging apps at work.

Think Outside of the Box: How to Establish Internal Comms From the Ground Up With Ben Matthews of NVIDIA

For an Internal Communication professional and leader, it is always a challenge coming into a situation where you are taking over an existing internal comms system and IC platform. You are looking to improve on the work of those who came before you. Now, imagine that you are given a clean slate. You get to start the process of building an internal comms system from the ground up.

Why governmental organizations choose on-premise solutions

Governments and public sector organizations recognize the increasing need to protect their data. With the increase of cyber-attacks globally and growing demands from their citizens to protect their information, public sector organizations are more frequently moving away from cloud-based software toward on-premise solutions.

Our Enterprise Installer makes deploying Element on-premise easier than ever

Our team has been working hard behind the scenes on a dedicated enterprise installer for on-premise deployments of Element - and now it’s ready for launch! Many of our larger customers (especially those in areas such as public sector, telco, utilities and education) have strict compliance obligations that necessitate them hosting data on-premise. We’re committed to ensuring anyone can deploy Element on-premise securely, swiftly and without compromises.

Introducing the Zulip public access option for open communities

Today, we’re delighted to announce the general availability of Zulip’s public access option. Open-source projects and other open communities can now offer one-click access (no login required!) to part or all of their Zulip chat. For those who are not familiar with it, Zulip is a modern team collaboration tool with unique topic-based threading that is ideal for both live and asynchronous conversations. It is also a vibrant open-source project, developed by a values-focused organization.

Is MS Teams the best Skype for Business alternative? [+ How to choose one ]

On July 31, 2021, Skype for Business was retired. As it was an integral part of the Microsoft Office 365 package, numerous companies around the world were compelled to search for Skype for Business alternatives. Microsoft announced MS Teams and Microsoft Audio Conferencing as replacements to Skype for Business. However, some organizations were less than enthusiastic about the switch due to data security and data privacy concerns.

Ready to build your dream developer team? Here's what you need to know.

Now more than ever businesses run on software. That means that your team — whether you’re a “software company” or not — likely includes software developers. Brand and product experiences are increasingly dependent on software, and delivering delightful, compelling experiences depends on having a talented, engaged technical team.

Use these essential tools to streamline hybrid communication

To build relationships at work that, well, work, communication is crucial, especially now that hybrid work is on the rise. With the majority of global knowledge workers spending a mix of time in the office and remote, according to the Future Forum’s pulse study, the challenges of workplace communication are also growing. Information overload, digital distraction, knowledge silos, and overlapping communication tools can hinder collaboration.

The fastest way to level up in Jira? Hire an expert

Atlassian first released Jira in 2002. Twenty years ago. It’s unbelievable to think it’s been that long. Back then, Jira was purely for software development. But now, it has evolved into a tasking, listing and accountability tool that’s used in a variety of industries and teams, from Legal and HR, to Marketing. It’s not just a dev tool anymore. It looks different. The functionality has changed.

The Move to Complete the Pandemic's Internal Communication's Evolution

Let’s face it, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything about the way we communicate. It changed the use of our voice and wanting to hear other people. Everyday video chat had its place and purpose, bringing together families, students, and colleagues all over the world. And then, there was the explosion of distance learning and increased digital transformation—all centered on communication.

The Commonality in Communication: The Journey of Andréa Maria Cecil Topper into Internal Comms

We all have journeys in life. Rarely do these plans go as expected. Some people fight the direction, believing that the only goals for their life and career are those precisely mapped out with extreme detail. When life throws them a jolt, it can be disconcerting. Some people fall apart. Other people like to take the path that comes to them. People like Andréa Maria Cecil Topper, Director of Internal Communications at Guardant Health,

The Nonlinear Journey of Communications as a Practice and Career: Thoughts from Jill Stracko, Director of Global Executive and Internal Comms at Uber

It is a testament to the tech and communications industry that our leaders are coming from non-obvious fields. Many of our best and brightest are pivoting their careers into internal comms and communications, bringing an abundance of experience and vast knowledge to better their companies and employees. One of the standouts is Jill Stracko, Director of Global Executive and Internal Comms at Uber.

Simpplr's Spring '22 Release: Hotaka

We’re excited to share our new Spring ‘22 release, Hotaka. This release helps further employee engagement and personalization with a range of new enhancements. Here is a quick overview of this release: With this release, we also previewed some future capabilities that are entering an early adopter phase.

Jira Software Cloud and Data Center Feature Comparison | Cloud Migration Demo | Atlassian

Start your Cloud journey today with the Atlassian Migration Program . We’ve distilled the most critical resources and learnings for our customers into a single one-stop-shop giving you the tools, support, guidance, and promotions you need to migrate with confidence. Get started on your migration now to start taking advantage of the best Atlassian has to offer and to ensure a smooth, successful move.

Confluence Cloud and Data Center Feature Comparison | Cloud Migration Demo | Atlassian

Start your Cloud journey today with the Atlassian Migration Program . We’ve distilled the most critical resources and learnings for our customers into a single one-stop-shop giving you the tools, support, guidance, and promotions you need to migrate with confidence. Get started on your migration now to start taking advantage of the best Atlassian has to offer and to ensure a smooth, successful move.

What is Average Handle Time (AHT) + An Easy Way To Calculate It

When it comes to customer service metrics and call center KPIs that measure team efficiency, no metric does a better job than average handle time (AHT). A high average handle time signals critical red flags that need to be attended to immediately. This includes warnings about process inefficiencies, the quality of the training you offer, the ease of access to information and resources, and more. So it’s essential to monitor your average handle time, at all times, to make sure it stays low.

How to Improve The Internal Communication at Your Business?

A focus on internal communication is important for any organisation if you want it to function effectively. Good internal communication is also integral if you want your employees to consider your company a nice place to spend hours of their day and the work that you do to be worth their blood, sweat and tears. The employees should feel that they can communicate freely with their colleagues as well as the management team of your business.

Build vs Buy: The "to be or not to be" of Tech

Hacking the Engineering Process is a San Francisco-based meetup, which opens discussion for software engineers and tech enthusiasts to share their thoughts on leading topics, pose thought-provoking questions for each other, and learn more about how various engineering teams measure developer productivity amongst themselves.

The Great Resignation: Why Millennials Are Quitting Their Six-Figure Jobs

There’s a new trend on the rise, and it goes by the name of “the great resignation.” What is this, you ask? It’s simply when millennials quit their six-figure jobs in droves. Why are they doing this? Many say they’re burnt out, exhausted from working long hours for little reward, and this is not exactly about a monetary reward! Others cite a lack of purpose or meaning in their work as the reason for their departure.

Product Insider - Confluence Updates: Updated panels, page status, shortcuts, and more! | Atlassian

As part of our Product Insider series, Lulu, Lingyang, Sekajipo, and DJ fill us in on the latest from the Confluence team. Confluence is your remote-friendly team workspace where knowledge and collaboration meet.