4 different communication tools and ideas for employee engagement

Low engagement survey results can make you want to pull your hair out. It's not easy to come up with new ways to boost employee engagement amongst your team. 

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While there are many virtual tools for employee engagement, sometimes, all you need is to tweak a tool you are already using. 

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We collected four communication tools (some of which our team uses) that you can use daily to maintain healthy employee engagement levels.

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1. Slack

Are you surprised to see Slack on this list? Neither are we. Slack is one of the most used communication applications in the world (with over 20 million users!). But how can Slack be used to improve employee engagement? Our recent guest on Remote Manager Circle, Darcy Marie Boles, mentioned that sometimes it is not necessary to find a new tool to increase employee communication and engagement; We can utilize the tools we already use in our day-to-day. So if you use Slack, you are in luck because there are many things you can do to better employee engagement amongst your team.

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Integrate employee engagement tools and surveys 

Various employee engagement tools such as Gomada, Officevibe, Donut, HeyTaco, Kona, and TINYPulse can be integrated into Slack, making it easy to keep tabs on the metrics and know when a team building or a one-on-one session is needed. 

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Set up an appreciation channel 

Set up a channel where your team can send daily appreciation messages. Giving and receiving appreciation can be a huge booster of employee engagement; when we feel appreciated, we foster deeper connections with each other. 

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Have easy one-on-one conversations

Slack is truly an all-in-one communication tool. Since it features hangouts and calls, why not use them to have regular one-on-one conversations with your teammates? All you need to do is add a time slot to your colleague's calendar and click on the hangouts or call button. 

2. Use Veertly as a virtual office communication tool 

Veertly is an all-in-one virtual event platform. Emphasis on the all-in-one. At Gomada, we use Veertly as our virtual office, making it a place where we meet daily and communicate. Apart from being a video conferencing platform, at Veertly, you can embed and integrate almost any other tool, making it a great communication tool for employee engagement. Here are just some of the ways that you can use Veertly to boost engagement amongst your team: 

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Use the networking feature to foster connections

To foster connections and regular but casual conversations, Gomada organizes weekly one-on-ones with the team. We use Slack poll to see who is available and pair people up (sometimes we have groups of 3 or 4) to chat on Veertly in the networking area. 

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Embed a game

We have already written how instrumental having regular team building is in boosting employee engagement, especially in remote teams. On Veertly, you can have random or regular fun gaming sessions. All you need to do is to create a room, embed a game, invite everyone to the room and have a fun gaming session with the team. Voilà! 

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Use polls

Did you just get your pulse survey results back and have some ideas for boosting team engagement? Would you like to ask the team what they think about it? Polls are an excellent way of asking your team’s opinions directly on the call. You can use Veertly’s native poll option or integrate other poll tools such as Slido and Mentimeter. 

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3. Use Loom to communicate visually

Not your typical communication tool, but hear us out! In the day and age where we process, information best by simply watching it, having a video recording tool on this list is crucial! This is another tool our team uses and has worked wonders for us. Here are some of the ways you can use Loom to boost employee engagement: 

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Use it for giving feedback

Giving and receiving feedback can be difficult, especially when working remotely. Yet, feedback is an instrumental piece of the puzzle in employee happiness and engagement. This is why we use Loom. Whenever we have feedback on a project or a task, we record the screen and give our feedback via video. That way, the person on the other end can visualize the feedback and implement the changes more quickly. 

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Celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and other big moments

Why not celebrate essential dates such as birthdays and work anniversaries by recording a video and sending a digital card? Get the team to record individual videos on Loom, put them together, and send them away. It is a beautiful way to make colleagues feel appreciated. 

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4. Think outside of the box with Venngage

Venngage is an online infographics tool that allows teams to choose from thousands of templates to communicate projects and findings with their teammates. While the tool can be used for more formal purposes (e.g., visualizing the findings from a research project), it can also boost cross-functional communication. Just like with video, people tend to process visual data easier. 

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Have you been working on a project within your team and want to portray your findings in a nice, visual way to other functions? Venngage is the tool for you. Make an infographic and add it to your presentation. Or perhaps to your internal newsletter. Having accessible and clear communication amongst teams can significantly impact employee satisfaction and inclusivity. 

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Popular internal communication tools

We checked out some communication tools other companies use, such as Lumapps, Haiilo, and Workvivo. 

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These employee engagement companies love using the following tools for workplace communication:

1. Intranets: A company intranet is like your company’s private internet. Look at it as a website where you can share news, documentation, and articles. Want to set up your Intranet? Check out these providers: Workvivo, Simpplr, and Staffbase. 
2. Instant messaging: Instant messaging is an easy way to communicate and stay in contact daily with your team members, especially if your team is fully remote or hybrid. Here are some tools you can use for instant messaging: Chanty, Twist and Flock.
3. Social employee advocacy tool: Employee advocacy is a social media marketing tactic that encourages current employees to become ambassadors of your company online. Here are some tools to tap into social employee advocacy: Sprout Social, Firstup, and Oktopost.
4. Newsletter: Newsletters have always been one of the most popular communication tools in the workplace. They are used to highlight and communicate news and happenings within an organization. If you are interested in using an internal newsletter, here are some of the best tools: Mailchimp, Moosend, and SendInBlue.

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Be creative in your communication with your team

Clear and constant communication with your remote team is crucial in maintaining healthy levels of employee engagement. 

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Communication is more than just a video call and meeting; it is having those casual and fun moments with your teammates, involving them in decision-making, and coming up with an easy way to give and receive feedback. 

In case you need some more ideas, check out this blog post about the best employee engagement apps, employee engagement statistics, and employee engagement solutions.