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Every project has a number of stakeholders involved, both internal and external. And for the project to be a success, everyone has to work seamlessly together, no matter what their roles are. This may seem tricky especially with projects involving a large team, but that’s where project managers come in.

Project managers help ensure that everything is going according to plan, and that every stakeholder involved is on the same page. That’s why one of the most important things to master as a project manager is stakeholder communication. 

Stakeholder communication refers to talking and collaborating with stakeholders of a project or business. Stakeholder communication involves all the groups of people who are affected by the project, or have a say in making decisions in relation to it.

That being said, it becomes clear that project management and stakeholder engagement go hand in hand. Effective communication with stakeholders is one of the keys to having a smooth-sailing project. And even if challenges come up along the way, having open and constant communication can help the team better solve any issue. 

To help you better understand what stakeholder communication is, this article will first define who stakeholders are, why communicating with stakeholders is important, and what you need in order to effectively communicate with any type of stakeholder. 

Who are your stakeholders?

Before knowing how to engage with stakeholders, you have to identify who they are first. By definition, stakeholders are groups or individuals who are invested in your project or business. More often than not, these stakeholders have different needs or expectations in relation to the project’s outcome. 

Some examples of stakeholders include, but are not limited to: 

• Founders/CEOs
• Management Committee
• Stockholders
• Investors
• Company employees
• Colleagues and team members
• Suppliers
• Partners
• Creditors
• Contractors
• Subcontractors 
• The government

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For each project, you usually have a set of key stakeholders, meaning the people who are  involved in the planning and decision-making process for it. This varies per project, but no matter who your stakeholders are, it can get tricky to make each one of them happy. And if your stakeholders aren’t satisfied, chances are the project may have a lot of back and forth. 

This highlights one reason for knowing who your stakeholders are – you can’t engage stakeholders unless you know what they’re looking for with the project. 

You can go about this by first mapping out your stakeholder groups and planning how to best engage each of them. By prioritizing which stakeholders need the most communication, engagement, and consideration, you’ll be more efficient in keeping up with all of them. 

Why is stakeholder communication so important?

If you’re wondering why engaging with stakeholders is important in the first place, let’s look at a few reasons. 

1. Builds trust

Having constant, open communication with stakeholders is an example of an easy way to form a solid business relationship. That’s because communication is key if you want to know more about their perspectives and needs.

Furthermore, it shows stakeholders that you also care about them, and not just the interests of your company. When you’re open and transparent, it will be easier for stakeholders to trust you.

2. Promotes better decision-making

Prioritizing effective stakeholder communication means that you get to gather insights and ideas that can help your project move forward. By consistently communicating and aligning with your stakeholders, you will have an easier time making informed and universally beneficial decisions for the project. This is one of the keys in helping you and your team succeed.

3. Breeds innovation

Without communication, ideas won’t have a channel to flow. But by learning how to go about stakeholder communications, you create an environment where stakeholders are happy to contribute to the conversations regarding the project. This leads to collaboration, and ultimately, innovation for the company. 

4. Prevents miscommunications 

Miscommunications happen when members of a project aren’t on the same page. This further highlights the importance of learning how to communicate with stakeholders. Through effective stakeholder communication, you’ll be able to lessen mishaps or challenges as you complete your project. 

This is especially important considering that some mistakes or moments of miscommunication may result in expenses that could have been avoided.

5. Encourages accountability 

Constant stakeholder communication is one way to ensure that everyone is accountable for their work. When you have open lines of communication and regular channels for updates, keeping track of who has to do what becomes more hassle-free. 

It’s also a good way to show each stakeholder and team member that their contributions are necessary for the project to succeed. 

What are some stakeholder communication needs?

Now that you know some of the reasons why stakeholder communication is important, you can look into what you need to have to reach out and collaborate with stakeholders effectively. 

For one, it’s important to know the right communication strategies when dealing with different stakeholders. That’s because one approach won’t necessarily work for everyone. For example, some stakeholders prefer having one-on-one alignments, while others are okay with receiving updates in a community or group space.

It’s also important to discern the right channels in which you can best communicate with your stakeholders. 

How do you effectively communicate with stakeholders?

If you’re now wondering how you can go about communicating with your stakeholder, it’s helpful to recognize the importance of different channels. Whether you’re dealing with a client, a supplier or a contractor, you should consider leveraging different ways to reach them. 

Being present in as many seamlessly integrated channels as possible will help your stakeholders better communicate with you. Here are some of the ways you can use different communication channels:

1. Leverage asynchronous video

There’s no denying that asynchronous work has gained popularity and acceptance in recent years. One way you can get in touch with different stakeholder groups is through asynchronous videos. 

For example, during onboarding it would make a lot of sense to record walk-through videos to explain the various processes. You can use a platform like Loom to record your screen while explaining what’s being shown. Just make sure there’s opportunity and space for asking questions and clarification afterwards. 

Asynchronous video can also be a more personal way of reaching out, because stakeholders see not just the brand you represent, but you yourself. 

2. Create communities

One easy way to connect with numerous stakeholders at once is to create a community for them. A community gives you the opportunity to engage with your stakeholders, just like for example in a Reddit community or a Rock space. 

Creating communities for your stakeholders is a convenient way to share salient information, updates, and discussion points with a group. Your stakeholders can also quickly raise any questions or concerns they may have. Furthermore, it encourages stakeholders to interact not only with you, but also with each other.

3. White-glove stakeholder communication‍

Certain stakeholders require a more personal and private form of communication. These are mostly stakeholders with very crucial roles in the project, or someone who is a driving force for the business. To address the needs of these stakeholders, you can set up a space on Rock where you can talk one on one. 

The beauty of Rock, a holistic project management and communication tool, is that you can create as many spaces as you need, for free. They can be created for a group of stakeholders or for individual one-on-one interactions. By creating these spaces, you get to have a more personalized and structured communication.

4. Newsletters

Another great way to engage with stakeholders is to create a company newsletter. This gives you the opportunity to gather pieces of content that are relevant to your company and industry. 

A newsletter can prove to be an engaging way of sending out company updates, project news, or any other information that’s relevant to your stakeholders. Depending on your preference, you can send out newsletters every week, bi-monthly, or once a month. 

5. Social media

Communicating with stakeholders doesn’t have to be limited to work tools. You can also engage with them through social media. With over four billion social media users in the world, this is a channel you shouldn’t ignore.

Leveraging platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can help you put out much more engaging content. This can result in a new way of getting closer to your stakeholders. Social media platforms also have in-app messaging, which helps stakeholders easily connect with you, so it pays to be responsive.

Just remember that while social media can be a source of fun content and interactions, it shouldn’t be your priority channel for stakeholder communication.

6. Webinars

If you want to engage stakeholders while also providing added value, you may want to do webinars. This is effective if you want to get closer to certain stakeholder groups. Webinars are a great way to share knowledge, hear from relevant thought leaders, and learn from your stakeholders.

Organizing dedicated webinars will also help you better understand and interact with your stakeholders, which can prove to be advantageous while working on projects together.

These are just some of the channels that you can tap into when it comes to stakeholder communication. Aside from exploring these channels, you can also look for tools that can make communication with stakeholders more seamless and engaging, such as Rock. 

How Rock helps you manage your stakeholder communication

As a holistic communication and project management tool, Rock provides everything you need to engage with stakeholders on one platform. To give you an idea, here are some ways Rock can help stakeholder communication, and project management in general, simple and easy.

1. Create community spaces

With Rock’s spaces, you won’t have to switch from channel to channel when it comes to creating communities. You can already do so on the platform itself. This also makes it easier for you to be more responsive to various stakeholders. 

Additionally, if you’re already using Rock for your day-to-day tasks, you won’t have to learn a new tool for creating communities. It’s already on the same platform you’re using!

2. Create 1:1 spaces with key stakeholders

If you have certain stakeholders that need more in-depth collaboration, you can create a one on one space with them on Rock. This is great if you have to communicate with these stakeholders often, and if they’re heavily involved in your project.

Just like the spaces for communities, you won’t have to use another tool or platform for these one on one spaces – you can manage it on Rock.

3. Manage newsletter, social media and webinar projects 

Rock isn’t just solely for communicating with stakeholders. It’s also a great way to manage all your tasks. With the Chat, Tasks, Topics, Notes, and Files mini-apps, you get a full-fledged communication and management tool. Whether you’re looking to create a newsletter or host a webinar, you can coordinate and manage all the work on one  platform. 

This way, Rock becomes both the channel for engaging with stakeholders and the channel for your team to collaborate on project’s deliverables and next steps.

Ultimately, Rock helps ensure that nothing falls through the cracks as you go about your project. Through this one platform, you’ll get to stay engaged with your stakeholders, communicate with them consistently, and make collaborating on a project easier and more seamless for everyone involved. 

What if we told you that multitasking is actually an illusion? Constantly juggling different tasks actually decreases your productivity and increases mental fatigue.

Multitasking is often viewed as the ultimate productivity booster, a method for those looking to squeeze every drop out of the 24-hour day. However, evidence suggests that what we perceive as multitasking is actually our brain rapidly switching between tasks, not performing them simultaneously. 

Let’s uncover the multitasking myth and how, by embracing a single task approach, you’re actually more efficient. 

Hustle culture and the rise of the multitasker

Hustle culture, a trend characterized by the glorification of busyness, has boosted the image of the multitasker to near-celebrity status. People draw a direct line between juggling multiple tasks and ambition or success. 

In recent years, engaging in a daily "hustle" has garnered an almost cultish following. It's the gold rush of the 21st century, where success can only be reached through superhuman willpower and relentless labor. 

The hustle culture convinces people with a simple proposition: Do more, and you shall be more. 

Hustling is further glamorized by social influencers – creating a (typically not truthful) perfect image of productivity, busyness and success. In business settings, this translates to the badge of honor worn by those with calendars looking like a mosaic with back-to-back meetings.

But don’t be fooled: the hustle is hollow. Studies and expert opinions show us the truth: the human brain is not optimized for the simultaneous processing of tasks. What we see as multitasking is often just context switching, each switch eating away at our productivity, creativity and mental bandwidth.

And yet, the hustle culture persists, because it offers a compelling illusion in the multitasking myth: being busy = being productive.

The myth of multitasking is both a symptom and a symbol of hustle culture. Advocating for more effective and efficient strategies requires us to embrace a new narrative – one where productivity is not measured by the number of tasks you’re working on, but by the quality of completed work.

🎁 Free resource: Don't let your voice be drowned out in the noise of the world—take control of your life through the Assertiveness Training Template.

The myth of multitasking: 5 Perceived benefits debunked

Multitasking is often seen as a valuable skill, especially in a world where people are bombarded attention requests. 

Most reasons you might hear regarding the benefits of multitasking actually portray an incomplete story. You’re almost always losing when doing two things at once. 

Let’s walk through 5 productivity myths of multitasking and how they actually harm your productivity and quality of work:

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⛔ Myth: Increased productivity: Many believe that handling several tasks at once can leads to more outcomes in less time.

✅ Truth: While multitasking might feel productive, studies show that shifting focus across tasks can reduce efficiency. It takes time for the brain to reorient to a new task, which cumulatively results in significant time lost.

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⛔ Myth: Efficient time use: There's a common perception that multitasking allows for the simultaneous completion of tasks, making every moment count.

✅ Truth: The illusion of doing more in less time is just that—an illusion. In reality, multitasking leads to half-finished tasks and increased errors, requiring more time to correct mistakes and actually complete tasks.

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⛔ Myth: Flexibility: Multitasking is thought to demonstrate adaptability, as individuals respond to different stimuli and switch between tasks.

✅ Truth: While switching between tasks might seem to reflect adaptability, this kind of flexibility can actually fragment attention and degrade the ability to perform tasks well. True flexibility is better demonstrated by completing tasks efficiently and effectively one at a time.

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⛔ Myth: Responsiveness: Quick reactions to emails, messages, and other communications are seen as a benefit of multitasking, contributing to better connectivity.

✅ Truth: Immediate responses to messages or emails compromise the quality of work on primary tasks. The truth is, constant connectivity can be counterproductive, as it disrupts deep work and thought processes required for complex tasks. Responses are also often less thought out.

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⛔ Myth: Competence: Those who can handle multiple tasks are often viewed as more capable and skilled in managing complex work environments.

✅ Truth: The appearance of handling many tasks simultaneously may seem to indicate competence, but the quality of work often tells a different story. Competence is more accurately reflected in the ability to prioritize tasks and give each the undivided attention it deserves.

Single-tasking as a new wave for productivity

Beneath the surface lies a counterintuitive truth: multitasking is less effective than single-tasking. 

Research indicates that our brains are not wired to handle multiple attention-demanding tasks simultaneously. When we attempt to multitask, we're actually engaging in rapid task-switching, which can lead to increased cognitive load, more mistakes, and ultimately, less productivity. 

By contrast, single-tasking—focusing on one task at a time—enables deeper concentration, facilitates higher quality outcomes, and can be surprisingly more efficient in the long run.

Now that we have established that multitasking is a myth, it’s time to talk about how you can encourage single-tasking.

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Leveraging technology for single-tasking

The ability to focus is more than a skill—it's a competitive edge. 

Leveraging technology for single-tasking requires a mental shift: seeing our devices not as distraction but a source of concentration. When implemented correctly, they become extensions of ourselves, amplifying focus, productivity and time-management.

Here are 4 tools you can check out to leave the myth of multitasking behind and leverage single-tasking more effectively.

Bash

Bash assists with single-tasking by creating an actionable feed for product and marketing work, which is powered by AI. 

Here's how Bash supports focused work:

1. Centralized information: Bash allows users to add news feeds, files, or conversations into one platform. This centralization helps to minimize the need to switch between different applications or information sources, enabling single-tasking.
2. Template-driven output: Bash offers over 80 built-in templates that help users quickly create content like meeting minutes, action plans, and go-to-market strategies. These templates reduce the cognitive load of structuring documents from scratch, freeing up mental space for single-tasking.
3. Organization and insights: By analyzing trends and updates, and combining sources in a topic to keep them organized, Bash helps maintain focus on the task at hand without the need to juggle multiple sources of information.

Rock

Rock is a comprehensive tool designed to consolidate tasks, messaging, and integration with other apps in one space. Rock reduces the need to switch between different apps and thereby minimizing distractions.

Here are some ways Rock might help with single-tasking:

1. All-in-one platform: Rock combines tasks, messaging, notes, files, and meetings in one place, which can help users focus on one task without the need to switch contexts or platforms.
2. Task management: Rock offers task management functionality that allows users to organize and prioritize their work, which can be crucial for single-tasking as it helps users focus on the most important task at hand.
3. Integration with favorite apps: By integrating with a variety of other tools and services, users can bring their workflow into one place, which supports single-tasking by reducing the need to switch between different applications.

StayFocusd

A browser extension for the discerning leader, StayFocusd allows for meticulous control over one's web usage. It empowers users to allot specific time frames to websites, after which access is restricted, ensuring that online research doesn’t devolve into aimless browsing.

Pomofocus

Employing the Pomodoro Technique, Pomofocus helps break work into intervals traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. This tool is especially useful for those who thrive on regular short sprints of work, followed by a pause to refresh and reset.

Implementing a single-tasking culture in the workplace: 14 tips

Leaving the myth of multitasking behind is no easy feat, but definitely possible. Implementing a single-tasking culture in the workplace can lead to more productivity, reduced stress, and a greater quality of work. Encourage employees to focus on one task at a time to minimize multitasking.

Here is a list of tips to help businesses foster a single-tasking environment:

• Establish clear priorities: Define clear, actionable priorities for teams and individuals so they know what to focus on without the temptation to juggle multiple tasks.
• Time management techniques: Offer training sessions on time management techniques, such as the Pomodoro Technique, which encourages focused work sessions followed by short breaks.
• Encourage deep work: Allocate specific times during the day that are reserved for uninterrupted work, encouraging employees to delve into complex tasks without distractions.
• Limit meetings: Reduce the frequency and duration of meetings to free up blocks of time where employees can engage in single-tasking. Encourage employees to cancel a meeting when it’s not adding value.
• Set expectations on communication: Create communication strategies and guidelines on communication practices, such as expected response times, to reduce the constant checking of emails and messages.
• Leverage project management tools: Utilize project management and task management tools that help employees organize their workloads into manageable, single tasks.
• Monitor workloads: Keep an eye on employee workloads to ensure they are balanced and do not encourage multitasking out of necessity.
• Model behavior: To prevent a toxic work culture, leaders should model single-tasking behavior by being present during interactions and not dividing their attention between tasks during meetings or one-on-ones.
• Designate quiet zones: Create quiet areas in the workplace where employees can go to work without interruptions.
• Encourage breaks: Promote regular breaks to prevent burnout and maintain high levels of concentration when employees are working on a task.
• Provide feedback: Regularly give feedback on work practices, praising effective single-tasking and offering constructive advice on how to improve focus.
• Personalize workflows: Recognize that different people work best in different ways and allow for personalized workflows where employees can single-task in a way that suits them best.
• Discourage disruptive technology: Limit the use of disruptive technology (i.e. social media) by encouraging the silencing of non-essential notifications during work hours.
• Cultivate an organizational mindset: Embed the value of single-tasking into the company culture, ensuring it's understood and valued across the organization.

Leave the myth of multitasking in the past. Implement these strategies, businesses can create a work environment that supports single-tasking, leading to more engaged employees and a more productive organization.

Frequently asked questions on multitasking & single-tasking

Embark on a journey to streamline your productivity by embracing the art of single-tasking. Discover tips, tricks, and tools designed to enhance your focus and efficiency in the modern workplace. This guide encapsulates the essence of single-tasking, debunking the multitasking myth, and directing you towards a more effective approach to work.

Education and Basics

• What exactly is multitasking, and does it really work? Multitasking is when you attempt to do multiple tasks at once. It may seem efficient, but it can actually slow you down, make you prone to errors, and drain your energy.
• Could you explain what people mean by "hustle culture"? "Hustle culture" is a societal trend that glorifies being busy; it equates constant work with success but often leads to stress and burnout.
• Why do some say multitasking is a myth? Many experts call multitasking a myth because science shows our brains aren't really doing tasks in tandem but quickly switching between them, which isn't very efficient.
• Can trying to multitask cause more mistakes? Definitely. When you split your attention, you're more likely to mess up because neither task gets your full focus.

Deep Dive into Single-Tasking

• What is single-tasking and its benefits? Single-tasking means doing one task at a time. It's great because it lets you focus deeply, often leading to better and faster results.
• How can technology assist me in single-tasking? Tech tools can organize your tasks and information in one place, cutting down on distractions and helping you stay on track with just one task at a time.
• What's the StayFocusd browser extension? StayFocusd is an add-on for your web browser that limits the time you can spend on websites that distract you, keeping you focused on the job.
• How does Pomofocus use the Pomodoro Technique to aid focus? Pomofocus uses timed work sessions with breaks in between, known as the Pomodoro Technique, to help you maintain focus and give you time to recharge throughout the day.

Creating a Single-Tasking Workplace

• Does adopting single-tasking at work make things less stressful? Absolutely, focusing on one thing at a time at work can make life much less stressful and help avoid burnout.
• Is it necessary to manage when we should reply to communications at work? Yes, it's important. Having rules for when to reply to messages helps everyone focus better without worrying about answering every call or email right away.
• How do quiet zones at work help with single-tasking? Quiet zones are dedicated spaces where interruptions are minimized, making it easier for you to focus on just one task without disruptions.
• Why should we personalize how we manage our workflow? Personalizing your workflow is key because everyone works a bit differently, and the best system is the one that helps you focus on one task best.

Leadership and Culture

• What can leaders do to encourage single-tasking? Leaders should set an example by single-tasking themselves and promoting its benefits to foster a focus-friendly workplace.
• Are project management tools beneficial for focusing on one task at a time? Yes, such tools can break down projects into smaller steps, making it easier to concentrate on one task at a time.
• How does feedback help with improving single-tasking at work? Feedback helps by pointing out what’s working and what isn’t, so you can refine your approach and get even better at single-tasking.

Struggling with single-tasking?

• What if I struggle to stop multitasking? Start small by allotting short periods of time to single-task and gradually build up. Use tools like timers or apps to keep you in check.
• I find it hard to resist checking communications. What can I do? Try setting specific times to check emails and messages, and silence notifications when focusing on a task.
• Our office has no quiet zones. How can I single-task effectively? Consider noise-cancelling headphones or suggest implementing quiet hours where everyone agrees to minimize disruptions.
• What if the tools I'm using aren't helping with single-tasking? Sometimes it’s a matter of finding the right tool. Don't be afraid to try different apps or systems until you find one that fits.

Prioritize single-tasking and use the tools and strategies shared in this article. Conquer the productivity puzzle and achieve more with focused attention with single-tasking. Dive in, focus up, and unlock your true potential!

The strength of a team can often be the deciding factor between success and failure. A cohesive team that's aligned in purpose isn't just desirable, it's essential to achieve goals and objectives. 

That's why we've curated a collection of 100 teamwork quotes that capture the wisdom of centuries. 

From historical leaders to the practical proverbs that have stood the test of time, each quote has been selected to inspire, motivate, and remind us that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Reinforce the bonds within your team, or simply find a daily dose of inspiration to share with coworkers. These 100+ teamwork quotes reflect the legacy of great leaders and businesses throughout time. Let’s get into it!

United we thrive: timeless quotes on teamwork and unity

Let’s delve into quotes about unity and teamwork that visualize the wisdom of leaders, visionaries, and trailblazers.

A quote for teamwork and unity is more than mere words; they are the echoes of success stories, and a gentle reminder that the journey towards greatness is best traveled together.

Let these quotes on teamwork and unity inspire you to forge stronger bonds within your teams. Build bridges across skill sets, and create a culture where unity is the bedrock of success.

When we unite in purpose and action, we don't just grow—we thrive.

1. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan
2. "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller
3. "Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." – Mattie Stepanek
4. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." – Andrew Carnegie
5. "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." – Henry Ford
6. "None of us is as smart as all of us." – Ken Blanchard
7. "The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." – Phil Jackson
8. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." – African Proverb
9. "It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed." – Napoleon Hill
10. "The whole is other than the sum of the parts." – Kurt Koffka
11. "Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there." – Virginia Burden
12. "The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison." – James Cash Penney
13. "No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it." – H.E. Luccock
14. "Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." – Vince Lombardi
15. "Many hands make light work." – John Heywood
16. "Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success." – Stephen Covey
17. "Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." – Patrick Lencioni
18. "A single leaf working alone provides no shade." – Chuck Page
19. "Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life." – Amy Poehler
20. "A successful team is a group of many hands but of one mind." – Bill Bethel

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Cooperative spirit: Uplifting quotes about collaboration and teamwork

If there's one thing that can make or break a project, it's how well we work together. 

These quotes about collaboration and teamwork aren't just fluff—they're battle-tested truths from folks who've been in the trenches of teamwork and come out the other side with something to show for it. 

When we pool our skills and knuckle down as a unit, we're stronger, smarter, and way more effective.

21. "Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people." – Steve Jobs
22. "It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." – Charles Darwin
23. "Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus." – Simon Mainwaring
24. "The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison." – J.C. Penney
25. "Politeness is the poison of collaboration." – Edwin Land
26. "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself." – Henry Ford
27. "The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team." – Lewis B. Ergen
28. "Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other's fund of collective intelligence." – Mike Schmoker
29. "The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other." – Thomas Stallkamp
30. "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much." – Helen Keller
31. "Collaboration has no hierarchy. The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth." – Amit Ray
32. "To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless." – Mike Krzyzewski
33. "The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side." – Margaret Carty
34. "Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up." – Oliver Wendell Holmes
35. "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts." – Kurt Koffka
36. "Contrary to popular belief, there most certainly is an 'I' in 'team.' It is the same 'I' that appears three times in 'responsibility.'" – Amber Harding
37. "A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others." – Norman Shidle
38. "No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you're playing a solo game, you'll always lose out to a team." – Reid Hoffman
39. "Collaboration begins with mutual understanding and respect." – Mori Taheripour
40. "Collaboration is much like a birth. The painful process of delivery pales against the joy of seeing your baby take the first breath." – Jim Tamm

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Quotes about teamwork from famous business leaders

From the visionary minds of CEOs to the tactical know-how of industry pioneers, these teamwork quotes distill decades of leadership experience into bite-sized pieces of advice.

Whether you're leading a team of two or two hundred, these quotes about teamwork will remind you that the engine of any successful business isn't just a groundbreaking idea or a standout product—it's the people who come together to make it happen. 

Let's dive into the collective wisdom of those who've mastered the art of teamwork at the highest levels of business.

41. "Teams should be able to act with the same unity of purpose and focus as a well-motivated individual." – Bill Gates, Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.
42. "My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts." – Steve Jobs, Co-founder, and former CEO of Apple Inc.
43. "I am a big believer in the power of a team. A good team can win a championship if they have the fundamentals and work together as one." – Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks.
44. "To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace." – Doug Conant, former President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company.
45. "The team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." – A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble.
46. "We’ve got to find ways of confronting the issues that divide – and at the heart of cultural issues, you often find religions." – Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo.
47. "A group of people get together and exist as an institution we call a company so they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately – they make a contribution to society." – David Packard, Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.
48. "The five separate fingers are five independent units. Close them and the fist multiplies strength. This is organization." – James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney.
49. "The best team is not the team with the best players, but the team that plays best together." – Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase.
50. "I’ve always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team." – Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler.
51. "Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team. It makes all the difference." – Alison Pincus, Co-founder of One Kings Lane.
52. "In the end, a great leader is only known by the impact he or she has on others." – Jim Stengel, former Global Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble.
53. "No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you're playing a solo game, you'll always lose out to a team." – Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn.
54. "The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison." – James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney.
55. "You need a high degree of synchronization and the ability to orchestrate a big team. That’s an important part of leadership." – Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
56. "I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition." – Jean-Francois Cope, CEO of Atos.
57. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." – Andrew Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel Company.
58. "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." – Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.
59. "None of us is as good as all of us." – Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's
60. "I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success." – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric

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Together we speak: Teamwork and communication quotes

Ever wonder how some teams just 'get it'? They finish each other's sentences, they back one another up, they move as one. Well, a lot of that magic comes down to crystal-clear communication.

Let's dive into teamwork and communication quotes and get your team talking the talk and walking the walk, together.

61. "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." – George Bernard Shaw
62. "The art of communication is the language of leadership." – James Humes
63. "Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after." – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
64. "To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." – Tony Robbins
65. "Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know." – Jim Rohn
66. "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said." – Peter Drucker
67. "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." – Epictetus
68. "Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall." – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
69. "Communication works for those who work at it." – John Powell
70. "Communication is the solvent of all problems and is the foundation for personal development." – Peter Shepherd
71. "Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing." – Rollo May
72. "You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." – Lee Iacocca
73. "Communication is your ticket to success, if you pay attention and learn to do it effectively." – Theo Gold
74. "The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives." – Tony Robbins
75. "Communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity." – Nat Turner
76. "Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality." – Malala Yousafzai, emphasizing the power of communicating one's vision for the future.
77. "Words are often seen hunting for an idea, but ideas are never seen hunting for words." – Josh Billings
78. "The most important things are the hardest to say because words diminish them." – Stephen King
79. "Great communication begins with connection." – Oprah Winfrey
80. "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." – Rudyard Kipling

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Gratitude in action: Thank you teamwork quotes

In the world of teamwork, saying 'thank you' goes beyond mere politeness. To avoid a toxic work culture, you want to recognize the collective effort, celebrate milestones and reinforce the bonds that make a team not just functional, but exceptional.

Whether you're a team leader looking to inspire or a team member wanting to show gratitude, these quotes serve as a testament to the incredible achievements that come from working together.

🎁 Free resource: 100+ powerful career affirmations for the workplace

Let's dive into these thank you teamwork quotes and give thanks where it's due. Every act of appreciation can become the driver of continued teamwork and greater achievements.

81. "Gratitude is the glue that binds together the strength of teamwork."
82. "Every successful team has a foundation of gratitude for its shared efforts and victories."
83. "In the harmony of a team, gratitude is the melody that resonates with progress."
84. "Thankfulness within a team is a multiplier of motivation and morale."
85. "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our teamwork blossom." – Inspired by Marcel Proust
86. "Being part of a team means being part of something bigger than oneself, and for that, we are perpetually grateful."
87. "A grateful team is an empowered team, each 'thank you' lifting us to new heights."
88. "The magic of teamwork begins with a simple 'thank you' and grows into endless possibilities."
89. "Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more – it turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and a group of individuals into a team."
90. "Acknowledgement and gratitude are the twin souls of a thriving team."
91. "A team's spirit is nurtured by the gratitude of its members, for it is thankfulness that makes success bloom."
92. "In the spirit of teamwork, every act of gratitude is a catalyst for more success and unity."
93. "Gratitude is the invisible thread that weaves together the strength of a team."
94. "When gratitude becomes an essential part of our teamwork, our collaboration is natural and our successes are amplified."
95. "Thankfulness in a team is like a sunrise; it brightens up the day and points us to a new beginning."
96. "Being grateful for our team means recognizing every individual's effort as a vital piece of the puzzle."
97. "Gratitude within a team is infectious; it spreads and cultivates an environment where everyone thrives."
98. "A team that cherishes gratitude as a core value is a team that stands strong in the face of adversity."
99. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others, and in teamwork, it breeds success." – Adapted from Cicero
100. "In the ecosystem of teamwork, gratitude is the nourishment that fuels growth and harmony."

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The Power of Us: Trust and Teamwork Quotes

Trust is the silent affirmation that each member will hold their weight, honor their commitments, and stand by one another through challenges and victories alike. 

These trust and teamwork quotes will help you share this sentiment effectively.

101. "When a team trusts each other, success is a natural byproduct." – Anonymous
102. "Trust is the adhesive that binds a team together; without it, even the simplest tasks become difficult." – Anonymous
103. "The best teamwork comes from those who are working independently toward one goal in unison." – James Cash Penney
104. "Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." – Patrick Lencioni
105. "Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they're doing it because they care about the team." – Patrick Lencioni
106. "It's about trust. Trusting your team, knowing that they will do everything in their power to not let you down, and vice versa." – Mike Krzyzewski
107. "None of us is as smart as all of us. Trust in collective intelligence leads to triumph." – Ken Blanchard
108. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan
109. "To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved." – George MacDonald
110. "Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work." – Warren Bennis
111. "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else – and trust they will do the same." – Booker T. Washington
112. "Good teams incorporate teamwork into their culture, creating the building blocks for success." – Ted Sundquist
113. "Creating a better world requires teamwork, partnerships, and collaboration, as we need an entire army of companies to work together to build a better world within the next few decades." – Simon Mainwaring
114. "The speed of the team is the speed of the boss. The team's trust in their leader can accelerate the pace of work." – Barbara Corcoran
115. "A single leaf working alone provides no shade. Trust your fellow teammates to create the canopy." – Chuck Page

Ending on a light note: Funny teamwork quotes for work

They say that teamwork makes the dream work, but let's face it, sometimes it also makes for some hilarious situations.

Whether it's the never-ending coffee runs, the printer that jams only when you're on a tight deadline, or that one team meeting that could have definitely been an email, there's plenty to chuckle about when we come together to get the job done.

Take a moment to share a laugh with your colleagues. These funny teamwork quotes for work are here to remind us that while the work we do is important, it's also perfectly okay to approach it with a smile, a light heart, and a sense of humor. 

After all, laughter can be the best kind of team-building exercise. Let's dive into one-liners that celebrate the quirks of working as a team.

116. "Teamwork is essential—it allows you to blame someone else." 
117. "Remember, teamwork is about sharing glory and blame alike. So if we fail, it's definitely everyone's fault but mine."
118. "The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side to share the workload, the blame, and the office snacks."
119. "I love teamwork. It means I always have someone else to do the stuff I don't want to." 
120. "A team is like a pack of wolves—always hungry for success and occasionally for pizza." 
121. "On this team, we're all united in a common goal: taking credit for each other's work."
122. "Teamwork: because sometimes your best just isn't good enough." 
123. "Our team works like a well-oiled machine; it needs constant maintenance, and it occasionally leaks." 
124. "Our teamwork strategy is the '404 Error: Teamwork Not Found' approach." 
125. "I've found that teamwork is much more effective if you have the right team. If not, solo work suddenly seems remarkably appealing."
126. "On our team, we stick together. Mainly because we're always out of office supplies like paper clips and glue." 
127. "My team really knows how to work together... to avoid doing work together." 
128. "Teamwork is important; it helps to put the blame on someone else when your project goes sideways." 

Don’t forget that humor in the workplace should always be inclusive and never at the expense of others. Have fun, but keep it kind!

Frequently asked questions on teamwork quotes

1. Why are teamwork quotes valuable for team building?

Teamwork quotes instill inspiration and unity, serving as reminders of the importance of working together toward common goals.

2. How can we integrate teamwork quotes into our work culture?

Introduce quotes during meetings, through office displays, and in internal communications to reinforce your team's collaborative spirit.

3. Can famous quotes from leaders really impact our team's performance?

Absolutely, they encapsulate wisdom that can boost morale and guide teams towards achieving their objectives efficiently.

4. How often should teamwork quotes be shared within the team?

Share them regularly, especially during moments that require extra motivation or to celebrate team achievements.

5. Are there any quotes that help in managing team conflicts?

Yes, quotes on trust and collaboration can provide perspective and assist in resolving misunderstandings.

6. What's the best way to present these quotes to a diverse team?

Choose universally relatable quotes and present them in a way that respects and celebrates the diversity within your team.

7. How can teamwork quotes help in welcoming new team members?

They can foster a sense of belonging and highlight your team's commitment to collaboration right from the start.

8. Can we use these quotes for team retrospectives?

Yes, they're great for highlighting lessons learned and reinforcing the positive aspects of teamwork.

9. What if a team member finds these quotes cheesy or unhelpful?

Respect their viewpoint and encourage them to contribute quotes or thoughts that resonate with them more.

10. Should we only use quotes from famous individuals?

No, consider sourcing quotes from within your own team to personalize the message and increase relevance.

11. How do we ensure that these quotes lead to actual teamwork improvements?

Follow up quotes with actionable goals, discussions on their application, and acknowledge when they're embodied in work.

12. What kind of quotes should be used to overcome a failure?

Use quotes that focus on perseverance, learning from mistakes, and the collective power of the team to rise again.

13. How can we measure the impact of these quotes on team dynamics?

Look for improvements in team communication, feedback during meetings, and overall team morale.

14. Is it effective to create visual reminders of these quotes?

Yes, visual representations can be very effective as they serve as constant, subtle reminders of your team values.

Implementing teamwork quotes in the workplace: Things to consider

1. What should I do if teamwork quotes have no effect on my team?

Assess team dynamics to uncover deeper issues. Offer various motivational strategies and customize your approach.

2. One team member is offended by a quote, how should I handle it?

Apologize for any unintended offense, discuss the context of the quote, and ensure future quotes are sensitive to all team members.

3. Quotes are liked but not impacting teamwork, why?

Quotes must be paired with concrete team-building activities and clear expectations to translate inspiration into action.

4. How should I react to sarcasm towards these quotes?

Engage with the individual to understand their skepticism, and consider creating a space where critical views can be shared constructively.

5. Teams enjoy quotes but don't retain the message, what to do?

Implement periodic discussions about the quotes' meanings and encourage team members to share how they can apply these learnings.

6. What if a quote contradicts our team's values?

Clarify your team's values, explain the misalignment, and use it as a learning opportunity to reinforce your actual values.

7. How can we prevent teamwork quotes from becoming repetitive?

Vary the source of the quotes, introduce interactive activities related to them, and rotate the responsibility for choosing them among team members.

“Another Zoom meeting? No, please! I already have a Zoom headache”. 

Since the pandemic hit, we have been on video calls more than ever before. Virtual meeting burnout is a very real thing. And more and more people are suffering signs of Zoom fatigue these days. 

Let’s talk about the “elephant in the Zoom”: Zoom meetings can be draining. Pressing the Leave/End button and relaxing the “Zoom face” is the ultimate moment of relief for many.

But what’s wrong with Zoom meetings and why are so many people experiencing Zoom exhaustion? What exactly is tiring us out? In the following article you will find all you need to know about Zoom fatigue symptoms and how to deal with Zoom burnout. Read along!

What is Zoom fatigue? 

The term “Zoom fatigue” (also called virtual meeting fatigue) was popularized on social media during the first months of 2020. But it has been continuously searched online afterwards, according to Google trends.

Over two years into the pandemic, a recent survey found that nearly a quarter of American remote workers (23%) say that their Zoom fatigue is worse than ever. But it is not just an internet phenomenon. And it is not just about Zoom. It was called “Zoom fatigue” because of the popularity of the platform among the available remote work tools. 

A first peer-reviewed article about the so-called Zoom fatigue symptoms from a psychological perspective was published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior in February 2021, by Stanford University communication professor Jeremy Bailenson.

Bailenson researched the symptoms of Zoom fatigue. He concluded that Zoom was “an amazing tool”, but its continued use can have “psychological consequences”. According to the Bailenson study, Zoom and other popular video chat platforms have “design flaws” that exhaust the human mind and body. 

After too many Zoom meetings, you can feel extremely tired and have some signs of Zoom burnout, such as forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension pain, fatigue and insomnia. 

Let’s find out why, and what you can do to reduce Zoom meetings while staying organized at work. 

Why do I feel drained after meetings? 

As the Bailenson research shows, video calls exhaust humans and cause Zoom fatigue symptoms. 

There are different reasons that explain why you can experience meeting fatigue when using videoconferencing technology.

Here are the five main reasons:

1. Too close up eye contact

When you talk to someone face to face, there is usually way more distance with the other person than in a Zoom meeting. 

However, if you use video conferencing platforms, cameras are often very close. As a result, the amount of eye contact becomes too intense, and the size of faces on screens seems unnatural.

Besides, in a Zoom call everyone is mostly looking at everyone all the time, so even if you don’t speak, you still have faces staring at you. It can cause Zoom exhaustion because we are not used to that permanent eye contact.

“This is similar to being in a crowded subway car while being forced to stare at the person you are standing very close to, instead of looking down or at your phone”, explains Bailenson.

“On top of this, it is as if everyone rotated their bodies such that their faces were oriented toward your eyes. [...] For many Zoom users, this happens for hours consecutively”, says the psychologist.

2. Seeing yourself

Another cause of Zoom fatigue symptoms  is what Bailenson calls “an all day mirror”. You don’t see yourself when communicating in person. In a Zoom meeting, you see yourself all the time. It’s very hard for us not to look at our own faces if we can see them on screen, or to not be conscious of how we behave in front of the camera.

Imagine an assistant following you all around the office with a handheld mirror while you have meetings with people, making sure you see yourself in that mirror while you have those conversations. Does it sound like a weird or even worrying example of a toxic work culture? Well, it is not much different to what happens in a Zoom call.

“Even though one can change the settings to ‘hide self view’, the default is that we see our own real-time camera feed, and we stare at ourselves throughout hours of meetings per day”, stresses Bailenson in his report.

Marissa Shuffler is an associate professor at Clemson University. She says that being on camera makes you aware of being watched, which can result in “social pressure” and “feeling like you need to perform”. “Being performative is nerve-wracking and stressful”, adds the psychology professor.

3. Too long

Meeting in person and online are different. A lot of virtual meetings are too long, causing exhaustion and leading to Zoom fatigue symptoms.

“After a long day of back-to-back video calls, it’s normal to feel drained”, explain authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy in a Harvard Business Review article. The length of Zoom meetings is a shared complaint among many remote workers.

There are countless posts on blogs and social media platforms from users suffering from Zoom exhaustion. Many people complain about “too long” virtual meetings. For some, virtual meetings transform into a “Zoom all day long”, as stated by workplace advice columnist Alison Green. 

2021 Zoom data shows that meetings are still too long. A Zoom survey of nearly 1,700 users suggests that the average meeting length was nearly an hour. That is a rather long meeting, and nearly twice as long as our attention span allows for. According to Microsoft research, fatigue sets in about half an hour into video meetings. 

We all have been in meetings that weren’t needed. You can try out these meeting agenda examples to improve the length and productivity of your video meetings.

4. Little mobility

Staying seated in a chair for prolonged periods of time can be challenging and unhealthy. Also, staying within the angle of the camera can come unnatural.

In-person and phone conversations allow you to walk around and move. But with videoconferencing, most cameras have a set field of view, meaning you have to generally stay in the same spot. 

According to Stanford professor Jeremy Bailenson, when we move, we “perform better cognitively”.

5. Cognitive load

In regular face-to-face interaction, nonverbal communication is natural and helps us to interpret messages subconsciously. But in video chats it is harder to send and receive gestures.

We make our brain work harder by exaggerating our facial expressions. We also have to make more conscious signs (such as thumbs up or down) to note if we agree or disagree with something, explains Bailenson.

That adds cognitive load and the use of your “mental calories” to communicate and to understand others. As a result, you carry a heavier cognitive load and it adds to Zoom fatigue.

Things to do during your meetings to prevent Zoom fatigue

So now that we have explored the problem, let’s explore the solution.

Here are some things you can do to avoid Zoom fatigue symptoms, in case those Zoom meetings can’t be avoided:

• Turn your camera off every now and then: Take breaks from the camera every now and then to recharge your batteries.

• Move around: Take meetings while going on a walk if possible, or move around the house. 

• Sit further away from the screen: usual interactions have 1 meter between people, try sitting away further from your screen.

• Reduce meeting time: Try to keep meetings at 30 minutes max. Reducing items on a meeting agenda might also allow for a smaller group to attend, so it’s a more focused conversation.

• Set up a meeting agenda and follow virtual meeting best practices: improve virtual meetings and make sure you are getting the most out of that time.

How to avoid meetings altogether

It is not always possible, but for some companies it might be a good idea to reduce Zoom meetings to the bare minimum and apply other communication strategies.

If that is your case, there are three options you can try to implement to leave video conferences behind and forget about Zoom fatigue symptoms once and for all.

1. Switch to asynchronous by default

“We should evaluate why we are choosing a video for so many calls that previously would never have warranted a face-to-face meeting, or perhaps any synchronous meeting at all”, says professor Jeremy Bailenson.

Asynchronous work requires less direct response and allows people to get work done in their own time. This allows team members to pick up tasks from others without waiting for meetings or direct messages.

2. Learn to say no

Sometimes you just don’t need another meeting. Learn to say no when you don’t think you will bring value to it.

Task management skills can be useful for that purpose, as you will learn to prioritize which meetings are more relevant.

3. Leverage documentation

Storing information means team members can find information more easily without needing to reach out to or schedule a meeting for clarification.

If you look into how to improve productivity in an organization, you will start having your documents more structured and organized, thus less meetings will be necessary.

How do I recover from Zoom fatigue?

Already experiencing Zoom headache, virtual meeting burnout and other Zoom fatigue symptoms?

Here is some advice for you:

• Communicate with your team: Share your issues with your coworkers. You might be able to brainstorm a solution together. Check in questions for meetings can be a good start for it.

• Take some time off: Taking a few days off can have positive effects on your mental health.

• Set a no meetings day: Set a day in the week in which you don’t accept meetings. This allows you to clear your mind for a complete day. 

Stop zooming, start rocking!

Rock is designed to help you avoid unnecessary meetings, so you can reduce meeting fatigue. Use messages, tasks, notes and files to increase the efficiency of your meetings or to not need them in the first place!

However, we do believe that when necessary, virtual meetings should be easy to carry out. Rock has Zoom, Google Meet and Jitsi integrations, so you can start rocking in all you meetings!

Distractions are everywhere. Between endless emails, social media, and nonstop Zoom meetings, it's hard to stay focused. Fortunately, there are strategies aimed at how to work effectively and efficiently on the daily.

I spent the last 3 years growing a productivity tool and writing 100+ blogs focused on productivity, collaboration, and team communication. I have broken down my learnings into 14 work strategies to excel in your daily tasks while safeguarding work-life balance.

Alongside explanations and strategies, I'll also be sharing a free template on working effectively and efficiently to help you integrate these learnings into your routine.

Before jumping to the strategies; let’s go over the actual meaning of working effectively and efficiently.

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Working efficiently and effectively, What is the difference?

Many people use efficiency and effectiveness interchangeably. Before jumping into strategies to optimize them, you must understand the difference:

Working efficiently refers to producing a result in a way that consumes the least time, effort, and resources. For example, imagine you usually spend 4 hours on preparing an update report. If you suddenly manage to prepare the same report in 3 hours then you have increased your efficiency.

Working effectively focuses on the ability for the outcome to reach its goal. For example, think of two employees working in sales. Both have the same workload and perform the same tasks, but one outperforms the other by 20%. We can then conclude that the employee with higher performance is more effective.

In a nutshell, efficiency is about resource usage, while effectiveness is about the success of the output. Most jobs require a balance between speed (efficiency) and quality (effectiveness) when looking at work performance and output.

“Efficiency is concerned with doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” - Peter Drucker

Simply racing through tasks (efficiency) often leads to low-quality output that misses targets. Thus, striking the right balance between effectiveness and efficiency is a must.

Now that you know the difference You might wonder: What should I start doing to be more effective and efficient?

Well, I'll share 14 work strategies and an actionable template so you can level up your work performance consistently.

How to work effectively and efficiently: 14 strategies

Some work strategies focus on efficiency, others on effectiveness and some tackle both. To keep things organized, I'll separate strategies on the performance metric tackled: effectiveness, efficiency, or both at the same time.

4 work strategies to maximize your efficiency

Throughout the years I have been able to maximize my efficiency when completing my weekly responsibilities. These are the main 4 strategies that help me maximize the amount of work done throughout my working hours.

• Reduce the number of meetings you’re in
• Set up a working routine
• Stick to your deadlines
• Use asynchronous video sharing

1. Reduce the number of meetings you’re in

According to the Harvard Business Review, meetings often are run badly and take up too much time. Executives spend nearly 23 hours in meetings, up from <10 hours in the 1960s.

If you can reduce the number of meetings you sit through while still making key decisions and moving forward with projects, then your efficiency is guaranteed to improve. We have an async-first culture at Rock so we've always tried to keep meetings at a bare minimum. As a result, I typically have between 2 to 5 meetings every week.

Cutting down on meeting time doesn't apply to conversations that actually matter, but it might help you avoid meetings that could have been an email. Curious how to fill the gap?

• Documentation: Fewer instructional or last-minute meetings are needed if people can easily find the information they need.
• Asynchronous work: Set up work in such a way that people can finish their tasks without being too dependent on direct responses.
• Task management: Organize priorities with task management to structure the work that has to be done and swiftly move across different responsibilities.

Note that meetings do not need to disappear altogether. Instead, follow our virtual meetings best practices and make sure to communicate efficiently while documenting enough information so your team does not depend on lengthy meetings to be informed on what to do.

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2. Set up a working routine

A routine helps me make efficient use of my time. Implementing structure to the day gives a sense of control and helps improve productivity. Routines also help with removing guilt for unproductive moments so creating one is a must if you want to be more efficient.

Figuring out at what time of day you are most productive and sticking with it helps. When? Chances are you know best. I work with 2-hour "deep work" time slots that I organize throughout the day. I often put in a longer break during lunchtime to go to the gym and then add some extra time in the evening to get the most out of my day.

Whether you're looking for a productive morning routine or want to get work done at night, build a working routine that allows you to tackle tasks consistently.

Routines are there to make our lives easier, as they eliminate constant decision-making and, with that, decision fatigue. Establish new routines by combining the useful with the enjoyable. Petra Zink - Forbes Business Council

Your team must understand the value of flexible and asynchronous work for this to succeed. If a company is strict on working hours or locations, some people likely get left out, which will hurt team efficiency in the long run.

Try to stick to your routine, after all, it takes on average 66 days for behavioral changes to become a habit.

The best way to promote a routine is to gamify the activities and provide small rewards and recognition for those who stick to the routine. - John Knotts - Forbes Business Council

3. Stick to your deadlines

Time and resources are wasted when you don't define timeframes for tasks. Deadlines are a key component in project management strategies to assess your workload and make sure resources aren’t wasted.

Keep in mind that deadlines should not become a roadblock that hinders the effectiveness of a task. Doing something faster (efficiency) is not worth it if that outcome does not fulfill its goal (effectiveness).

Use sprints or configure start and due dates for your tasks with Rock: All-in-one task management, messaging, note-taking, files and meetings in one place.

Implementing reasonable deadlines also boosts motivation as it enables you to say no to new work and making your deadlines before their due date

Discuss reprioritizing your to-do list if you notice that your work is dropping in quality (effectiveness) when sticking to a deadline. Getting assistance from other team members, outsourcing the task, and moving a deadline back are all possible solutions to this problem.

4. Use asynchronous video sharing

Asynchronous video sharing is a great way to scale explanations or explain things without jumping into a meeting. At Rock, I have used asynchronous videos for a bunch of onboarding activities. A pre-recorded video teaches our new hires important information, they can watch it back as many times as they want, and it prevents me from having to schedule a meeting every time someone new is hired.

This strategy is best tailored for one-sided conversations such as presentations, onboardings, or tutorials. Allow people to pause, watch back, and take more effective notes.

Organize all your asynchronous videos in one place with a task board: Get started with Rock to organize your communication and collaboration in one place.

Loom is a tool specifically created to help you record these async videos. After sharing a link, team members can leave comments at different time stamps or respond with a custom emoji in-video.

Let’s say you typically do an onboarding on how your team uses Rock for task management and messaging. If you record a Loom, you can share this video for every onboarding over the next few months instead of planning a walk-through meeting (we have a recording for you if you need an in-depth Rock walkthrough)

4 work strategies you can implement to maximize the effectiveness of your team

We previously discussed how effectiveness focuses on delivering high-quality output. Here are 4 strategies for effective communication and work that I have implemented in my daily routines.

• Use meeting agendas
• Create a weekly to-do list
• Prioritize the most impactful tasks
• Connect with your team

1. Use meeting agendas

Structure is essential in meetings. We don't typically meet if there is no agenda, and require team members to share one well in advance. I previously discussed in best practices for meetings how a meeting agenda is crucial to collaborate effectively and get the most out of your meeting time.

Sharing a meeting agenda ensures that the correct team members are present and allows people to be informed on action items and important information before actually getting together. Overall this saves you valuable time and helps shorten the meeting significantly.

Meeting agendas should be sent out to all attendees at least 24-48 hours in advance so everyone has enough time to go over the information. We discuss the most important meeting agenda examples in a dedicated article, but here are some highlights:

• Action items: What tasks need completing or what issues need resolving before meetings? For example, someone needs to upload a certain document.
• Informational updates: What information should team members digest before getting together? Make sure to share in advance so you can avoid reading information and have a more in-depth discussion on the material.
• Discussion topics: What should be discussed in the meeting? This can include brainstorming or open bullets for other team members to add their topics.
• Relevant files: What documents should you attach to aid the meeting? Make sure to make cloud files easily accessible and available to everyone.

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2. A weekly to-do list helps with being effective

I struggle to work effectively when my thoughts and to-do's are scattered all over the place. Lack of clarity in to-dos just leads to context switching and excessive multi-tasking, ultimately tanking your actual productivity and effectiveness in completing tasks. A lack of organization leaves most people stressed and unable to work on what's most impactful.

By breaking large projects into smaller tasks, you organize your goals into achievable activities. This way, you prioritize work that is most important and relevant to achieving company goals and objectives.

Weekly to-do lists can take a lot of forms. Some people write notes by hand, use simple Excel, or have a dedicated task management app. I use the "Set Aside" function in Rock to manage most of my to-dos, but some team members manage it differently and are still able to work effectively.

I have spoken with many team members internally to see how they manage their to-dos, so here are possible ways to manage a weekly to do list template:

• We use Set Aside to store messages, tasks, notes and topics easily available.
• Summarize all tasks across different spaces in a dedicated ‘My Tasks’ panel.
• Organize tasks in sprints to reduce the cognitive load.
• Discuss to-do’s in depth with topics, dedicated discussions in group spaces.
• Use the task board in the personal space to organize priorities.

Manage your weekly to-dos in one place with Rock: Work with the task board, "my tasks" panel, configure sprints or move tasks, notes messages into the "Set Aside" panel to stay effective.

3. Prioritize the most impactful tasks

If you’re still left thinking - what should I start doing to collaborate effectively and get work done? A simple takeaway would be to prioritize tasks. Prioritization allows you to make the most of your time at work.

Being effective starts with your to-do list. Instead of cluttering up your list with low-impact tasks that overwhelm you, focus on tasks that drive value first. Start your day by selecting the tasks that are important and urgent, in line with previously discussed deadlines.

Effectiveness is not just about how much effort we put in, but where we put that effort. Effectiveness is about doing the right task, not just about doing the task right." - James Clear, author of "Atomic Habits"

Avoid deadlines from hurting your effectiveness by focusing on urgency and importance. This is also known as the Eisenhower matrix. Balance whether a task has to be completed now or can wait for another time. It’s also important to think of how impactful a task will be.

Alongside urgency, focus on tasks that are important to your long-term goals. If a task is neither urgent nor important, drop it or delegate it.

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4. Connect with your team

A significant part of working effectively is fostering good communication within your team. Note that this does not mean scheduling redundant meetings.

Communication goes beyond your close circle. You should extend it to other departments to optimize team members’ effectiveness. This way, the process of improving cross departmental collaboration and cross functional collaboration is naturally incorporated into your workday.

Collaborate effectively by building an environment that is engaging and open. Here are some communication strategies to implement if you want to connect with your team:

• Trust: Trust is key to working effectively as a team. Teams lose effectiveness when trust is lacking as creativity and different perspectives are not nurtured.
• Open feedback: Team members should share their thoughts and feelings, even if they are negative. Welcoming constructive criticism ensures that work relationships and output are optimized. Or if there are issues, they can be discussed and promptly resolved.
• Recognition: Everyone should feel valued and receive the recognition they deserve. Team members feel more compelled to deliver valuable output if it’s recognized and celebrated by other team members.

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6 Work Strategies to implement if you want to work effectively and efficiently

now that we've covered them individually, it’s time to look into some strategies that combine working effectively and efficiently with others at the same time.

• Take time off and rest
• Set asynchronous work as your default
• Use a project management framework
• Implement task management in your team
• Leverage documentation
• Use all-in-one tools

1. Take time off and rest

Forget about effectiveness and efficiency if rest isn’t in your vocabulary. While it might seem counterintuitive, adequate rest is key to preventing burnout.

Like many others, I've been victim to thinking that more hours equals more and better output. And while that might be the case for some time, it will most likely come crashing down at some point.

Our brains are like a muscle. Without rest periods between workouts, it becomes fatigued and you increase the risk of injury. Staying well-rested is essential to maintain concentration, motivation, and ability to solve problems.

Make sure that everyone is well-rested and takes enough rest to avoid a toxic work culture. Introduce check-in questions for meetings and keep an eye on types of communication styles in your team to spot issues before they arise.

Rest is not just the occasional vacation. While taking time off is crucial, rest needs to be an everyday practice. For example, 10 minutes of daily mindfulness practice with positive affirmation for work can make a big difference for your productivity and health.

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2. Set asynchronous work as your default

What’s the best way to work if you're looking to get effective and efficient output? We advocate for asynchronous work as a collaboration default state. This methodology does not require all team members to be online at the same time, providing our whole team with more flexibility.

Employees can focus on their efficiency and effectiveness without waiting for others to finish tasks. Think of daily collaboration like a relay race instead of a sprint. Team members can pick up a task from another one without needing to wait for an “okay.”

Rock was built from the ground up to help teams implement asynchronous work and make day-to-day collaboration and communication more effective and efficient.

There is no need for constant check-ins, meetings, and consistent messaging that interrupts your daily work. Team members can stay organized at work without relying on others. Asynchronous work allows you to choose work faster and set a schedule that maximizes your productivity.

You get the freedom to start your day according to your needs when everyone doesn't have to be online at the same time throughout the workday. Some overlap is a must, but it shouldn't encompass 100% of your workday.

3. Use a project management framework

The right project management framework can help you organize your work in a more structured way. Project management provides you with processes and guidelines to help deliver efficient and effective output. To find the right one, ask yourself - what’s the best way to work for your team?

Although there are plenty of frameworks, Agile vs Waterfall are some of the most commonly applied frameworks. Despite their differences, both have been adopted by major companies for their proven success. For example, companies like Apple and IBM use Agile due to its demonstrated effectiveness.

When choosing a framework, consider your team's needs, project requirements, and organizational culture. By selecting the most suitable approach, you can optimize productivity and ensure a smooth project execution.

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4. Implement task management in your team

Task management allows you to maximize your efficiency and effectiveness by breaking large goals into smaller stepping stones. This makes prioritizing, optimizing workflows and getting work done easier as it’s configured in smaller pieces.

Since prioritization is key with task management, you can leverage the different features it offers to focus on the most important work. You can also track how many activities you finished in different time frames.

This makes it easier to become more efficient as time passes. You can track how long you spend on different activities, and find back past activities without searching across folders or docs.

Here are a few features within task management that can help you with managing your workload.

• Deadlines: add a start or due date to your tasks and make sure that they are finished in time.
• Connect with your team: use the comment section, assignees and followers to keep all relevant team members in the loop.
• @mention: You can @mention tasks in comments, descriptions and outside of the Tasks mini-app to quickly set up a weekly to-do-list.
• Prioritize: Tasks have a priority field: Highest, high, medium, low, lowest. Updating your tasks with this field allows you to filter all tasks to only see the most important to-do’s.

Rock is an all-in-one task management tool that includes feature-rich task cards and multiple views so you have complete flexibility in how you organize your projects.

5. Leverage documentation

A core component of working effectively and efficiently is documentation. Store past activities and information and make them easily accessible to you and the rest of your team. Here’s how documentation helps with efficiency and effectiveness:

• Implementing documentation makes your team more efficient as they spend less time searching for relevant work information. Well-documented teams can access important information without searching for too long or reaching out to one or more team members.
• Teams become more effective through documentation because they have more information available when completing a task. They can also more easily access relevant activities or information from the past that can help improve the output.

Getting a file management platform like Google Drive or Dropbox is not enough though. There’s nothing worse than endlessly searching for information across your folders or continuously sharing links with different team members.

We initially encountered the same issues, which is why we added native integrations with the most popular cloud storage providers to Rock. Think of Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Notion, Miro, Figma and many others in the Files mini-app.

Rock users can easily access shared files in the Files mini-app: Add relevant project folders to your space and quickly make them available to everyone.

6. Use all-in-one tools

If you’re using multiple tools to communicate and collaborate with your team then bringing it all together might help your team. Disconnected workflows cause a lot of context switching. This reduces efficiency and effectiveness, here's why:

• Efficiency is reduced because people have to switch between platforms to find information or get work done. This all takes away time which could have been spent in more productive ways.
• Teams become less effective because coworkers don't work with all the resources they need to provide valuable output. Tasks will be less complete when done without all the needed documentation.

Rock combines messaging with tasks and your favorite apps so you can focus on maximizing effective and efficient work: avoid switching between a separate messaging and task management platform to get work done.

Work Efficiently and Effectively with Rock

Ready to implement one or more of the strategies given throughout? Get started with this free template and check off every new strategy once you've implemented it.

Use the chat to discuss different strategies, add your own, and bring your work output to the next level.

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Rock can become a powerful tool for your team if you want to optimize your effectiveness and efficiency. From a weekly to-do list to asynchronous work in general, there is functionality built from the ground up to cover it all. Sign up for free and try it out.

Sign up for free to Rock to manage all your communication and collaboration in one place.

I hope this article was able to add valuable insights if you were wondering how to work effectively and efficiently with your team. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Youtube and don’t forget to share the article and tag us!

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In an ever-connected world where speed, efficiency, and convenience matter, instant messaging apps have taken center stage.

Messaging apps are not just about quick chats anymore— they're about sharing files, making voice and video calls, and even hosting virtual meetings. We've curated a list of the 10 best instant messaging apps that are redefining digital communication in 2024.

Ready to explore? Let's dive in!

1. Rock

We know, we know, that’s us. But you won’t regret giving our instant messaging app a chance!

Rock's messaging is not just your average chat tool—it's a powerhouse for working effectively and efficiently. Rock is designed to meet the diverse needs of teams in 2023: connect with team members, freelancers, or clients in the same place.

You get the freedom of sending unlimited messages, creating unlimited 1:1 spaces, and sharing files with anyone. Our messaging app is designed to make cross-organizational collaboration a breeze, allowing you to add collaborators from other companies, agencies, or freelancers to the same space.

You can also mention tasks, notes, people, files and spaces in every chat. No more juggling between tabs or losing context—everything you need is in the same project space: instant messaging, task management, note taking and file management.

Share audio messages, conduct polls, express with emojis, or use the advanced search functionality to find any task, note, file, or message. You can even schedule messages and pin important announcements when you upgrade to Unlimited.

The best part? Rock's Messaging is mobile-friendly, so you can take your conversations, tasks and work files wherever you go. Messaging on the platform is secure and made to supercharge your team's communication.

Ready to get started with the best messaging app? Start today with Rock’s all-in-one messaging platform.

Main benefits of selecting Rock for instant messaging

• Integrated task management: Project spaces include much more than messaging. The chat is natively connected to tasks, allowing users to discuss work, assign tasks, and track their completion all in one place.
• Collaboration with external parties: Quickly add other companies, agencies, or freelancers to a workspace.
• Integrations: Connect and manage apps like Zoom, Google Meet, Figma, Dropbox, Notion and others directly within the group message app.
• Quick connect: Create a custom invite link which allows others to open a project space with you within seconds.
• Cross-platform availability: Rock is available on various platforms, including Windows, Mac, iphone messaging app, and Android.  
• Flat pricing: Unlike other tools on the market, Rock does not have per-user pricing. Teams can collaborate with unlimited team members, freelancers and clients at a flat rate.

2. Slack

Slack is a cloud-based collaboration tool that aims to bring all communication together in one place. The instant messaging app is designed to support the way people naturally work together, making it easy to collaborate with individuals and workgroups in real time.

Users can organize team conversations in channels. Channels can be based on anything, be it a team, a project, a department, or even office-related random discussions. An intuitive structure helps keep track of important decisions and discussions, which otherwise get lost in email chains.

Slack doubles as a hub for all your essential work tools. By integrating with services like Google Drive, Salesforce, or Asana, Slack brings all your tools under one roof. No more tab-switching.

Slack does have its Achilles' heel: cost. To unlock most of the platform's powerful features, teams must subscribe to one of Slack's premium plans. The cost can escalate quickly for larger teams with per-user pricing, making it a less desirable option for those mindful of their bottom line.

Benefits of using Slack as your messaging app

• Channel-based organization: The concept of channels, which are essentially conversation threads, is a defining feature of Slack. Channels can be created for specific projects, teams, or topics, and can be made public or private.
• Secure collaboration: Slack offers enterprise-grade security with features like two-factor authentication and data encryption.
• Customizable notifications: Slack offers keyword notifications, where users can be notified whenever a specific word or phrase is mentioned. This level of notification customization is not commonly found in other group message apps.

3. Microsoft teams

Microsoft Teams is an app for messaging that's part of the Microsoft 365 suite. Teams provides a hub for communication, including messaging, video meetings, and file-sharing.

Conversations are organized in a threaded manner, preserving the context and history of discussions. Users can also draw attention to specific messages using @mentions for individuals or the entire team.

File sharing is integrated directly into the chat, and users can collaborate on these files in real-time. Additionally, Microsoft Teams allows for the integration of other Microsoft 365 apps within the chat interface, such as SharePoint, OneNote, and Planner.

A common complaint about Microsoft Teams is that its user interface can feel cluttered and overwhelming, especially for new users. Some users also report that the group message app can be slow or laggy, particularly when handling large files or during periods of high activity.

Benefits of using Teams as your messaging app

• Integration with Microsoft 365 suite: Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, and this allows seamless integration with other Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Outlook. This is a big advantage for organizations already using these tools.
• Walkie talkie feature: Teams includes a walkie-talkie feature in its android and iPhone messaging app, providing clear, instant, and secure voice communication over the cloud.
• Inline translation: Teams can automatically translate messages in channels and chats, making it a great tool for international teams.

4. Discord

Discord is a messaging app primarily designed for the gaming community, but it has also been adopted by a variety of other user groups. The platform offers features such as voice channels and text messaging.

Messaging in Discord is organized into servers, which are further divided into channels. Each server can have multiple text and voice channels for different topics, games, or conversations, and users can easily switch between these channels.

Discord supports direct messages for one-to-one conversations and group messages for small, private discussions outside of servers. Users can also use @mentions to get the attention of other users or entire roles in a server.

A common complaint about Discord is its lack of native support for threaded conversations. Unlike some other apps for messaging like Slack or Microsoft Teams, Discord doesn't offer an easy way to reply to a specific message in a thread-like format. As a result, conversations can sometimes become difficult to follow, especially in busy channels with a lot of active users.

Benefits of using discord as your group message app

• Voice channels: Discord includes voice channels that users can join and leave at will. Native voice channels provide a convenient option for impromptu or ongoing audio conversations.
• Custom emojis and reactions: Upload custom emojis and use them in your server. You can also react to messages with any emoji, adding a layer of expressiveness to conversations.
• Live streaming and screen sharing: Discord users can live stream video and audio in channels, or share their screens. Streaming or screen sharing can be useful for presentations, demos, or collaborative work.

5. Telegram

Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging app recognized for its emphasis on speed and security. Businesses can create channels to disseminate updates, news, or promotional materials to an unlimited number of subscribers.

Businesses can also program bots to perform a multitude of tasks, such as providing customer support or sending scheduled updates.

It is worth noting that Telegram lacks productivity features that are typically found in other business-focused messaging apps. For instance, it does not natively support features like task management, calendar integration, or threaded conversations.

The absence of these features in an instant messaging app can make the management of work-related tasks and less streamlined.

Unique instant messaging features that can be found on Telegram

• Supergroups: Telegram supports supergroups that can accommodate up to 200,000 members, ideal for large-scale internal communication.
• Bot integration: Telegram supports the integration of bots, which can be programmed to do a variety of tasks. Think of customer support, scheduled updates, or automated responses.
• Privacy and security: Telegram offers Secret Chats with end-to-end encryption and self-destructing messages.

6. WhatsApp

WhatsApp messaging app is a free-to-download app specifically designed for small businesses. Businesses can interact with their customers by using tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.

Both one-on-one and group messaging are supported on WhatsApp business. The messaging app offers a variety of tools, such as automated greeting and away messages, quick replies for frequently asked questions, and the ability to label chats for easy organization.

Scalability is a common issue with using the WhatsApp messaging app. For example, it lacks advanced business features such as integration with CRM systems, detailed analytics, or support for multiple operators.

Features that make WhatsApp a great app for messaging

• Global Reach: The WhatsApp messaging app is hugely popular worldwide, which can be an advantage for businesses looking to reach international customers.
• WhatsApp Business App: specifically designed for small businesses, allowing them to create a business profile and catalog their products and services.
• Labels: Organize chats using labels, making it easier to manage and locate conversations with customers.

7. Chanty

Chanty is a team collaboration and communication tool designed to improve team productivity. A user-friendly interface makes it an appealing choice for businesses seeking a simplified, efficient communication group message app.

Chanty’s messaging app offers one-on-one and group messaging, voice and video calls, and screen sharing. One of the key features of Chanty is its Teambook feature, a single hub where team members can find shared files, tasks, pinned messages, and conversation histories.

Some users have reported a lack of features like polling or scheduling within the app, which are available in some competing platforms. In terms of integrations, the app also lacks some common third-party apps.

Relevant business instant messaging app features found on Chanty

• Teambook feature: A single hub where team members can find files, tasks, pinned messages, and conversation histories. The teambook makes it easy to keep track of important information and tasks.
• Voice transcripts: Chanty can provide transcripts for voice messages, making it easier for users to catch up on missed conversations.
• Simple interface: A user-friendly interface makes it easy for teams to get started with the app for messaging.

8. Flock

Flock is a team instant messaging and collaboration app that offers a chat, file sharing, and task management. Designed to streamline work processes and boost productivity, Flock offers both direct messaging and group conversations, along with video and voice calls.

One of Flock's standout features is its robust app integration with third-party applications like Google Drive, Trello, Asana, and more. Users can also access a built-in task management feature with due dates, and progress tracking right within the app for messaging.

Some users find the notifications to be overly persistent and disruptive, especially when working across multiple channels. Others have expressed that the mobile app can sometimes be slow and less responsive compared to the desktop version.

Features that make Flock a solid instant messaging app

• Mailcast: Create mailing lists using Flock channels. Any email sent to the mailing list will appear as a message in the channel.
• Read-only channels: Create read-only channels where only admins can send messages.
• Pinned messages: Pin important messages in conversations, making it easy to reference key information.

9. Pumble

Pumble is a collaboration and business messaging platform that aids in fostering communication and productivity within work environments. Users can set up channels for different teams or projects, use instant messaging, and share files.

The messaging app is designed to centralize communication in a way that's organized and accessible. As a result, people won’t need long email chains or disjointed conversations across multiple platforms.

Users looking for more sophisticated project management tools or extensive third-party app integrations might find Pumble somewhat lacking. Some users have also reported occasional bugs and glitches that can disrupt the workflow.

Benefits of using Pumble for your instant messaging needs

• Rich-Text Editing: Users can format their messages with bolding, italics, bullet points, and more to enhance clarity.
• Threaded Conversations: Pumble supports threaded conversations, allowing users to keep track of different discussion topics within a channel.
• 24/7 support: Pumble has 24/7 customer support coverage and guarantees support from a real person.

10. Rocket.Chat

Rocket.Chat is a comprehensive open-source team collaboration platform that facilitates seamless business messaging. Users are offered a wide range of communication options, from one-on-one messaging to group chats.

One of Rocket.Chat's standout features is its open-source nature, allowing for extensive customization and adaptability. Customize the user interface, develop new functionalities, or integrate with a multitude of third-party apps.

The open-source nature, while a strength, can also be a drawback. Rocket.Chat’s app for messaging can seem complex and intimidating for teams without the required technical expertise. Some users have also reported that the mobile app experience is not as smooth or stable as the desktop version.

Features that make Rocket.Chat a great app for messaging

• Open-source: Rocket.Chat allows for extensive customization. Businesses with the necessary technical know-how can tailor the platform to meet their needs.
• Self-hosting option: The instant messaging app can be self-hosted, providing businesses with full control of their data and greater privacy.
• Real-Time Translation: Users can access real-time translation of messages, helping bridge communication gaps in diverse teams.

Which messaging app are you staying with?

With so many apps on the market you have a great amount of choice when it comes to business messaging apps. What makes Rock the best messaging app for your team?

Rock combines messaging and tasks in one place so your team can get all their work done without leaving the platform. Integrate with your favorite tools, collaborate with anyone, and upgrade at a flat price.

‍Get started today, it’s free!

A toxic work environment is not just a buzzword—it's a business killer. Employees across the board are hitting a breaking point, grappling with a workplace atmosphere that saps their energy and drives them in search of greener pastures. 

To keep your team happy, you must address any signs of a toxic work culture. Bad culture can emerge in any team, from a small business to scale-ups or multinationals. 

Treating a toxic work culture requires understanding the most common signs.

It's the first step in crafting an intervention plan to revive your team's engagement and productivity. After all, a thriving company culture isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a competitive advantage. 

Let's delve into indicators to watch out for if you want to prevent toxicity from taking over the workplace. 

If any hostile work environment signs match your team, don’t worry. We’ll be sharing a set of tips to patch each symptom as quickly as possible. Let’s get into it!

Do you have a toxic work environment? Look out for these 7 signs

A toxic work environment is characterized by a negative atmosphere that severely impacts employees' well-being and productivity. Toxicity is presents itself through a combination of unhealthy behaviors, practices, and systems that lead to stress, anxiety, and low morale.

A bad company culture is a serious issue that impacts team health, creativity, and performance.

Toxic teams also hurt the business itself by hitting employee morale, increasing turnover, and causing an uptake in sick days.

Let’s discuss 7 universal signs of a toxic work environment. 

1. Sign of a toxic culture: Low levels of creativity

Creativity is about connecting ideas, taking intellectual risks, and fostering an environment where new solutions are born and valued. 

Low creativity is often a reflection of underlying issues that go further than a creative block and speak to the health of the organizational culture itself.

Your team environment becomes one of compliance rather than inspiration when team members stop offering new ideas or challenging the status quo. In such settings, employees might feel that creativity isn't welcomed, leading to a decline in engaged creative thinking. 

This can cause a ripple effect; as fewer people demonstrate creativity, the behavior becomes normalized. As a result, the non-creative status quo gets further entrenched.

Solution: Tactics that promote creative thinking in teams

"Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye." — Dorothy Parker

Addressing low levels of creativity within a team, particularly when it's a symptom of a toxic work culture, requires a multi-faceted approach.

Creating an environment that welcomes creativity requires managerial intervention and cultural transformation. Here are some tactics that can make a difference quickly:

• Promote psychological safety: Google's Project Aristotle found that psychological safety, where team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other, is the most critical factor for team success. Encourage an atmosphere where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a cause for punishment.
• Provide training and resources: Invest in creativity workshops, training sessions, or bring in creative consultants to inspire your team and provide them with tools and techniques to generate and develop ideas.
• Allocate time for creativity: Google's famous "20% time" policy, where employees could spend 20% of their time on projects they are passionate about, underscores the importance of giving employees time away from their usual tasks to explore new ideas.

2. Sign of a bad work environment: Work is never finished before the deadline

Frequently missing a deadline isn't just about ineffective multitasking, poor time management or lack of effort; it often reflects deeper issues within the company culture. 

Deadlines serve as a critical structure for productivity. They're necessary to keep projects on track and meet client or growth needs. 

In a healthy workplace, deadlines are set through a collaborative process, ensuring they are realistic. In contrast, bad work enviroments often have top-down decision-making, where deadlines are dictated without input from those who understand the work involved. In turn, expectations become unrealistic, and deadlines become more aspirational than achievable. 

Another cause for consistently missing a deadline is considering everything urgent, creating a sea of supposed emergencies. Always being on alert leads to more missed deadlines because employees are stretched too thin across too many "top priority" projects.

Solution: Working with attainable deadlines across the team

Creating attainable deadlines in a bad work environment of missed commitments involves a clear organizational strategy, clear communication, and a shift in priorities and progress tracking.

Here are a few simple steps you can implement today to establish and maintain more attainable deadlines:

• Assess current workloads: Begin by gaining a clear understanding of your team's current workloads. Overburdened employees are more likely to miss deadlines, so it's essential to ensure that expectations are realistic given their available bandwidth.
• Involve the team in planning: Include team members in the deadline-setting process. This collaborative approach ensures that the team has a say in what they believe is achievable, fostering ownership and commitment to the deadlines.
• Implement the Eisenhower Matrix for prioritization: Help the team prioritize their tasks. By understanding what is most important and what can wait, team members can better manage their time and focus on meeting the most critical deadlines first.
• Break down large projects: Divide larger projects into smaller, more manageable tasks with their own mini-deadlines. This can make the work seem less daunting and help maintain a steady pace toward completion. Understanding the difference between project and task is key for this. 

🎁 Free resource: Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance using the Eisenhower matrix template.

3. Sign of toxic culture in the workplace: High turnover among employees

When employees frequently exit your team, it's a clear signal that something is fundamentally wrong with the workplace environment. 

According to Forbes, Employees are 10x more likely to quit if a company has a toxic workplace culture.

At its core, a high turnover rate represents a breakdown in the relationship between the employer and the employee. The origin of the broken relationship might be the underlying issue that creates such a bad culture at work that employees feel their only option is to leave.

One of the primary reasons employees leave is a lack of respect and support from management. Employees feel undervalued or unrecognized for their contributions. 

Favoritism or discrimination also cause hostile and unfair work environments, leading to the ultimate resignation of affected employees. What’s worse, this often affects the diversity within a team as well, creating cultures that lack a breadth of experiences and cultural perspectives. 

You should also ask yourself whether there is enough work-life balance in your team.

Toxic workplaces have a constant demand on employees' time, with long hours being glorified and becoming the norm. When their personal lives are consistently sacrificed for the job, employees are likely to look for opportunities that better respect their need for balance.

Solution: How to tackle high turnover rates in your team

Reducing turnover in a team that's experiencing a toxic culture in the workplace requires addressing the underlying issues that are driving employees away. 

Here are several strategies that can help you address these issues and create a more positive work environment:

• Review reward systems: Reviewing and potentially restructuring reward systems is a must if you want to reduce turnover rates. Intrinsic rewards should be assessed when issues of recognition are at the heart of why employees leave. In terms of extrinsic rewards, you should check platforms like Glassdoor or Levels.fyi and make sure your salaries are up to industry standard.
• Implement regular feedback and recognition programs: Develop a structured program for providing regular, constructive feedback as well as recognizing employees' accomplishments. This can include peer-recognition initiatives, manager shout-outs in meetings, or company-wide rewards.
• Promote work-life balance: Enforce policies that promote work-life balance, such as flexible working hours, the opportunity for remote work, and a strict policy against regular overtime. Encourage managers and employees to respect boundaries between work and personal time.

4. Toxic work culture sign: No career development opportunities

Career development opportunities within an organization—or the lack thereof—can also influence turnover rates. 

A toxic workplace may not provide clear paths for advancement or opportunities for professional growth. Employees feel stuck in their roles when there is no chance for progression, and leave the job whenever anything better comes up. 

Nepotism or other unfair systems can make this even worse. If people don’t feel like effort results in future opportunities, then their engagement drops.

Solution: Creating a path for career development

Building clear career development opportunities in a toxic work culture is crucial because it shifts the focus to growth and positivity. 

Here’s a deep dive into a few tactics you can implement to improve employee prospects within the organization:

• Create clear career paths: Map out potential career trajectories within the organization for each role. Communicate these paths clearly to employees, showing them how they can grow and what they need to achieve to progress.
• Inclusive and fair workplace: Conduct diversity and inclusion training for all employees. Establish a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and favoritism to ensure that all team members have equal access to opportunities and resources.
• Training programs: Set up structured training programs that address both current job requirements and future skill needs. Think about on-the-job training, cross-training, or external courses.
• Mentorship or buddy programs: Establish formal mentorship programs where employees can learn from experienced leaders, gain valuable insights, and develop their professional networks.

🎁 Free resource: Focus on the personal and professional growth within your company with the employee development plan template

5. Sign of a toxic workplace culture: Teams are extremely siloed

Silos form invisible barriers where each team ends up working with blinders on. Teams don't see what the others are doing, and they don't share what they're up to.

A bad culture at work silos is like a kitchen where everyone cooks a meal, but no one talks to each other—you might end up with four desserts and no main course.

The result? Well, it's not just about inefficiency or duplicated efforts, though those are certainly part of the mix. When an organization has silos, people start feeling like they're on an island, and that "us versus them" mindset creeps in. 

Everyone's looking out for their team's interests, and the idea of pulling together for the company's sake stops being a priority.

What's more, in a toxic culture with siloes, someone's always ready to pass the buck. "That's not our problem," becomes the refrain, and trying to find solutions turns into a game of hot potato. Nobody wins in that game—problems just go round and round.

Breaking down these walls isn't easy, but it's essential if you’re looking to tackle a toxic workplace culture.

Solution: How to break down silos in a toxic workplace

Breaking down silos in teams is crucial to foster a healthy, collaborative, and thriving work environment. Creating real change is about initiating a cultural shift that encourages openness and interaction across all functions, levels and departments. 

Here's how you might approach it:

• Redefine goals and values: Sometimes, silos form because teams don't see how their work fits into the organizational strategy. Employees see how their contributions matter in the grand scheme of things when company goals and objectives are inclusive of every department's efforts.
• Implement integrated systems: Sometimes it's the systems and processes that reinforce silos. By using integrated software and collaborative tools that are accessible to all, you'll encourage a more seamless flow of information. Create shared spaces—virtual or physical—where ideas can mingle.
• Encourage cross-departmental projects: Assemble teams from different departments to work on specific challenges or innovate new products. As they work towards a common goal, they'll naturally start to break down barriers and share knowledge.

Use Rock for your all-in-one team communication. Bring departments and teams together with chat, tasks, notes, files and meetings in one place. 

6. Sign of workplace issues: toxic management

When we talk about toxic management, we're delving into a complex and unfortunately all too common issue in many workplaces. Bad management practices gradually tear down your organization's culture and employee morale.

A classic sign of toxic management is tension in the air. People are hesitant to speak up in meetings or even to share their thoughts privately. An invisible barrier starts to block open communication. 

Another telltale symptom of toxic management is the absence of transparency. Decisions seem to be made in a black box, and employees are often left in the dark. This breeds a culture of uncertainty and fear, where rumors fill the void.

A toxic workplace culture thrives on control rather than inspiration, fear rather than motivation. 

Solution: Encourage leadership to take more effective management approaches

If you want employees to be creative thinkers and problem-solvers, you need to lead by example. Managers should hold themselves accountable for their actions and encourage others to do the same.

Here are three tactics teams can implement to improve the relationship between management and team members in a toxic work environment:

• Lead by example: Leadership should model creative behavior. This could involve openly sharing ideas at their early stages, welcoming feedback, and showing how to take calculated risks without fear of negative repercussions for honest mistakes.
• Redefine failure: Shift the perspective on failure by recognizing that when pushing the boundaries of innovation, not every idea or completed task will be a winner.
• Encourage open communication: Create an environment where team members feel safe and encouraged to express their ideas and opinions. Implementing career affirmations, teamwork quotes and brainstorming sessions is a good start. Leaders should actively listen and provide constructive feedback.

🎁 Free resource: Don't let endless to-do lists and overflowing inboxes dictate your work life any longer—embrace the power of effective time management and transform your productivity

7. Interpersonal tensions between team members

Interpersonal tensions between team members can be a significant red flag. When we talk about these tensions, we're usually referring to the undercurrents of conflict that run beneath the surface of day-to-day interactions. 

Conflict might not always erupt into outright arguments, but it can be just as damaging when present in a subtle form.

A certain amount of disagreement is both healthy and expected — diverse perspectives can actually drive innovation and problem-solving. However, when these disagreements become personal, they become toxic. 

Tension in a toxic workplace culture can stem from a variety of sources. Perhaps there's a culture of competition that's gone too far, leading to colleagues undermining each other instead of working together. Or maybe there's a lack of clear communication from leadership, resulting in confusion and frustration amongst team members.

Interpersonal issues can create a domino effect. Productivity often takes a hit as team members spend more time navigating workplace issues than focusing on their work. Morale suffers, too, because let's face it — nobody enjoys coming to work when it feels like a battleground.

In a nutshell, interpersonal tensions are not just small ripples; they can quickly turn into waves that threaten to capsize the organizational boat. It's crucial for a company to address these issues head-on to maintain a healthy, productive, and positive workplace culture.

Solution: How to improve interpersonal relationships in a toxic workplace

Building and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships at work is an ongoing process. It requires consistent effort, patience, and a willingness to adapt and learn from experiences.

Here are some strategies you can employ to foster a more harmonious and collaborative environment:

1. Show empathy: Try to understand your colleagues' viewpoints and feelings. Empathy builds trust and understanding, and it can defuse potential conflicts before they escalate.
2. Engage in team-building activities: Participate in or organize activities that can help strengthen relationships. Whether it's a team lunch, a collaborative project, or a team-building exercise, shared experiences help build camaraderie.
3. Offer help and support: Be willing to lend a hand when your colleagues need assistance. This can create a culture of mutual support and collaboration.
4. Set boundaries: Respect personal boundaries and understand that everyone has different comfort levels regarding personal space and social interaction.
5. Manage conflicts constructively: When disagreements arise, address them directly and calmly with the aim of finding a mutually beneficial resolution. Avoid gossip and don't let resentments fester.

‍ 🎁 Free resource: Don't let your voice be drowned out in the noise of the world—take control of your life through the Assertiveness Training Template.

Turn your organizational culture into a competitive advantage

Transforming your organization's culture into something that really gives you an edge in the marketplace is like infusing your company's personality with superpowers.

And you know what? People can feel it when they walk into a place where the culture is strong. It's like walking into a room where everyone's laughing – you can't help but smile. That kind of energy is infectious, and it's a magnet for talent.

The best people want to work in a place where they know they'll be valued, where they can grow, and where work feels meaningful.

So, in a nutshell, to turn your culture into a competitive advantage, make sure it's authentic, deeply rooted in everything you do, and aligns with how you want the world to see your company. Become the best version of yourselves and let authenticity shine through.

Frequently Asked Questions on Toxic Work Cultures

What are the signs that I might be working in a toxic environment?

Key signs include low creativity, missed deadlines, high turnover, lack of career development, siloed teams, poor management, and interpersonal tensions.

How can low levels of creativity indicate a toxic work culture?

When team members stop offering new ideas or challenging the status quo due to fear or a non-supportive atmosphere, it can be a sign of a deeper cultural issue.

Why is missing deadlines often a symptom of a deeper issue within the team?

Consistently missing deadlines might reflect unrealistic expectations, poor planning, lack of employee input in setting deadlines, or a culture where everything is treated as urgent.

What does high employee turnover say about a company’s work environment?

Rapid turnover often points to a lack of respect, support, and recognition from management, as well as inadequate work-life balance.

How do a lack of career advancement opportunities contribute to workplace toxicity?

When employees see no clear path for growth, they may feel stuck and demotivated, which can lead to a toxic environment.

What role does management play in creating or sustaining a toxic work culture?

Management styles that prioritize control and instill fear can hinder open communication and transparency, contributing to toxicity.

What causes interpersonal tensions to develop between team members?

This could stem from a competitive culture, unclear communication, or personal grievances that aren't effectively addressed.

Solving Common Problems

How can I foster an environment that encourages creativity in my team?

Promote a psychologically safe space, provide creativity resources and training, and allocate time for creativity within work schedules.‍

What strategies can help to ensure deadlines are met without overburdening employees?

Assess current workloads for realistic expectations, involve the team in planning, prioritize using the Eisenhower Matrix, and break large projects into manageable tasks.

What can be done to reduce high turnover rates in my team?

Review reward systems, implement regular feedback and recognition programs, and encourage work-life balance through company policies.

How can I develop clear career development opportunities to improve my work environment?

Define career paths, provide training programs, establish mentorship, and ensure inclusive and fair advancement practices.

What can I do to break down siloes and encourage collaboration?

Redefine company goals to be inclusive, implement integrated collaborative tools, and engage in cross-departmental projects.

How can I improve my management style to avoid contributing to a toxic environment?

Model positive behaviors, redefine failure as a learning opportunity, and foster open communication and idea-sharing.

What are effective ways to handle interpersonal conflicts in my workplace?

Foster empathy, participate in team-building activities, offer support, respect boundaries, and manage conflicts constructively.

Have you ever wondered how some businesses seem to not only retain their clients effortlessly but also get showered with referrals? What if we told you that the two are connected, and unlocking the magic formula could send your business success into overdrive?

Top-tier businesses have strategies and tools that help keep their client base loyal and their referral pipeline flowing. 

We’ve spoken with hundreds of agencies, freelancers and other service providers in the last few years, and have now distilled their client management strategies and tools into this guide. 

Whether you're a seasoned professional looking to up your game or just starting and want to get it right from the get-go, this post has got you covered! Reducing churn and boosting referrals are not just goals, but the core of how you should be doing business.

Let's turn your clients into your most powerful marketing tool!

Benefits of implementing white glove client management practices

Client management is the process of maintaining and building relationships with existing clients while also seeking new prospective clients. The strategic approach focuses on understanding, anticipating and responding to the needs of current and potential clients, maximizing satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability in the process.

Delivering only what is expected is not enough to keep clients anymore. Businesses need to differentiate themselves through the experience they provide to their clients. 

A white glove approach to client management requires close attention to detail, a high level of service, and personalized contact points throughout the relationship. 

Here are some of the benefits your business would be able to earn when implementing more strategic client management processes:

• Client retention: Good client management is a cost-effective solution; it's cheaper to retain a client than to get a new one. Acquiring a new customer can cost you 5 to 25 times more than keeping an existing one. 
• Referrals: Referrals are the golden ticket for client servicing industries. A referral is free and generates leads that are highly qualified and easy to convert.
• Upselling on products: Upselling is about deeply understanding a clients' needs and adding new services or products to improve their results.
• Client reviews: Excellent relationships with clients will organically produce positive reviews, improving the social validation of your business. 

Client management practices adopted by industry-leading service providers 

Let’s take a deep dive into the specific strategies employed by those at the top of their game. 

How do they keep their clients coming back and even have them singing their praises? 

Get ready for some serious insider knowledge that could transform the way you approach client management.

Start on the right foot: configure the correct onboarding flow

Setting up a successful customer relationship begins with a well-planned onboarding flow. The onboarding process sets the tone, expectations, and goals for your future engagements.

"Cultivating deeper client relationships requires more than just business transactions. It starts with understanding your customers on a personal level, not merely as invoice numbers." - Forbes Business Council

As discussed in how to effectively onboard customers – great onboarding is done following 7 steps. 

1. Document client information: Begin by documenting all relevant client information into a spreadsheet or your CRM system. This includes company name, industry type, company scale, and primary contacts.

2. Assemble a dedicated team: Establish a team that can cater to the client's needs effectively and efficiently. This could include roles such as an account manager, project manager, strategist, creative team, SEO specialist…

3. Onboarding questionnaire: A well-crafted questionnaire can provide valuable insights into your client's business, their goals, target audience, and more. This information will help you tailor your services to their specific needs.

4. Prepare accounts: Set up all necessary accounts for your client, including a client portal, project management software tools, communication channels, digital marketing tools, and billing and invoicing systems.

5. Welcome letter: Send a personalized welcome letter to your new client. Express your excitement about the partnership and provide information about the upcoming stages of your collaboration.

6. Kick-off meeting: Organize a meeting with your client to discuss the details of the project, clarify any questions, and ensure everyone is aligned with the goals and expectations.

7. Regular Update Flow: Establish a regular update flow to keep your client informed about the progress of their project. This could be through weekly or monthly reports, regular meetings, or via your chosen communication channel.

By structuring your onboarding process around these seven stages, you'll create a robust foundation for a successful, long-lasting client relationship. Every client is unique, and the onboarding flow should adapt accordingly. 

Dive further into client onboarding with the full guide!

Provide in-depth documentation after every client meeting

Client meetings are the lifeblood of successful business relationships.. They offer an opportunity to understand client needs, discuss progress, and strategize for the future. 

However, the effectiveness of these meetings is tied to accurate documentation – a task that can be time-consuming, and prone to human error. 

AI marketing tools can help almost entirely automate the process of note-taking and documentation. Every important detail discussed in the meeting is captured and documented. 

Meeting minutes can be shared with team members and clients alike to assure everyone is on the same wavelength. This makes the client management process much more effective. 

Key benefits of AI automation

• Efficiency: AI startups transcribe and summarize meetings faster than humans, freeing up time for more meaningful tasks.
• Accurate Transcription: AI tools can transcribe speech to text with high accuracy, ensuring that all important points from the meeting are recorded.
• Focus on Participation: Participants can engage better in the meeting discussions knowing that the AI is handling the minutes.
• Consistency: The meeting minutes format and style stays more consistent when using AI, making it easier for team members to find the information they're looking for.
• Reduced human error: By automating the process, AI can help reduce errors that can occur in manual note-taking.

How to create automated meeting minutes within seconds

1. Upload your meeting: You can upload your meeting in text, audio, or video format, or even record the meeting directly from within the app.
2. Automated transcription and summarization: The AI tool swiftly generates a draft by employing the AI meeting minutes template. It transcribes the meeting, summarizes key points, and clearly defines action items.
3. Customized output: The draft can then be customized before being generated with configurations tailored to the team's needs—be it tone, author, audience, or language.
4. Structured and useful document: AI converts conversations into a structured and useful document, summarizing key decisions and delineating action items with responsible parties.
5. Editing and personalization: The AI editor makes it easy to regenerate sections or add further insights. Teams can manually add other changes if needed before sharing the meeting minutes with the team.

Keep your communication in check with industry best practices

Understanding the nuances of communication is a vital aspect of client management. It's not just about transmitting information; it's about building a relationship based on trust and mutual understanding. 

Get more out of conversations by following these best practices for communicating with clients:

Active listening: This goes beyond simply hearing what your client is saying. Active listening involves fully engaging with the client, understanding the underlying messages or emotions they are conveying, and providing insightful feedback. Get to know the client better and enrich your partnership through honesty, collaboration, and mutual understanding.

Client-centric conversations: You’re communicating to understand and meet the needs of the client. Instead of focusing on your products, services, or achievements, steer the conversation towards the client's needs, concerns, and goals. Ask open-ended questions and listen more than you speak. 

Respect your client's time: Everyone's time is precious, and demonstrating respect for your client's time can significantly enhance your relationship with them. Cancel a meeting when it’s not needed, be punctual and respond timely to emails, calls, or messages. Stay on topic during conversations and set clear expectations about timelines for deliverables.

Set boundaries: Manage your client's expectations about your availability hours, response times, and scope of work. Setting boundaries not only prevents burnout and a toxic work culture but also ensures a professional relationship focused on the agreed-upon services and outcomes.

Mastering the art of client communication is a continuous process that requires practice and patience. Improve your communication, leading to stronger client relationships and business success. Read all about it in this dedicated article!

Top client management systems that help nurture great relationships

In the following section, we'll explore some of the top client management systems available today, discussing their features and how they can help you nurture great client relationships. 

Whether you're a small start-up or a large corporation, you'll likely find client management tools that suit your needs among these top picks.

The best best client management software for communication and collaboration

Rock 

Rock is an all-in-one client management software or communication and collaboration that can be a game-changer for your processes. From streamlining communication to integrating your favorite tools, Rock offers numerous features to enhance efficiency and productivity. 

Here's why Rock is the best client management software currently available or collaboration:

• Messaging and tasks in one space: Centralize your communications and task management in a single platform, offering a consolidated view of each client's projects and interactions.
• Integration with other apps: Connect your favorite tools and applications directly with Rock, ensuring seamless workflows and easy access to all necessary information.
• Work with anyone: Easily add other companies, agencies, or freelancers to a workspace, providing comprehensive access to the necessary resources for successful collaboration.
• Start working together within seconds: Use the Quick Connect feature to speed up the onboarding process and initiate collaboration immediately.
• One dashboard for all your projects: Manage all your client projects from a single dashboard, offering an organized, comprehensive overview of ongoing tasks and progress.
• Unlimited plan: Benefit from the Unlimited Plan which provides unlimited members, projects, tasks, and advanced functionality at a flat price. Scale without breaking the bank and regain control over your software spending.

Loom

Loom is a client management software that offers a free screen recorder to capture and share video messages quickly and in an interactive way. This can be an effective way to enhance your client communication and management strategies. 

Here are some of the main benefits of Loom as a client management app: 

• Personalized communication: Record video messages that explain concepts, demonstrate how to use a product, or answer questions. This is often more engaging than written communication.
• Time efficient: Record messages at your convenience, and clients can watch them at theirs. Save time for both parties, especially when dealing with different time zones or busy schedules.
• Interactive videos: Add tasks, call-to-actions (CTAs), comments, and emojis to your video. This can encourage clients to engage with your content and respond.

Notion

Notion is a versatile tool that combines note-taking, task management, databases, and more into a single platform. Its flexibility and customization options make it a thoughtful choice for managing client relationships. 

Here's how you can use Notion for client management:

1. Databases: Create a database for all your clients, including fields for contact information, project status, notes, and any other details you need. You can then view this data as a table, kanban board, calendar, or list, depending on your needs.
2. Client portals: Create a dedicated page for each client that serves as a portal for all relevant information. This could include project plans, meeting minutes, deliverables, and more.
3. Templates: Notion provides templates for a variety of use-cases, or you can create your own. For example, you could create a template for client onboarding that includes all the necessary steps and information fields.

Client tracking software through a CRM 

HubSpot

HubSpot is a comprehensive client tracking software offering various tools for managing, nurturing, and understanding clients. The platform consists of different hubs: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and CMS Hub, all built around the free CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system.

Here's how you can use HubSpot for client management:

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): HubSpot's free CRM is the backbone of the platform, storing all your contacts, companies, and deals. The CRM helps you manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
2. Service Hub: The HubSpot Service Hub is designed to help you manage and enhance your customer service. It includes ticketing systems to track customer issues, customer feedback tools, knowledge base features to create help articles, and customer service automation and reporting.
3. Marketing Hub: The Marketing Hub provides tools for attracting new clients and nurturing existing ones. Features include email marketing, SEO tools, content creation tools, lead management, marketing automation, analytics, and more.
4. Reporting and analytics: HubSpot provides robust reporting across all its hubs. You can create custom dashboards and reports to track performance and gain insights into your customers' behavior.
5. Integrations: HubSpot integrates with over 500 other tools, including major email providers, social media platforms, CMS systems, and more. These integrations mean you can keep all your client communications and interactions in one place.

Salesforce

Salesforce is a powerful and extensively customizable client tracking system that provides a variety of features that can help servicing clients

Here are some ways you can use Salesforce for client management:

1. Service Cloud: Provide excellent customer service from anywhere. The service cloud includes features for case management, service contracts, knowledge base, and more. It allows you to track and solve customer issues efficiently.
2. Community Cloud (Experience Cloud): Build communities for your customers. These communities can provide self-service support resources and a space for customers to connect with each other.
3. Analytics Cloud: Combine data from different parts of your business and get insights using AI and machine learning.Understand your customers better and make more informed decisions.

AirTable

Airtable is a versatile and customizable tool that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the structured organization of a database. The client management software is designed for collaborative work and offers a range of features.

Here's why some argue Airtable is the best client management app for tracking:

1. Client database: You can use Airtable to create a comprehensive database of all your clients, complete with fields for contact information, project details, notes, and any other information you need. You can easily sort and filter this information to find what you need.
2. Project tracking: Airtable allows you to create a visual timeline of your projects, making it easy to see what's coming up and what's overdue. You can also use it to track project budgets and resources.
3. Automation: Airtable offers automation features that can help streamline your client management. For example, you can set up an automation to send an email to a client when a task is completed.

Best client management system for file storage

Storing files properly is critical for security, efficiency, and legal reasons. Rock integrates many file storage solutions. Integrate your preferred cloud storage providers in the Files mini-app and attach documents to tasks, notes, and topics.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage platform that allows you to store, share, and collaborate on files. Although it's not a dedicated client management system, it can be used in conjunction with other Google tools to manage clients effectively. 

Here are some ways you can use Google Drive for client management:

1. Document storage: Store all documents related to each client in Google Drive, such as contracts, project plans, proposals, invoices, and so on. Organize files in dedicated folders for each client, making it easy to find and access them when needed.
2. Collaboration: Collaborate on files in real-time. This can be particularly useful for working on documents like proposals or reports with your team. Changes are saved automatically and can be tracked per user.
3. Version control: Track of all changes made to a document and revert to previous versions. This can be useful if mistakes are made or if you simply want to see the progression of a document over time.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud-based storage platform that allows you to store, share, and collaborate on files. While it's primarily a file storage and sharing service, you can use it as a client management system by leveraging its features to help manage client-related documents and collaboration.

Here's Dropbox how can help with client management workflows:

1. File sharing: Dropbox allows you to share files or folders with your clients via shareable links. You can control whether the recipient can view or edit the files. This is particularly helpful when you need to share large files that can't be sent via email.
2. Integration with other applications: Dropbox integrates with many popular applications like Slack, Zoom, Trello, and more.
3. Access anywhere: As a cloud-based platform, Dropbox allows you to access your files from anywhere, on any device, as long as you have an internet connection. This is useful if you need to access client files while on the go.

Understanding the Foundations

Discover everything you need to know about bringing your client management to the next level. From nailing the onboarding process to elevating your communication game – our FAQs cover any burning questions you might have regarding client management

1. What is white glove client management?

White glove client management is a high-touch, detail-oriented approach to client relations, prioritizing personalized service and comprehensive attention throughout the client's journey.

2. Why is good client management considered cost-effective?

Retaining and satisfying existing clients is more cost-effective than investing resources in acquiring new ones.

3. How can effective client management generate referrals?

Happy clients are more likely to refer others, leading to qualified leads at no extra cost.

Onboarding and Meeting Documentation

1. What's the importance of a structured onboarding process?

A structured onboarding process sets the tone for the business relationship, outlines mutual expectations, and establishes a pathway for effective communication and service delivery.

2. How can AI help in documenting client meetings?

AI tools can transcribe and summarize meetings, providing consistent, accurate records while allowing participants to focus on the discussion.

3. Why should I summarize every client meeting?

Summarizing client meetings ensures all participants are clear on decisions made and action items, and it serves as a reference point for future engagements.

Communication Protocols

1. What is the key to successful client communication?

Active listening, focusing on client-centric conversations, respecting time, and setting clear boundaries are essential elements.

2. How do you ensure communication respects the client’s time?

Be punctual, concise, and goal-oriented in interactions, and promptly address the client's queries and concerns.

Client Management Systems and Tools

1. What features should I look for in client management software?

Look for tools that offer task and communication consolidation, seamless integrations, accessibility, customization, and comprehensive tracking.

2. How can Google Drive aid in client management?

It offers cloud-based document storage and collaboration, allowing for real-time editing, version tracking, and easy sharing.

3. Why is Dropbox considered useful for client workflows?

Your documents are accessible from anywhere, and it integrates with multiple applications for streamlined operations.

Strategic Best Practices

1. How do continuous improvements in communication benefit client relationships?

It fosters trust, reduces misunderstandings, helps in aligning goals, and strengthens overall rapport for enduring alliances.

2. Can Rock streamline client communication and collaboration?

Yes, Rock centralizes messaging, tasks, notes, files, and meetings – enhancing coordination and simplifying client management.

Best Practices and White-Glove Experience

What is a white-glove experience in the context of client services?

It’s an exclusive, tailored service experience that exceeds usual standards, offering clients unmatched attention and care.

How do you create a white-glove experience using Rock?

With its all-in-one platform for communication and collaboration, Rock empowers you to offer personalized, efficient service that caters to all client needs.

Troubleshooting Common Client Management Issues

1. What should I do if a client is dissatisfied with the service?

Immediately address their concerns by listening, finding a resolution, and taking steps to prevent future issues.

2. How do I handle communication barriers with clients?

Clarify any misunderstanding by revisiting the issue, using simple language, and confirming understanding through feedback.

3. Documentation is taking up too much time. How can I improve this process?

Implement AI marketing tools for automated transcription and summarization or streamline the process with templates and standard procedures.

4. What if a client is not responsive to my communications?

Try different communication channels, check for any misunderstandings about availability, and verify if they are facing any issues that might be affecting their responsiveness.

5. How do I recover a client relationship after a mistake on our end?

Own up to the mistake, apologize sincerely, offer a solution or compensation, and highlight measures taken to prevent repetition.

6. Files have been accidentally deleted from online storage, what can I do?

Most platforms have a version history or a deleted files section where you can recover lost documents. If unavailable, contact support for further assistance.

Create a true white-glove experience with Rock

Rock allows you to truly provide a white-glove experience to your clients. Leverage all-in-one communication and collaboration with internal activities and client communications on the same platform.

No more multiple subscriptions, no more switching between platforms. Just one tool. With Rock, you can start concentrating on getting the work done. Find why Rock is the best app for client management for hundreds of agencies, freelancers and other service providers. 

Improve your client management with Rock, sign up for free today.

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Many teams often get lost in the day-to-day of tasks, deadlines, and projects. However, there is so much more to effective team collaboration. Incorporating check-in questions can be a great strategy to keep up with team members and uncover important details.

At the heart of every successful venture is an engaged and motivated team. Smart check-in questions help managers and employees alike to measure moods, discuss doubts and start open conversations.

We've curated a list of over 100 check-in questions designed to break the ice, ignite engaging conversations, and foster a deeper understanding among team members.

Buckle up and get ready to transform your meetings and build better, more connected teams with definitions, 100+ check-in questions and implementation strategies.

What are check-in questions?

Check-in questions are a communication method used at the beginning of meetings, workshops, or team sessions. The questions serve to gauge participants on how they’re feeling, what they're thinking, or where their focus is.

The purpose of good check-in questions is to encourage active participation, build team rapport, and set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Identify issues or distractions that can affect the meeting's productivity, and ensure team members feel heard and understood.

Incorporating check-in questions into your routine can be especially helpful for remote and hybrid teams, who might not have as many daily or in-person interactions.

Why you should use check-in questions

Check-in questions can be a valuable tool for staying in tune with your coworkers. Spot potential roadblocks or bottlenecks and find a helping hand if needed.

Good check-in questions provide an opportunity for everyone to speak, no matter where they’re located or how long they have been part of the team. Great questions also give context for conversations and assignments other attendees might not be aware of.

With more background on someone’s workload, another coworker might be able to help or offer answers. You can have these questions explicitly stated in your meeting agendas or not.

Free resource: Check out our meeting agenda examples to start every meeting productively.

7 Characteristics of good check-in questions

Good check-in questions are part of virtual meeting best practices and should help build a positive team and company culture. Elicit a brief answer from your team members.

You want more than a “yes” or “no” response while also staying away from turning your meeting into a free-for-all storytelling session.

Good check-in questions share several characteristics that boost effectiveness and efficiency in promoting open dialogue and fostering team rapport. Here are 7 key characteristics to implement in your questions:

1. Open-ended: Effective check-in questions are usually open-ended, inviting more than a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer.
2. Clear and concise: The question should be easy to understand and not overly complicated. Ensure that everyone can engage in the conversation, regardless role or experience.
3. Non-judgmental: Create a safe space for honest responses. No one should feel judged or criticized for their answers.
4. Relevant: The question should be relevant to the team members and the context of the meeting.
5. Encourages reflection: Good check-in questions prompt team members to reflect on their current state of mind, their feelings, or their position on a particular topic.
6. Promotes engagement: Stimulate the conversation and foster engagement among team members.
7. Positive Tone: While not all check-in questions need to be positive, it’s often beneficial to frame questions in a positive way to foster a supportive environment.

🎁 Free resource: Don't let your voice be drowned out in the noise of the world—take control of your life through the Assertiveness Training Template.

5 Signs of bad check-in questions

Make sure that questions aren’t negatively impacting the meeting to prevent a toxic work culture.

Check-in questions can be a powerful tool to foster connection, but should not become the main act. Avoid these 5 pitfalls to effectively implement this communication strategy:

1. Avoid leading questions: Leading questions subtly guide a person towards a particular response, resulting in a sense of pressure.
2. Don't make check in questions mandatory: Forcing someone to answer a question when they're uncomfortable can create resentment or discomfort. Allow team members to pass on answering if they wish.
3. Avoid personal or sensitive topics: Foster connection and understanding without invading personal privacy unless it's appropriate and consent is given.
4. Don't rush: Give team members time to think and respond. When people feel rushed, they might not share fully or honestly.
5. Don't dismiss or ignore responses: Make sure that thoughts and responses of team members are acknowledged.

100+ Check-in questions that set you up for success

Check-in questions can adapt to fit your needs. They can be as fun or business-like as you want them to be. You can ask the same question at each meeting or switch up your questions to get different perspectives. We’ll discuss the following categories:

• Daily check-in questions
• Mental health check-in questions
• Team check-in questions
• Fun check-in questions
• Future-oriented check-in questions

Review these 100+ check-in questions and decide what works for your team and meeting.

Daily check-in questions

Daily check-in questions are prompts used at the beginning of meetings or workdays. Think of daily standups.

These questions are best for agile workplaces, remote teams, or among teams that strongly value interpersonal communication and team cohesion. Use them as morning meeting questions to set the tone for the day.

1. What do you want to accomplish today?
2. Can you mention a work challenge you’re facing?
3. Can you list your biggest priorities?
4. How can your team support your work?
5. What's one word that best describes your mood today and why?
6. What's the most interesting thing you've learned or read about recently?
7. What's one thing you're looking forward to today?
8. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your energy level today, and why?
9. What is your main focus for today's tasks?
10. What was the highlight of your day yesterday?
11. Is there anything that you're worried might get in your way today?
12. What's one thing you could use help with today?
13. What's something you're proud of from your work yesterday?
14. What's something you're grateful for today?
15. Are there any obstacles that you anticipate facing today?
16. How can we as a team make today a great day?
17. What's one thing that could be done to improve our work process today?
18. What's a positive change you've noticed in our team recently?
19. Is there anything you feel stuck on and need some input or help with?

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Mental health check-in questions

Mental health is a key priority and dedicated check-in questions can give you a glimpse of your team’s mindset. Keep the professional context of work in mind and avoid any overly personal questions.

These don’t have to be regular morning meeting questions or asked on a daily or regular basis but are important to bring up to spot team members who feel overwhelmed or burnt out.

You can also incorporate mental health check-in questions into one-on-one meetings or more formal situations, like yearly reviews.

20. How would you describe your current mindset?
21. What tasks are in outside of your comfort zone?
22. What has made you feel proud recently?
23. How is your workload affecting your mindset?
24. What is your main concern right now?
25. How are you feeling today, really?
26. What's one thing you've done for yourself today?
27. Are you finding it easy to relax and switch off from work?
28. What's something that's been bringing you joy lately?
29. What's something that's been causing you stress or worry?
30. Are you feeling more tired or fatigued than usual?
31. How are you managing to stay connected with friends and family?
32. Do you feel like you have someone you can talk to about things that are bothering you?
33. Are you managing to find time for activities or hobbies you enjoy?
34. How would you describe your current work-life balance?
35. What's one thing you could do to take care of your mental health this week?
36. Are there any tasks or responsibilities that are feeling particularly overwhelming right now?
37. How are you feeling about your current workload?
38. Do you feel like you're able to express your feelings and concerns openly?
39. Is there anything we could do as a team to better support your mental well-being?
40. What's something positive you've experienced or learned recently?

Check-in questions for groups

Check-in questions for groups serve as conversation starters that allow teams to discuss their collective strengths, challenges, and areas for improvement.

Questions can cover various aspects such as communication, collaboration, team culture, shared goals, and more.

41. What's one thing you appreciate about our team?
42. What's one way we could improve our communication?
43. What's a strength of our team that we could utilize more?
44. What's one thing we accomplished recently that you're proud of?
45. What's a challenge we've faced as a team, and how did we overcome it?
46. How would you describe our team culture?
47. What's one thing you think our team could do better?
48. What's a team tradition or practice you love?
49. What's a recent example of great teamwork you've observed?
50. What's one way we could better support each other?
51. What's an aspect of our team dynamic you think we could improve on?
52. What's something you've learned from a team member recently?
53. What's a project we worked on that you felt we collaborated well on?
54. How do you feel our team handles feedback and criticism?
55. What's a team goal you'd like us to aim for?
56. What's a skill or strength you think our team is missing?
57. What's one thing we did as a team this week that you think we should do more often?
58. What's something you wish people outside our team understood about us?
59. What's a way we could improve our team meetings?
60. What's something our team did recently that made you feel valued or appreciated?
61. What's a quality you admire in one of our team members?
62. What's an area where you think our team could use more training or knowledge?
63. What's a recent situation where you felt our team was particularly supportive?
64. What's something you think our team does really well?
65. What's a way we could make our team feel more inclusive or welcoming?

Fun check-in questions

Fun check-in questions are light-hearted, entertaining questions used at the beginning of meetings to foster a positive mood. Break the ice, or help new team members get to know the rest of the team better.

The goal is not only to make meetings more enjoyable but also to encourage team members to learn more about each other in a non-work-related context.

66. Share fact that most people don’t know about you?
67. If you could have a superpower, which one would it be?
68. Are there any surprising facts about yourself?
69. What is your favorite movie?
70. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
71. What's the most interesting fact you know?
72. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be?
73. What's your favorite guilty pleasure TV show or movie?
74. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
75. What's something you're absolutely terrible at doing?
76. What's the strangest food you've ever eaten?
77. If you were to write a book, what would it be about?
78. What's your favorite joke?
79. What's the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
80. What's your go-to karaoke song?
81. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
82. What's a movie or book that you think is overrated?
83. If you could teleport to any place in the world right now, where would you go?
84. What would your dream vacation look like?
85. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
86. What's the weirdest gift you've ever received?
87. If you could choose a new name for yourself, what would it be and why?
88. If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be and why?
89. If you could learn a new language right now, which one would it be and why?

Future-oriented check-in questions

These group check-in questions are designed to foster forward-thinking and proactive behavior. Encourage team members to think ahead, set goals and anticipate challenges.

Future-oriented questions can be particularly useful in work settings. Help team members stay focused on achieving company goals and objectives, plan for upcoming tasks or projects, and think about their professional development.

90. What are your top priorities for the coming week?
91. What's one thing you're looking forward to in the next month?
92. What's a personal goal you have for the upcoming quarter?
93. What's one challenge you anticipate facing in the next week? How are you planning to tackle it?
94. What skill do you want to improve or learn in the next six months?
95. What's one thing you would like to change about your work routine in the upcoming week?
96. What project are you most excited to work on in the near future?
97. What's one way you hope our team will grow in the coming year?
98. What's a professional goal you're working towards this year?
99. What's a change you would like to see in our work process in the next month?
100. What's an upcoming event or meeting you're preparing for?
101. What's one thing you're hoping to achieve by the end of this month?
102. What's a habit you're planning to develop in the next few weeks?
103. What's one way you're planning to challenge yourself in the near future?
104. What's something you're hoping to learn from your colleagues in the upcoming weeks?
105. What resource do you think would most help you in your work in the next quarter?
106. What's one thing you'd like to do to help improve our team dynamic in the future?
107. What's a book or course you're planning to dive into soon for your professional development?
108. What's a future project or task that you could use help with?
109. What is one thing you are aiming to improve in your work-life balance in the next month?
110. What is one positive change you hope to see in our workplace in the near future?
111. What's one upcoming challenge you would like the team's input on?
112. What's a milestone you're hoping to reach in your career in the next year?
113. What's a leadership quality you're looking to develop in the future?
114. If you could achieve one big thing in the next six months, what would it be?

Other ways to engage the team besides group check-in questions

It’s important to do what works best for your team. Sometimes, meetings aren’t the best place for individual or group check-in questions — whether you don’t have the time or your meetings include a large number of people.

Create a water-cooler space

Virtual water-cooler spaces enable team members to share non-work-related things and connect. We use group spaces in Rock for this exact purpose.

This is valuable for us as we work asynchronously, subsequently team members can’t always respond in real-time. Water-cooler spaces allow the team to still bond with others across timezones and create interpersonal relationships.

Conduct recurring polls with your team

While it’s not the same level of interaction as an actual or virtual face-to-face, it’s valuable to have a communal space. Rock’s messaging feature enables you to conduct polls to get a quick read on your team’s opinions and mindset.

Polls can help you get an idea of workload, who is busy, and how people are feeling about their work. Team members can tag tasks or projects that they are having trouble with so you can see exactly what they’re talking about. Teams can respond with messages or emojis to continue the conversation or show their support or lack thereof.

Leverage direct messaging or 1:1 channels to check-in with team members

Keep up with your team individually in your one-on-one spaces and follow up on check in questions for staff meetings. If a team member mentions that they feel overwhelmed or bored, creating and following through on action items can demonstrate that you’ve heard them and you’re addressing their concerns.

To be more effective, convert check in-responses into tasks in your personal space so you can follow up on something. Rock’s task management feature enables you to assign tasks to yourself or others, creating an actionable step.

Taking notes is also a good idea, this can help you track progress of a team member who is struggling or burnt out. You can also make sure that your team’s answers to check-in questions are remembered for future reference.

Nurture team relationships through (virtual) coffee chats

You should always be thoughtful about using time for meetings, and cancel meetings where you add no value to the conversation. Nevertheless, coffee chats can be a great strategy to effectively incorporate check-in questions.

(Virtual) Coffee chats offer a relaxed and informal platform that can be extremely beneficial for checking in with team members, particularly in remote or distributed work settings. Here are some reasons why they can be effective:

1. Informal Check-in: Virtual coffee chats can serve as a less structured, informal way to check in on team members' wellbeing, mood, and general job satisfaction. This can help managers or team leads identify any issues or concerns that may not come up in a more formal setting.
2. Reducing isolation: For remote and hybrid teams, virtual coffee chats can help reduce feelings of isolation and disconnection by providing regular social interaction.
3. Boosting Morale: Boost team morale by providing a break from the routine and a chance to relax and enjoy social interaction.
4. Promoting Inclusivity: Virtual coffee chats, especially when scheduled at times that work for all team members, can help promote a sense of inclusivity and belonging.

It’s not “just” a check-in question

Good check-in questions can be a valuable part of meetings. They offer insight into your team’s current mindset, offer team members a chance to be heard, and help your team connect..

If check-in questions don’t fit in your meetings or don’t work for your team, find another way to touch base. Create a water-cooler space, set up coffee chats or engage your team members more through 1:1 spaces.

What’s your favorite check-in question? Let us know on Twitter!

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Project vs Task: A project is a large, overarching goal that involves multiple steps, stages, or tasks to complete. Meanwhile, a task is a single, specific duty or action that contributes to the completion of a larger project. In essence, a project is like a book, while tasks are the individual chapters that make up the book.

In the fast-paced world of productivity and project management, clarity is the compass that guides us towards success. When it comes to projects and tasks, understanding their nuances is crucial for efficient execution and achieving company goals and objectives.

Now, when we discuss project management vs task management, there are different priorities and activities. Throughout this article we will delve into the differences between project vs task and offer dedicated templates and software to manage tasks and projects.

Project management vs task management

Project management and task management are both crucial parts of staying organized at work and achieving goals, but they focus on different scales and complexities.

• Project management is a holistic approach that involves overseeing a large initiative or a complex project from start to finish. It includes defining the project's scope, setting timelines, allocating resources, managing risks, and coordinating the various tasks in a project. A project management framework can take many shapes and forms, with some more complex than others.
• Task management is about handling individual tasks efficiently. It involves defining, assigning, and project task tracking to ensure they are completed on time. While task management is a component of project management, it doesn't capture the entire picture - it doesn't necessarily involve coordinating multiple tasks or managing the overall project scope, timeline, or resources.

So, while both are important, project management is a broader, more strategic process, while task management focuses more on the tactical, day-to-day execution of individual tasks in a project.

Here’s another example of project vs task: Imagine you are relaunching a brand for a company. There are multiple elements to a new brand, including on-product branding, logo design, website, and a marketing brochure. Within each of these elements, you have to complete a number of tasks.

In the brand launch example example something like a marketing brochure would be a project tackled by multiple team members. A set of multiple task would take it from concept to reality.

🎁 Free resource: This comprehensive guide will introduce you to the 10 best project management software tools

The 9 most important project management components

Now that we have defined project vs task, let's delve into the essential components of project management

• Scope Management: Defining and controlling what is and isn't included in the project.
• Time Management: Planning and scheduling timelines to ensure project completion within the specified timeframe.
• Cost Management: Estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs to ensure the project is completed within the approved budget.
• Quality Management: Ensuring that the project's output meets the required standards and customer expectations.
• Risk Management: Identifying, analyzing, and responding to potential risks that could negatively affect the project.
• Resource Management: Managing all resources, including people, materials, equipment, and technology, efficiently.
• Stakeholder Management: Managing the expectations and interests of those who have a stake in the project.
• Communication Strategies: Ensuring proper communication among project stakeholders.
• Integration Management: Coordinating all aspects of the project to work together seamlessly.

Task management: 8 components your team should focus on

Next up, let’s do a deep dive into the components you should focus on when discussing task management with your team.

• Task Definition: Clearly defining the tasks that need to be completed.
• Task Assignment: Allocating tasks to individuals or teams based on their skills and availability.
• Prioritization: Determining the order in which tasks should be completed based on their importance, deadlines, or dependencies.
• Project task tracking: Monitoring the progress of tasks to ensure they are completed on time.
• Collaboration: Facilitating communication and collaboration among team members to complete tasks effectively and efficiently.
• Status Updates: Regularly updating the status of tasks to keep everyone informed about their progress.
• Time Tracking: Recording the amount of time spent on each task.
• Notifications and Reminders: Sending alerts or reminders about upcoming deadlines or pending tasks.

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Project vs task: 3 templates to get you started

Everything on the task vs project front should be clear now. Let's dive into the dynamic world of projects and tasks with 3 power-packed templates that are set to revolutionize the way you work!

1. Simple project planner

The simple project planner serves as a visual roadmap, helping you navigate tasks, ideas, and progress. It's a versatile tool, suitable for both individual and team-based projects.

Here's a snapshot of what the simple project planner template offers:

• It's divided into four intuitive categories: Brainstorm, TODO, DOING, and DONE.
• The 'Brainstorm' category acts as a think-tank, promoting the generation and refining of ideas through essential questions.
• Once an idea matures, it transforms into a task and finds its place in the 'TODO' category.
• The 'DOING' category is a hub for tasks that are currently underway.
• Upon completion, tasks move to the 'DONE' category, marking your progress and achievements.
• The template allows the addition of extra lists and labels, offering a deeper level of organization.

The workspace also brings together a suite of tools - messaging, note-taking, videoconferencing, and file storage - all under one roof.

An integrated approach facilitates smooth communication and resource management, maximizing your project task planning process.

2. Agile Sprint Planning

To thrive in the rapid rhythm of Scrum, agile sprint planning is a vital gear in your organizational machinery.

Here's a snapshot of what you can use our agile sprint planning template for:

• Agile sprint planning revolves around brief, designated timeframes in which a team tackles predetermined tasks.
• Sprint planning unfolds in several stages: initial planning, task breakdown, key performance indicators (KPIs) establishment, and feedback analysis.
• Initial planning sets the stage, laying down sprint objectives, highlighting priority items, and crystallizing requirements.
• The project plan template not only helps in defining tasks but also facilitates daily operations, team communication, and sharing of meeting agendas.
• Task breakdown, or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and assign work to team members, ensuring clear responsibility and accountability.
• Establishing KPIs provides a yardstick to monitor progress and evaluate the effectiveness of sprint goal attainment.
• The feedback analysis or retrospective phase is a learning curve, pinpointing areas of improvement and fine-tuning processes.
• The project plan template is user-friendly, adaptable, and infinitely reusable.

By optimizing your Scrum process, you can boost efficiency and consistently hit the bull's-eye with every sprint. So why wait? Propel your engineering team towards peak performance and success.

3. Marketing Campaign Management

A structured approach to marketing campaigns is not just a benefit, but a necessity. It can be your time saver, stress buster, and the secret sauce to ensuring your marketing endeavors hit the mark.

Yet, for many marketing teams, the management of campaigns often feels like juggling flaming torches - chaotic and overwhelming. This is where our tailor-made template steps in to bring order to chaos.

Here's what our marketing campaign project task plan template brings to the table:

• Peak Efficiency: Say goodbye to misallocated resources and wasted time. Our template ensures a smoother, more efficient management of campaigns.
• Superior Organization: With clearly assigned tasks and defined roles, confusion is out and enhanced organization is in.
• Strategic Foresight: Align your marketing blitz with your overarching business objectives for a more strategic campaign planning and execution.
• ROI Boost: With streamlined processes, improved organization, and data-backed decisions, watch your marketing ROI skyrocket.
• Adapt and Overcome: Stay on your toes and swiftly respond to market shifts or consumer trends, keeping your campaigns fresh, relevant, and engaging.

To harness the full power of your marketing prowess and fuel business growth, it's time to embrace effective marketing campaign management.

🎁 FREE Resource: Check out these 16 must-have project plan templates that are absolutely FREE.

Projects vs Tasks: 3 project management and task software

Ready to transform the way you’re managing tasks at work? Unleash the power of organization with as we explore 3 game-changing project management and task software to streamline your workflow and supercharge productivity

1. Rock

Rock is a complete, unified project management and task software designed to bring teams together, streamline workflows, and elevate productivity. Packed with a suite of robust features, Rock is the ultimate destination for efficient teamwork.

At its core, Rock consolidates messaging, tasks, notes, files, and your favorite apps in one place, allowing you to reclaim valuable time and focus on work that matters.

• Users can access a free full-fledged messaging experience. Discuss projects with your team and external users alike in every 1:1 and group spaces. With Rock, communication is both synchronous and asynchronous, adapting to your team's needs and working styles.
• Tasks are given a new depth with Rock's full-fledged task management functionality in every space. Whether you need a simple task list or advanced features like multiple assignees, checklists, and labels for complex project tasks, Rock has got you covered.
• One of the key strengths of Rock is its seamless integrations with your favorite apps. From Adobe to Figma, Dropbox, Notion, and more, Rock brings all your Cloud and Creative apps into one space. You can even import from Slack, Trello, Asana, ClickUp, JIRA.

Regardless of your team size and the industry you're in, Rock can help you organize, discuss, and get things done. It's perfect for marketing, engineering, freelancers, educators and more. Plus, with Rock's straightforward pricing and a free tier available, getting started is as easy as signing up.

Experience the future of managing tasks at work with Rock. It's more than a tool - it's a platform built to power your team's best work.

2. Notion

Notion offers surprisingly simple yet powerful document creation capabilities, making it ideal for crafting engaging, next-generation documents. Its wiki feature allows you to centralize all your knowledge, making it easier to find and share information.

In addition to being a robust document and wiki solution, Notion shines as a software to manage tasks and projects. It allows you to manage any type of project efficiently without the need for separate, clunky systems.

3. Asana

Asana is software to manage tasks and projects that aims to help teams organize, project task tracking, and manage their work. The platform facilitates team collaboration and work management, allowing teams to coordinate tasks and hit deadlines.

While Asana is a robust and comprehensive project management tool, it can be overwhelming for new users owing to its vast array of features. Some users have expressed frustration about the steep learning curve, especially for team members who are not technologically savvy.

Project vs task: manage both in one place with Rock

To wrap projects vs tasks up: one of the biggest differences between task management and project management is the scale.

• Projects involve organizing wider teams and stakeholders.
• Tasks concentrate on managing singular activities and an individual’s work.

Manage task projects in a single place with Rock’s all in one project management and task software. Sign up for free today to learn more about how Rock can improve your workflows and bring order to chaos.

Effective project management software is more crucial than ever. Whether you're leading a small team or managing complex projects in a multi-national corporation, the right tool can be a game-changer.

Tools in project management are about more than just task management. Nowadays, managing projects is about involving different stakeholders, juggling communication channels, and ultimately driving success.

Finding the perfect fit for your unique needs can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack with all the tools available on the market,.

But fear not.

This comprehensive guide will introduce you to the 10 best project management software tools available in 2023.

Our list includes something for everyone – switch up your current tool or start using free project management software for the first time. From feature-rich platforms to streamlined, user-friendly interfaces, let's explore the solutions currently available on the market.

Read our related article on the best remote work tools for teams who are looking to stay productive in 2023.

10 Project Management Software Tools Worth Checking Out In 2023

Let’s delve into the details of 10 tools in project management that are worth checking out this year.

We've done the heavy lifting for you, examining each tool's features, pricing, as well as listing their pros and cons. Read along to learn more about the best project manager software!

1. Rock

Rock is the ultimate project management software tool on the market. All-in-one functionality allows users to switch between tasks, chat, notes, files, topics and meetings without leaving their project space.

Users can start projects with anyone both in and outside of their organization. This makes Rock a great solution for teams what work with clients, freelancers, and other external stakeholders.

Every project space includes native file management and integrations popular providers such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Figma and OneDrive. Users can attach cloud files to task cards and notes to more easily access work on the cloud.

A flat pricing model makes Rock a very attractive tool for project management. Teams can collaborate with unlimited users both in- and outside of their organization without their bill skyrocketing at the end of the month.

Working with more than 5 or 6 people? Then Rock is most probably your cheapest option if you want to access premium project management software functionality.

What Features Are Available Within Rock’s Project Management Software?

Rock offers all-in-one functionality in one place. Reclaim valuable time and focus on your work. Here are some of the key features within the project management tool:

• Spaces: You can organize everything into different spaces. Create a space for 1:1s, group conversations, or projects. Add anyone, inside or outside your organization, to a space so they can participate in a conversation, work on tasks, read notes, and access any file they need.
• Task Management: You can use Rock to organize all your work. This feature allows you to create, assign, and manage tasks, making it easier to track project progress and deadlines.
• Full-fledged Messaging: Rock features a built-in messaging system that allows you to discuss and connect with anyone, reducing the need for multiple communication platforms.
• Note taking functionality: Create, discuss, and share notes. This is especially useful for meeting agendas, meeting minutes, brainstorming ideas, and more.
• File management: Rock allows you to manage all your files in one place, supporting file uploads, sharing, and collaboration. Teams can also integrate for free with tools such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Miro and Notion.
• Meetings: You can conduct video meetings directly within the platform. This feature further enhances the platform's role as a one-stop solution for collaboration and communication.
• Dashboard: Rock provides a unified dashboard for all your projects, with a built-in time tracker to help you stay on top of priorities.
• Custom Workflows: With Rock's API documentation, you can build custom workflows and tools tailored to your team's needs.
• Set Aside: This feature allows users to go through their messages, tasks, and mentions and decide what to work on now versus later.
• Quick Connect: With Quick Connect, you can start collaborating with anyone quickly using your own personal link. Anyone on the internet that clicks on your link will directly be redirected to a project space with you.

Rock Pricing

Rock offers two pricing tiers: Free and Unlimited. Pricing is unique to other tools on the market because it's flat. Teams pay a single price regardless of the number of users collaborating in their project spaces.

Free Plan: This plan is best for small projects, and it’s a free software for project management. It includes the following features:

• Messaging, tasks, and notes are available in every space.
• Up to 50 tasks and 50 notes can be created per space.
• Free cloud file storage and meeting integrations.
• Import tasks from popular project management and messaging apps.
• Unlimited 1:1 peer spaces and 3 group spaces.
• Each free group space hosts up to 10 members.

Unlimited Plan: This plan costs $69 per month on a monthly basis and $49 per month if billed yearly, saving 29%. It's best for both small and large teams, especially those who often work with external collaborations such as clients or freelancers.

The Unlimited Plan includes, among other things, the following features:

• Unlimited tasks and notes in every space.
• Each space hosts up to 1000 members.
• Unlimited storage per space is provided.
• Online/offline and static user status is available.
• Advanced features like time tracker for PRO spaces, 5 managers who can change unlimited spaces to PRO, team dashboard, time tracker dashboard, and custom Quick Connect URL.
• Workspaces (50), spaces per workspace (50), group spaces (unlimited), and peer spaces (unlimited) are also included.

The Unlimited plan also provides access to premium features like advanced task functionality, automations, custom integrations, and the ability to build your own bots with the Rock API.

For more information or questions, Rock offers 24/7 customer support and priority support to Unlimited plan users.

Pros And Cons Of Using Rock As Your Project Management Software Tool

The pros and cons of user Rock can vary depending on the specific needs and circumstances of your team or project. Take advantage of the freemium plan to see if Rock is the right fit for you.

Pros Of Using Rock

✅ All-in-one platform: Consolidate messaging, tasks, notes, files, and other favorite apps into one space

✅ Integration with other apps: Work with a large number of other popular tools, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Zoom, and Github.

✅ Collaboration features: Quickly add other companies, agencies, or freelancers to a space and give everyone access to everything they need to get work done.

✅ Flexible use cases: Rock is designed for a wide variety of use cases, including marketing, startups, freelance, educators, engineering, and more.

✅ Affordable pricing: Upgrade to the Unlimited Plan for a flat price. The paid plan makes Rock a cost-effective solution, particularly for larger teams.

Cons Of Using Rock

❌ Limited offline capabilities: As an online project management software tool, Rock does not offer offline functionality.

What Other People Think About Using Rock

“As a freelancer I work on several projects at the same time with many different people and organization. I use Rock to organize every project in different space, inviting the people I work with. We share plan, tasks, files, and they can follow my workflow, which task is completed or not etc. The massive change compare to Trello and Slack I've been using is that we can discuss at the task level. This means if I'm working on a project with several tasks, we don't have to have endless emails discussing them one by one, the client can just add inputs or comment within the task.” - Capterra Verified Review

"It's easy to use. Quick to setup and basically got all the functions we need to run a collaboration between team members." - Capterra Verified Review

2. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is a comprehensive project management software designed to facilitate effective and efficient team collaborations.

Stemming from the principles of Kanban, MeisterTask presents tasks on a board where they move across columns as they progress through stages. A visual interface allows for an easy overview of project status and workflow at a glance.

The platform is customizable and adaptable, catering to various use cases such as task management, agile project management, workflow management, and teamwork.

MeisterTask Key Features

• Kanban-style Project Boards
• Task Creation and Management
• Personal Agenda Board
• Task Assignees and Watchers
• Built-in Time Tracker
• Attachments

MeisterTask Pricing

MeisterTasks’ management software offers the following pricing plans:

1. Basic Plan: free, providing core task management features for single users.
2. Pro Plan: $12 per user per month.
3. Business Plan: $24 per user per month and is designed for larger teams.
4. Enterprise Plan: This plan offers custom pricing for large companies with specific requirements. The Enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into software to manage projects

Pros and Cons Of Using MeisterTask For Project Management

Pros of using MeisterTask

✅ Kanban-Style Boards: MeisterTask uses Kanban-style boards to visualize workflows. Board view can help teams better understand their progress and what needs to be done next.

Cons of using MeisterTask

❌ Pricing: Teams can quickly rack up a large bill at the end of the month when paying 12$ or 24$ per user per month.

❌ Potential for Feature Overload: MeisterTask’s project management software offers a lot of features, potentially overwhelming users. Especially those who prefer a more straightforward, simple task management solution.

3. Hive

Hive is a management software designed to optimize workflows, increase productivity, and enable seamless team collaboration.Functionality includes task tracking, time tracking, setting and visualizing milestones, collaboration and messaging, and AI-powered content creation.

Designed for the hybrid working model, Hive is a free project management software that is versatile enough to cater to diverse teams and projects.

Hive offers extensive functionality, but this complexity can sometimes also be an issue for users. Some users have reported finding the interface overwhelming due to the multitude of features and options available.

Additionally, there have been mentions of occasional glitches, and some users have expressed the need for better customer support.

Hive Key Features

• Project Management
• Time Tracking
• Goals
• Collaboration & Messaging
• Notes AI
• Analytics

Hive Pricing Plans

Hive offers three different pricing plans catering to different needs, which are:

1. Solo: This is a free plan aimed at individuals who need to organize their projects in one place. This plan includes:

• Up to 2 workspace members
• Gantt, Kanban, Calendar & Table views
• Email in Hive
• Native chat messaging

2. Teams: This is the most popular plan and costs $12/month per user. It's designed for those who need to work without limits and customize their project management experience. This plan includes everything in the Solo plan plus:

• Unlimited workspace members
• Seven flexible add-ons (extra)
• External guest access
• Shareable forms
• Time tracking
• In-app calendar

3. Enterprise: This plan is for users who need more flexibility, extra support, and security. The price isn't listed on the website and you're encouraged to get in touch with Hive for a quote. The Enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into apps for project management.

Pros and Cons Of Using Hive As Your App For Project Management

Pros of using Hive

✅ Integrations: Hive can be integrated with a wide array of external apps, helping to streamline work and centralize information.

Cons of using Hive

❌ Cost Implications: With a rate of $12 per user each month, teams might find themselves with a substantial cumulative expense for management software by month's end.

❌ Learning Curve: Given the wide array of features and customization options, new users might face a steep learning curve.

4. Trello

Trello is a project management tool designed to foster team collaboration and work organization. The platform uses a card-based system where each card represents a task, which can be organized into different lists representing the stages of a project.

Trello strives to make project management simple and efficient for teams of all sizes with features such as automations, power-ups and project plan templates for easy setup.

Although Trello's free project management software is great for visualizing stages, it can lack depth for detailed project management needs. Users have also expressed a need for more robust reporting and analytic features to better track and evaluate the overall progress of their projects.

Trello project management features

• Views
• Automations
• Power-Ups
• Project Plan Templates
• Integrations
• Dashboard View
• User Management

Trello Pricing

• Free Plan - $0 per month.
• Standard Plan - $5 per user/month if billed annually ($6 billed monthly).
• Premium Plan - $10 per user/month if billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly).
• Enterprise Plan - $17.50 per user/month if billed annually ($210.00 annual price per user). The Enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into apps for project management.

Pros And Cons Of Using Trello For Project Management

Pros Of Using Trello

✅ Kanban-Style Boards: Trello uses Kanban-style boards to visualize workflows. Board view can help teams better understand their progress and what needs to be done next.‍

Cons Of Using Trello

❌ Pricing: Teams can quickly rack up a large bill at the end of the month when paying 5$ or 10$ per user per month.

❌ Potential for Feature Overload: Trello offers a lot of features, potentially overwhelming users. Especially those who prefer a more straightforward, simple task management solution.

5. Monday.com

Monday.com is a Work Operating System (Work OS) that enables organizations to manage tasks, projects, and team work in one collaborative space. Functionality is designed to suit various team sizes and industries, offering solutions for marketing, sales, engineering, recruiting, and more.

Monday’s management software allows users to create their own workflows, centralize all work and communication in one place, and integrate with other popular tools like Slack, Dropbox, and Adobe Creative Cloud.

While Monday.com’s project management software provides a host of benefits, it isn't without its drawbacks. One common user complaint is about its pricing. Some users feel that the platform can be quite expensive, especially for small businesses or startups.

Furthermore, users have noted a steep learning curve, making initial setup and adoption a challenge.

Monday project management functionality

• Boards
• Views
• Dashboards
• Integrations
• Automations
• Apps
• Docs

Monday pricing options

• Free Plan - $0 forever
• Basic Plan - $8 per seat/month ($24/month total - minimum 3 users) billed annually
• Standard Plan - $10 per seat/month ($30/month total  - minimum 3 users) billed annually
• Pro Plan - $16 per seat/month ($48/month total  - minimum 3 users) billed annually
• Enterprise Plan - Pricing is provided upon contacting sales. The Enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into software to manage projects

Pros And Cons Of Using Monday Com As Your Project Management Software

Pros Of Using Monday

✅ Customizable views: Monday.com offers 10+ customizable views including Gantt and Kanban, which allows users to visualize tasks and projects based on their specific workflows.

Cons Of Using Monday

❌ Pricing: Teams can quickly rack up a large bill at the end of the month when paying 8$, 10$ or $16 per user per month.

❌ Notification Overload: Some users have reported receiving too many notifications, which can become overwhelming and potentially disrupt productivity.

6. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a unified project management tool that integrates workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration. The service is part of the Microsoft 365 family of products, providing a hub for teamwork.

Users can create shared workspaces, use AI-powered experiences to make collaboration smarter and easier, and even empower their frontline workers with intelligent operations and seamless communication.

A common complaint from users is that the interface can be somewhat non-intuitive and confusing, especially for first-time users. UI issues within the project management software can lead to difficulties in navigation and locating specific features or tools.

Working with Microsoft Office already? Add the OneDrive integration to your Rock spaces for seamless file access.

Project Management Features In Microsoft Teams

• Meetings and Conferencing
• Teams Phone
• Chat and Collaboration
• Teams Devices
• Apps
• Frontline Workforce Solutions
• Real-time Coauthoring
• Microsoft Teams Connect
• Teams Channels

Microsoft Teams pricing

Teams does not have a free software for project management. Instead, pricing is divided among the following plans:

• Microsoft Teams Essentials: Starting from $4 per user/month (Annual subscription—auto renews).
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: Starting from $6 per user/month (Annual subscription—auto renews).
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: Price: Starting from $12.5 per user/month (Annual subscription—auto renews).

Pros And Cons Of Using Microsoft Teams As For Project Management

Pros Of Using Microsoft Teams

✅ Collaborative Workspace: Microsoft Teams integrates with other Microsoft 365 apps like SharePoint, OneNote, Planner, and Power BI, making it a comprehensive platform for team collaboration.

Cons Of Using Microsoft Teams

❌ Integration with Non-Microsoft Apps: While Teams integrates well with Microsoft's own apps, it may not integrate as smoothly with third-party apps.

❌ Notification Management: Users have reported that managing notifications can be overwhelming and confusing.

7. Asana

Asana is a popular project management software that helps teams organize, track, and manage their work. Their primary goal is to facilitate team collaboration and improve productivity.

With a user-friendly interface, Asana allows you to create and assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and add task descriptions. You can visualize your work in various ways including lists, task boards, calendars, or Gantt charts with the Timeline feature.

Teams can share notes, upload files, and communicate directly in the context of each task or project, keeping all relevant information in one place.

Features that can be found within Asana

• Task Management
• Project Visualization
• File Sharing
• Collaboration Tools
• Workflow Automation
• Integrations
• Custom Fields
• Goals
• Forms

Asana pricing

• Basic: This is for individuals or teams just getting started with project management. It's free forever.
• Premium: $10.99 per user/month if billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly)
• Business: This plan is for teams and companies that need software to manage projects across initiatives. $14.99 per user/month if billed annually ($30.49 billed monthly)
• Enterprise: This is Asana's most comprehensive offering, providing powerful, intuitive work management with advanced admin features and security at scale. The price for the Enterprise plan is not provided and you are prompted to contact their sales team for more information.

Asana Pros And Cons For Project Management

Pros Of Using Asana

✅ Features: Asana provides robust features such as task assignments, due dates, project timelines, comments, file attachments, and more.

Cons Of Using Asana

❌ Pricing: Some users find Asana to be expensive, especially for small businesses or startups, as some of the advanced features are only available in the premium tiers.

❌ Overwhelming for Simple Projects: If you're managing a straightforward or small-scale project, Asana might be more complex than you need.

8. Jira

Jira, developed by Atlassian, is a popular issue and project tracking software that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing work in agile teams.

The project management software covers aspects from work management and IT service management to agile and DevOps, catering to various team sizes and industries.

One of the most common criticisms of Jira is its complexity. The platform is robust and highly customizable, which can make it overwhelming and difficult to navigate for newcomers.

Jira’s Tools For Project Management

• Issue and Project Tracking
• Prioritization and Discussion
• Fast Release
• Reporting
• Automation
• Templates
• Customization
• Integration
• Open DevOps

Different Pricing Options Within Jira

• Free Plan - $0 forever
• Standard Plan - $21 per seat/month ($63/month total - minimum 3 users) billed monthly
• Premium Plan - $47 per seat/month ($141/month total  - minimum 3 users) billed monthly
• Enterprise Plan - Pricing is provided upon contacting sales. The Enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into apps for project management.

Jira Pros And Cons For Project Management

Pros Of Using Jira

✅ Strong Support for Agile Methodologies: Jira offers strong support for Agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban. Features like customizable boards, backlogs and sprints, make it a good fit for Agile teams.

Cons Of Using Jira

❌ Complexity: The high degree of flexibility and customization can lead to complexity, making it difficult to configure and manage without dedicated administrators.

❌ Cost: While Jira does offer a free tier, the costs can increase quickly as you add more users and need more advanced features.

9. ClickUp

ClickUp is a cloud-based project management platform designed to bring all of your work into one centralized location. The platform is designed to be flexible and customizable, enabling teams from all sectors and sizes to plan, organize, and stay organized at work.

ClickUp's goal is to make the world more productive by removing the friction caused by using so many different apps, and to provide a single unified platform for work.

While ClickUp’s project management software is highly praised for its versatility and wealth of features, it also receives some criticism. A common user complaint is about the platform's complexity due to its extensive features and customization options.

Additionally, some users have reported that the software can occasionally be slow and laggy, especially when managing a large number of tasks, which can impact productivity and the user experience.

ClickUp’s Tools For Project Management

• Task Management
• Customizable Views
• Collaboration Tools
• Time Tracking
• Custom Fields
• Integration
• Reporting
• Automation

Pricing Plans Within ClickUp

• Free Forever
• Unlimited: $7 per member per month on an annual plan
• Business: $12 per member per month on an annual plan
• Enterprise: Contact Sales for pricing. The enterprise plan is best for large organizations (1000+ employees) looking into apps for project management.

ClickUp Pros And Cons For Managing Your Project Management

Pros Of Using ClickUp

✅ Collaborative Tools: Users have noted that ClickUp's collaborative tools, like comment sections and document sharing, are very useful for team projects.

Cons Of Using ClickUp

❌ Mobile App: Some reviews indicate that the mobile app could be improved in terms of functionality and performance.

❌ User Interface: A few users have noted that the user interface could be more intuitive and user-friendly.

10. Basecamp

Basecamp aims to eliminate the need for multiple apps for chat, file sharing, tasks, or basic scheduling. Thereby, reducing time spent bouncing between different platforms and increasing overall productivity.

Users are offered a unique set of tools for project management like Hill Charts, Campfire and Card Table.

While Basecamp is lauded for its simplicity and ease of use, some users have expressed dissatisfaction with its lack of advanced features, such as Gantt charts and time tracking, which are commonly found in other project management tools.

Lack of functionality may limit its applicability for teams or projects that require more complex or specialized project management functionalities.

Basecamp Project Management Features

• Home Dashboard
• Messages
• File Sharing and Discussion
• Schedule
• Automatic Check-ins
• Reports
• Pings

Pricing Options within Basecamp

Basecamp does not offer a free software for project management, instead users can make use of a 30-day trial. Instead, it offers the following two plans:

1. Basecamp: The pricing model is on a month-to-month basis and is charged at $15/user per month. Only employees are billed, and guests can be invited for free.
2. Basecamp Pro Unlimited: The cost is $299/month, billed annually with no per-user charges. If you prefer to pay month-to-month, it’s $349/month.

Basecamp Pros And Cons For Managing Your Project Management

Pros Of Using Basecamp

✅ Project Organization: Users appreciate the centralized location for project management, including task assignments, discussions, file sharing, and scheduling.

Cons Of Using Basecamp‍

❌ Integrations: While Basecamp does integrate with some other tools, users have expressed the desire for more extensive integration capabilities with external apps and services.

❌ Pricing: Some users find the pricing model, especially for small teams, to be more expensive compared to other project management tools.

Get The Most Out Of Your Work With The Best Project Management Software

Wave goodbye to clutter, chaos, and confusion. Embrace the power of seamless collaboration, streamlined communication, and effective tools in project management.

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Your journey to effortless project management starts here! Time to get the most out of your work, one project at a time.

What is file management? File management, in its simplest form, refers to the process of organizing and controlling data files stored on the cloud, or a device, such as a computer or smartphone. Virtual filing systems involve the way files are named, stored, retrieved, and organized.

The situation is all too familiar: you know the file you need, if only you could find it! The file could be in your inbox, desktop, or maybe someone else has a more recent version?

You unnecessarily waste time when you’re spending hours searching through work files. Different types of filing then become a roadblock that's entirely avoidable.

How can we avoid doing deep dives into unknown folders? For starters, it doesn't involve plumbing the depths of inboxes or shared drives.

Read on to learn more establishing an effective file management system for your project management!

What are the benefits of a file management system?

When left to their own devices, each worker will likely organize their documents and files in their own way - some may be similar to each other, while others may be wildly unique.

A good file system will standardize the organization of information so everyone is familiar with the structure and location of documents. It should also make the information more accessible so it can be used more easily.

You’ll be able to leverage the following benefits when implementing structured file management:

• Improved organization: Systematically organized work files are easy to locate and access when needed. You can also prevent duplicate files taking up unnecessary storage space.
• Increased productivity: When virtual files are easy to find and manage, you waste less time searching for them thus improving effectiveness and efficiency.
• Version control: A virtual filing system often includes version control features. Use version control to track changes, revert to previous versions, and prevent accidental overwrites.
• Scalability: As your organization grows, so does the amount of data. A good file management system can scale with your needs, making it easy to manage an increasing number of files.

With an intuitive structure, new team members will be able to pick up on how things are done more quickly and anyone can find important details without needing to bother another team member.

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File management makes asynchronous work easier

Asynchronous work is a work style that allows team members to complete their tasks and communicate on their own schedules, rather than requiring immediate responses or actions. In other words, work doesn't have to happen in real-time or face-to-face. Team members can contribute whenever they can or prefer, within agreed-upon deadlines.

Structured virtual file systems help keep your team on the same page. Whether team members log on at 6am or 6pm, they don’t have to ping a coworker to find an important work files.

Well organized files are a must for asynchronous work to succeed. Synchronous communication becomes needed when people can't access important information in their own time. Subsequently, certain team members block work progress when others can’t find their files

A well organized file system provides structure and an intuitive arrangement of important documentation. You won’t need to wait for a coworker to log on to get information because information is easy for you to retrieve and use.

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Sharing is caring for your work files

A logical grouping of folders and files makes information more navigable that people outside your organization — like clients and freelancers. In today’s interconnected world, it shouldn’t be a hassle to connect outsiders to your teams digital file organization.

The correct file management system makes it easier to loop key stakeholders in. Any invited person can review and revise files wherever they can connect to the internet. Hosting your work files on the cloud also means that you won’t need to track multiple versions of the same file.

When external partners are more involved in the review and editing of files, the flow of communication is better and you can be confident that you’re delivering a better product.

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6 Popular File Management Systems That You Can Use For Free

In an era where digital data is integral to our daily operations, the importance of efficient file management cannot be overstated.

Whether you're an individual trying to keep your personal documents in order, a small business owner juggling multiple tasks, or a team leader coordinating collaborative projects, reliable documentation management systems can be a game-changer.

Fortunately, the market offers a variety of robust virtual filing systems that are not only user-friendly but also free to use. Next up, we'll delve into six popular free file management systems that can help with staying organized at work.

1. Rock

Rock features a file management system that enables teams to store files in multiple different formats through the files mini-app. Every project space comes with file storage where your team can store relevant work files in a single place.

Any file that is uploaded to the chat, notes and topics mini-apps also become easily retrievable from within the files mini-app.

Rock also features free cloud integrations with file management systems such as Figma, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Adobe CC and Smartsheet to Rock spaces. These files can then directly be added into individual task cards, notes and topics.

🚀 Run any project on Rock, work together within seconds and stop switching between different apps to get work done. Try it out for free!

2. Google Drive

Google Drive is readily available to just about anyone with internet access. With it, you can upload documents to your Drive or create new ones. You can store documents, work files and folders in the cloud; readily available for everyone.

When you give team members or clients access to files, you can determine whether they’ll just be able to view the file (good for clients or final drafts) or if allow them to edit the work files. This ensures only the appropriate people are making changes to documents.

🚀 Rock offers a free integration with Google Drive in every project space. Add relevant folders and attach documents to tasks, notes and topics for easy access. Try it out for free!

3. Dropbox

Dropbox provides a centralized file management system that’s cloud-based. Tailor your organization structure and file hierarchy to your team’s needs and workflows with a customizable system.

With these features, you can ensure that file organization is easy to understand. Additionally, you can navigate and track different versions of work files because edits are synced almost instantaneously.

🚀 Rock has a free file management integration with Dropbox in every project space. Attach folders and documents to tasks, notes and topics for seamless project management workflows. Try it out for free!

4. OneDrive

With Microsoft’s OneDrive, workers can access files anywhere since it is also a cloud-based file management system. OneDrive enables people to edit, share and collaborate more easily. OneDrive also connects seamlessly with some organizational platforms.

Think of Word, Powerpoint and Excel easily integrated into your documentation management systems.

🚀 Rock offers a free file system integration with OneDrive in every project space. Add relevant folders and attach documents to tasks, notes and topics for easy access. Try it out for free!

5. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform that combines elements of project management, task collaboration, and a file management system into one versatile tool. Teams can plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on projects, all while storing and organizing related files and documents.

A spreadsheet-like interface allows users to navigate and manage data. Robust file management ensures that all project-related files are easily accessible and securely stored.

🚀 Rock offers a free file management integration with Smartsheet in every project space. Add relevant folders and attach documents to tasks, notes and topics for easy access. Try it out for free!

6. Notion

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that combines elements of note-taking, database management, project management, and digital file organization into one platform.

Individuals can create, share, and manage a wide range of content, from simple notes to complex projects. Within its user-friendly interface, Notion's file management system enables users to store, organize, and access related files and documents.

🚀 Rock offers a free work files integration with Notion in every project space. Add relevant folders and attach documents to tasks, notes and topics for easy access. Try it out for free!

Streamline your digital file organization

Introducing streamlined file management can make your team’s everyday lives easier and less stressful.

Pat yourself in the back if you already have a unified system in place and have avoided different types of filing. But remember, simply having a file management system in place isn’t enough. Your documentation should be optimized to work with other remote work tools and your team, aligning with your workflows and always remaining intuitive.

With a digital file organization, you can empower your team by giving them convenient access to the information they need. With the right information at their fingertips, they can boost their productivity and streamline their work.

Since they can get relevant work files and folders whenever they need to, your team can eliminate roadblocks and extra steps from the process.

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