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Digital communication can pave the way to amazing conversations with staff and even forward movement on project planning. We've got 3 of our favorite digital communication tools you can use to amplify internal communication!
In the world of associations, having great internal communication with your staff is just as important as having great communication with your members. After all, if you can’t get your team on the same page, how will you be able to focus on getting members on that page as well?
With all of the constant changes in the workplace, it can be a bit tough sometimes to get your team in the same place at the same time to have the conversations that need to be had. Depending on your association, you could have a vast majority of your team working remotely, multiple offices across the country, a large volume of staff, etc. There are so many roadblocks that can make in-person mass communication a hassle, so don’t feel defeated if this is an issue your organization faces. So, how do you get internal communication on a page that everyone is comfortable with? Thanks to the world of technology, you actually have a lot of options. Digital communication can pave the way to amazing conversations with staff and even forward movement on project planning. That’s why we’d like to introduce you to 3 different digital communication tools you can use to amplify internal communication at your association.
No matter your expertise online, you should be able to find a tool that brings everyone together no matter their location or busy schedule. Keep reading on to find the best communication solution for your association’s staff troubles!
If your association relies heavily on in-person meetings with your team, you may not see the real value in digital staff communication. But the reality is no matter the situation you’re in, digital communication tools can help make communication run smoother.
To start, going digital with your communication messages can help you keep an accurate log of what’s been said between your teammates. If you choose a communication software that saves your conversations, you’ll have a way to store all of your big ideas, tasks, and general brainstorming conversations you have with your staff. This way, you and your teammates can revisit those chat logs to better understand a project or refer back to something said. You won’t have to worry about forgetting a meeting that happened weeks ago!
Using a digital communication platform can also help you save more time in your day. Having constant meeting slots on your schedule can really take away from the tasks and projects you’ve been trying to tackle for a while. If you’re constantly running from meeting to meeting, you may not be able to actually get anything done that you’re talking about with staff. But with a digital communication tool, you can speak with your members from the comfort of your desk or office. This will save you the time of creating meetings for things that can be resolved over a few short and sweet messages- allowing you to gain some time back in your work day!
There are so many reasons to incorporate digital tools for internal communication, so let’s take a look at a few that many love and trust with their business conversations.
Slack: Many know it and love it, but is your association using it? If not, it should. Slack is one of the leading tools for digital communication in the office, and there’s a reason why. The product provides a great tool for staff collaboration no matter the size of your organization or the volume of your staff. You can get as large or as granular as you want, from having mass groups to share information to one on one conversations with specific members of your team.
Slack has a plethora of tools and integrations that your association might find useful. For example, you can send and share documents to your staff and have those documents be available for download. With this, you don’t have to pause the conversation you’re having to email documents in a separate browser. All of your communication can be done directly in the software, and these documents can be stored with the conversation you’re having.
Along with an easy to use interface and a great team of support to keep the free online software up and running, there are so many reasons to love Slack. We highly recommend checking it out for your association’s communication needs.
Does your association have a large number of remote staff? If you want to get them connected face to face, a video chat software could work for you. For this, we suggest using a tool like Skype. Skype is an online chat service that also allows users to make video calls. You can call one person at a time, or even set up a group call with multiple people of your choice, giving you flexibility in how big or small you want your video chat conversations to go.
This is a great way to phone in your remote staff for weekly or monthly meetings. You can set up a web camera to show your meeting room and your in office staff, then have your remote staff join the collaboration call and video their faces. This gives you that face to face communication that you crave without the hassle of booking flights and linking up schedules with everyone working from home. Skype is another service that has both a free and premium plan, so choose what works best for your budget and go from there!
For those associations with team members or volunteers out and about more than they’re in your organization’s headquarters, you can use digital communication to keep tabs on everyone as they go about their projects. The team tracker app can be downloaded to mobile devices as well as used on desktop as well, and it allows you to track where your team is as they go throughout their day working.
This is great for associations who hold offsite events or volunteer projects while still working in the office. You can make sure everyone is out there getting things done and message with them all within the app. Team tracker is a paid service, but great to look into if your association doesn’t have one base office or if you have multiple teams throughout the nation or country.
While in-person internal communication is optimal, your association can still find better ways to get your team together through a digital tool to increase productivity and get conversations on the right track.
