7 bad internal comms habits — and how to break them

Previously published in Healthcare Business Today

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Mass walkouts make headlines. It would not be surprising if 2024 saw an increase in these headlines - particularly in sectors such as healthcare. The recent strike that saw 75,000 Kaiser healthcare workers walk off the job is reflective of the deep level of disengagement among frontline healthcare professionals in general. Unless healthcare leaders can spot rising levels of disengagement, understand what causes it, and take proactive steps to prevent it within their organizations, these worrying trends will continue to persist.

Unfortunately, despite significant and somewhat effective efforts by HR leaders to recognize and reward frontline workers for their contributions, the healthcare industry is struggling to bridge the gap between organizational initiatives and frontline satisfaction. Benefits programs, loyalty initiatives, listening surveys, and wellbeing apps have failed to move the needle, mainly because these initiatives simply don’t always reach those needing them. Technologies such as e-learning and team scheduling platforms, messaging, and collaboration tools - designed to engage employees and encourage a more connected and cohesive organizational culture  - have not had the desired impact on frontline staff. 

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Mismatch Between Technology and Reality 

The problem is that while the pace of digital transformation in the enterprise space has been undeniable, the technologies most healthcare organizations purchase today are designed for desk-based workers who are permanently online and have ready access to IT support and/or relevant training resources; or are another add on to an existing legacy system.

The modern enterprise tech ecosystem is incompatible with the reality of frontline work – where mobile ease of use and accessibility are pivotal to driving impact. These tools simply don’t work effectively when rolled out to hospital staff who are time-constrained, constantly on their feet, and rarely anywhere near a desktop computer, especially for anything nonclinical. 

A survey of more than 500 US healthcare workers reveals that 37% say technology frustrates them. This lack of positivity around technology creates inequality of opportunity and influence within the workplace, as healthcare workers often don’t enjoy the same sense of value and belonging as their office-based peers, nor do they have the same opportunities for career advancement.

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READ MORE: Achieving Employee Techquity: Our guide on why successful digital inclusion in healthcare starts in your teams.

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Purpose-built Technology for Delivering Exceptional Care

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Healthcare workers aren’t averse to using technology. As consumers, their digital world is immediate and enriching, driven by intuitive smartphone apps, instant notifications, and a sense of always having the tools they need at their fingertips. Yet in their jobs, the current digital experience can be slow and disjointed.

To close the digital divide, organizations must deploy technologies specifically designed with the on-the-go frontline healthcare experience in mind. For example, offering single sign-on (SSO), mobile-enabled access to all applications will greatly improve accessibility. Building a hub can make it easy for all workers to access important information and other systems. Simple mobile forms can replace paper trails, help workers improve efficiency, and eradicate convoluted processes so that workers do not waste time on administrative tasks.

Elara Caring, one of the largest US-based providers of personal care, home health, and hospice care, successfully addressed these challenges after experiencing a 65% annual staff turnover rate due to low morale and lack of peer-to-peer connection. The company decided to deploy Blink, the frontline employee super-app, which has transformed its operational landscape and solved its million-dollar challenge. 

Elara, using Blink, streamlined onboarding, enhanced communication efficiency, and created a sense of community among employees, some of whom were never connected to the organization. By leveraging capabilities like SSO and automating daily tasks, Elara centralized operations and increased its productivity. Additionally, they facilitated seamless communication and peer-to-peer networking, fostering a culture of recognition and empowerment within Elara's workforce.

By leveraging Blink's multifaceted capabilities, Elara not only mitigated its turnover challenge but also established a more cohesive, efficient, and connected workforce, reinforcing its commitment to employee well-being and organizational success.  And, now that Elara has been able to connect to this large employee constituency successfully, they are innovating on exciting new opportunities for improving these workers’ work-life and their patients’ experience.

Importance of Organizational Culture Shift  

Creating a digitally inclusive environment for frontline workers goes beyond technology adoption. It requires a cultural shift within organizations – one that values and actively supports the digital empowerment of every employee, regardless of role.  People and HR leaders must champion digital inclusion as a strategic priority, ensuring that frontline workers are not just recipients of technology but active participants in the digital transformation journey.

Organizations can foster this culture by promoting digital literacy programs, encouraging peer-to-peer learning, and recognizing the unique contributions of frontline workers. Understanding the specific pain points of these employees leads to more effective and user-friendly solutions and an increase in technology adoption.

Essentially, closing the digital gap for frontline healthcare workers isn't just about technological advancements, it's about ensuring exceptional healthcare and workplace equity. By investing in the right tools, training, and culture initiatives, healthcare organizations can enable and empower their frontline workforce to better thrive in the digital age.

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42% of companies have increased their investment in cloud and unified communications.

And this trend has only grown stronger during the Covid pandemic. The virus has given unified communications a long-overdue seat at the table. 

It’s not hard to understand why. As companies grow larger and employees become more remote, keeping track of all your communication channels and devices is a challenge. And unified communications, especially as a service (UCaaS), solves this problem.  

Still, many companies are on the fence, with some not even familiar with this new approach. Instead of choosing the benefits of unified communications, they’re busy prioritizing other organizational needs. Big mistake! 

In this post, we’ll explore the top reasons why your company should invest in unified communications. Whether you want to learn more for yourself or get buy-in from other leaders in your company, the following list is exactly what you need.

Let’s dig in. 

What is Unified Communications?

Ensuring that workers can easily communicate, collaborate on projects, and share documents are critical to your business. 

Yet in most organizations, voicemail, email, fax, video calls, and live chats have all been on different systems so far. And managing these disparate platforms has been time-consuming and messy.

Even if it wasn’t, the solution may not have led to any improvement in collaboration and productivity. In fact, 69% of employees waste more than 5 hours each week switching between different communications devices and apps.

Enter Unified Communications. It means connecting instant messaging, video conferencing, data sharing, email, and more in a way that you can fetch data from one into the other. 

A solution based on unified communication integrates all your communication devices and apps in one central place. And when this solution is offered as a cloud-based service, it is known as UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service).

So instead of managing and switching between different places, employees need access to only one platform, streamlining communication and collaboration for everyone involved.  

Benefits of Unified Communications 

The definition alone should be enough to have you nodding in support of unified communications. Still, the following points will shed more light on why Unified Communications is important. 

1. Watertight IT

When you look at how your company communicates, you may discover a number of solutions, with each implementation needing dedicated support and vendor management. 

That means your IT department spends a lot of time troubleshooting, installing, updating, and providing support for these solutions. And every minute of time has a cost. 

Wouldn’t this time be better spent on innovating proactive strategies that grow your business and meet corporate goals?

A unified communications solution helps free up IT resources by consolidating all communication in one place. So there’s only one system to manage and troubleshoot instead of several.  

2. Reduced business costs 

Maintaining multiple units of hardware and software licenses adds to your cost and overhead. In fact, you don’t just pay for the different platforms, but also for a person or team to supervise the whole system. 

And don’t get us started on the time and budget you’ll need to allocate to train workers on how to use all the platforms. That’s a big waste of money — money that could have been used to grow the organization.  

In contrast, with a unified communications solution, you pay only for a single platform. So your overall cost is considerably low. 

3. Streamlined operations 

Unifying communications in one place makes it easy for employees to do their jobs regardless of where they are located while saving time on routine tasks. For example, with a UCaaS solution, you can:

• Route all incoming calls to a dedicated team member, app, or device
• Redirect fax or voicemail to an email inbox as a PDF or audio file

You can set up many other automations and workflows to make remote work easy for your workers. And you can do all this without any special support from the IT department. This makes it easy to derive call center analytics on peak load, minimum load, first call resolution rates, etc. which will help with streamlining operations further

4. Improved collaboration and productivity

A survey has shown that companies adopting UC, on average, see a 52% improvement in workplace productivity and a 25% boost in operating profit.

Wondering how? Let’s take an example. Imagine you have a team spread out in five countries, with members trying to share and collaborate on crucial documents. And picture how chaotic it can be. 

Now give the team members the ability to present via a virtual call and share documents through instant messaging after the call — all from the same system.

When your team knows exactly what communication platform to use for everything, they won’t spend countless hours searching emails and other apps. 

The verdict is clear. With unified communications, employees can communicate on both internal and external communication channels quickly and reliably. 

When your different systems can talk to each other, collaboration is a breeze, and you get things done fast.  

5. Better customer service 

Consumers of today are highly impatient. They expect quick and efficient support and services. If they don't get a response to their problem or question fast, they won’t think twice about switching to one of your competitors. 

In fact, 58% of customers will end their relationship with a brand that gives them mediocre customer service.  

So if you want to maintain an exceptional level of customer support, two things are essential:

• Your employees should have a fast way to communicate with customers
• Your employees should find it easy to share information among themselves 

But both these goals are almost impossible to achieve if you have different, standalone communication services scattered all over the place. With such an approach, you also run the risk of crucial messages slipping through the cracks.

A unified communication solution goes a long way in offering a stable and predictable experience to customers, increasing their satisfaction and loyalty to the brand. 

6. Improved security

Cybercrime costs businesses $2.9 million per minute, says research by RiskIQ. And the more disparity in your communication systems, the more vulnerable your organization will be. 

So another advantage of UCaaS is better security. A unified communications solution can ensure that all your calls and communications are encrypted and less susceptible to risk.  

7. Simplified remote work

Communication becomes even more important when your workforce is dispersed in several locations. And a unified communications system ensures that all the workers have proper access to your company’s network. 

This way, employees can answer emails, attend calls, and share files while on the move. This level of connectivity is what makes a UCaaS solution a must-have.

Final thoughts: 7 Unified Communications benefits

Over the last few years, there has been a massive shift in how companies operate and how employees get things done. For many businesses, the days of large office buildings with the majority of your employees are long gone. Instead, companies today have a diverse workforce across several locations.

This makes unified communications essential for modern businesses. From improving productivity to facilitating remote work, and from delighting customers to reducing security breaches, unified communication has the benefits that make it a necessity for today’s workplace.   

Switching to a UCaaS may seem like a big investment, but it can make a big difference in your organization’s future. Even so, if your boss and other senior managers are on the fence, show them this list! 

Invest in unified communications at the right time, and your business will reap the benefits for years to come. Request a free Blink demo today.

Effective workplace communication is clear, consistent, and engaging. It produces the desired result, and it helps you avoid misunderstandings.

Organizations with a successful internal communication style are happier and more productive. But effective employee communication isn’t always easy, especially if you manage a frontline workforce.

There are practical challenges to overcome. Frontline employees don’t have a computer. They don’t always have an employee email address. They have changing shift times and locations.  And they often lack access to tools their office-based peers have as standard.  

Nevertheless, overcoming these barriers to communication is important. Fail to reach everyone with effective workplace communication and:  

• critical messages are missed
• you struggle to develop a strong company culture
• employees end up feeling disconnected, demotivated, and more likely to look for other jobs

Essentially, if communication doesn’t reach every member of your organization, we can’t call it effective.

So how do you close the gap between frontline and office-based staff? How do you improve workplace communication for every person in every team?

Here we explore the benefits of effective communication, and offer ideas on how to achieve it at your organization. 

Benefits of effective workplace communication

93% of business leaders say that workplace communication is the backbone of business. But 3 in 4 say their company underestimates the cost of poor communication.

Here are the things companies miss out on when their communication isn’t up to scratch.

Team collaboration

Collaborative teams are more productive and successful. But you can’t have collaboration without good communication.

When teams interact openly and inclusively, they develop a shared understanding of goals and processes. This makes it much easier for them to harness team strengths and work together.

Enhanced employee engagement

Employee engagement is how connected and committed your workers feel to their workplace.

It’s something the majority of business leaders plan to focus on in 2024. That’s because high levels of employee engagement are linked to better productivity and staff retention.

There’s a direct link between workplace communication and employee engagement. Improve the former and you improve the latter.

Conflict resolution

Workplace conflicts are natural and inevitable. But you can’t allow mountains to become molehills. You need to get team members in a room to talk it out.

When teams communicate effectively, you resolve conflicts quickly, collaboratively, and conclusively. Good employee communication also prevents conflicts from developing in the first place.

Improved productivity

What could you do with an extra 7.47 hours per team, per week? That’s the time business leaders say they lose because of poor communication.

Employees rely on the right information to complete tasks. When that information is readily available and easy to find, workers get the job done quicker. And employee productivity sees a considerable uptick.

Improved employee morale

According to a Forbes study, nearly 50% of workers say that ineffective communication harms job satisfaction. And 42% say it makes them more stressed.

When communication is poor, workers also feel less confident professionally. And they’re more likely to look for other jobs.

Ineffective communication damages team morale. But when you adopt good communication practices, you find it easier to motivate and retain staff.

Increased innovation

For the best shot at developing innovative new ideas, you need to enlist the help of as many people in your organization as possible.

People have to bounce ideas off of one another. And you need a way to communicate your culture of innovation to the company at large.

Innovation relies on good communication. So with effective communication strategies, your company will come up with bigger and better ideas.

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Better decision-making

When communication flows between all members of an organization, leaders make more effective decisions.

That’s because they don’t make decisions in a silo. They take into account the ideas, opinions, and perspectives of all employees. They base decisions on information, not instinct.

It’s the same for employees. An incredible 28% of workers say they don’t understand their company’s goals. So imagine how much more effective their day-to-day decision-making could be with clear communication from leadership.

Business results

According to Grammarly’s State of Business Communication report, US businesses are losing $1.2 trillion every year because of ineffective communication practices.

Poor communication can lead to increased costs, lower customer satisfaction, missed deadlines, and the erosion of brand credibility.

It’s clear. Effective employee communication isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a fundamental pillar, with the power to make or break your business.

Using technology for effective employee communication

Many organizations are having trouble hanging onto frontline staff. But we know that effective communication can make staff happier and encourage them to stay.

Traditionally, messages may have been passed to the frontline via word of mouth, a cluttered team noticeboard, or personal messaging apps.

These communication methods are inefficient and time-consuming. There’s also a big risk in terms of reliability. Employees may get the wrong message – or no message at all.

Technology offers an alternative solution. Today’s best communication tech is designed around the modern workplace. It offers:

• Top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer communication: communication moves in all directions thanks to communication channels everyone can contribute to
  
  
• An intuitive user experience and integrations: it’s easy for employees to find information; tools work well with any other tech you use and don’t add to the noise
  
  
• Real-time communication: 61% of workers prefer real-time communication; moving beyond email, employees get access to instant messaging and video conferencing
  
  
• Access for every employee – whether they work in the office, on the shop floor, or on the road, all employees get the same access to communications and communication tools

In today’s workplace, communication tech is essential. But the right tech solution looks different for every business. 

For desk-based teams, modern company intranets are ticking most boxes. However, frontline teams need a tech tool that isn’t chained to a computer and doesn’t require a company email address for login. 

Enter the employee app. For organizations with large frontline teams, an employee app like Blink has all the features and functions you need for effective employee communication.

It’s a mobile-first app so all employees can access Blink from their smartphone. All communication is available in the same place so employees know exactly where to find it.

Blink supports surveys, recognition, and – crucially – allows leadership to communicate with the frontline workforce they’re so often disconnected from.

88% of business leaders want tools that make communication easier and more effective. Frontline workers are calling out for effective tech, too, with 52% saying they would quit their jobs over poor tech tools.

With leaders and the frontline seeing the value of good tech, implementing this type of tool is one of the primary ways you can improve workplace communication. 

7 ways to improve workplace communication

Getting the right tech on your team is central to improving workplace communication. But you can’t stop there. If communication at your workplace is subpar, there’s work to be done.

These tips provide the other pieces of the puzzle. Put them into place and you’ll develop a strong and successful internal communication strategy.   

1. Lead by example

Leaders set the tone of your organization. So if you want employees to communicate regularly, openly, and clearly, your leaders have to, too.

Encourage leaders to be active and visible on employee communication channels. And to engage with employees at all levels of the business.

Training may be necessary. There’s a presumption that good communication comes naturally. The truth is it doesn’t. But it can be taught.

By gaining new skills, your leaders can become clear communicators and active listeners. They’ll also find it easier to establish a culture of positive communication.

2. Establish clear communication channels

Lots of noise? Not much being heard?

Channel overload makes it hard for employees to find information that’s relevant to them. This impacts their productivity. It can also lead them to disengage with internal communications.  

So establish clear communication channels and consider streamlining, too. When there’s one source of knowledge and information, it’s easier for employees to use it.

Also, share guidelines on how you expect employees to use your chosen channels. Perhaps there’s one space for informal team chat and another for company-wide updates. Maybe some types of messages are only relevant to certain team members.

With clear guidance on where they can find information and how to contribute to the conversation, employees are more likely to get involved.

3. Prioritize two-way communication

Employee communication used to mean leadership speaking to the rest of the organization. But times have changed. And this type of one-way communication now feels outdated.

It’s also ineffective. Organizations with an open communication culture are more inclusive, productive, creative, and collaborative. That’s why the majority of today’s employers strive to give their employees a voice.

To develop a culture of two-way communication, you need: 

• communication channels that everyone can use easily and intuitively
• a company culture where everyone feels able to speak out

When you develop a culture of psychological safety, everyone feels comfortable speaking out. Employees are happy to admit mistakes, ask silly questions, and voice criticism. People say more of what they feel, which aids meaningful communication.  

4. Provide regular updates

While two-way communication is important, don’t neglect top-down communication. Regular updates from leadership are still important.

They help employees align their work with organizational goals. They support good decision-making. And they give employees the contextual info they need to do their best work.

In office-based organizations, leaders can share the latest company news in short, face-to-face standups.

But when you’re managing a frontline workforce, company standups aren’t always viable. When people are working different shifts in different locations, it’s nearly impossible to get everyone in the same place at the same time. 

This is where your chosen communication tech tool can help. Via a company newsfeed post or a video upload, you can share up-to-the-minute info with your whole workforce and keep everyone on the same page.

5. Establish a feedback loop

According to the Harvard Business Review, around 72% of workers believe their performance would improve if they had open, honest feedback.

But effective employee communication isn’t just about giving feedback. It’s also about encouraging employees to give you theirs. 

You can support employees to speak up and give their opinions – on processes, the employee experience, leadership, or anything else – in two key ways.

First, by promoting a culture of psychological safety. And second, by making it easy for employees to have their say.

You can use tech tools to launch surveys. Annual surveys that help you benchmark feedback year on year. And pulse surveys that give a real-time view of your company.

Regular one-to-one meetings also build supportive manager-employee relationships. They’re a safe space in which employees can share any concerns or questions.

However, to make this process truly effective, you need to establish a feedback loop that follows these four stages:

• Information gathering – asking your employees for feedback
• Analysis – making sense of the data you’ve collected
• Action – using the data to make a plan of action
• Notification – telling employees what their feedback revealed and what you now plan to do  

By creating a feedback loop you keep employees invested in the process. You ensure their participation in future surveys and one-to-ones.  

6. Celebrate success

90% of employees find recognition motivating. But celebrating employee success doesn’t just encourage better, harder working.

Peer-to-peer recognition strengthens co-worker relationships. 3 in 4 employees say that the act of giving recognition makes them want to stay at their current organization longer.

And according to Gallup research, employees who regularly get recognition are more engaged, more connected to their culture, and less likely to experience burnout than those who do not.

Gallup also handily outlines the five features of effective recognition. It is:  

• Fulfilling – appropriate to the accomplishment
• Authentic – genuine rather than forced
• Personalized – adapted to the preferences of the person being recognized
• Equitable – all employees have the chance for recognition
• Embedded – it’s part of the value and practices of your organization

For frontline teams, recognition has to be intentional. You can’t always highlight employee work in a company standup or pop by a frontline team member’s desk.

This is another way that a tech tool like Blink can help improve workplace communication. Blink’s recognition feature allows both managers and co-workers to celebrate fellow employees.

They can publish a recognition post in the company newsfeed or send a DM. And wherever an employee is working, they get recognition sent straight to their smartphone app.

7. Address conflict promptly

Workplace conflicts often arise because of miscommunication. So simply putting the other tips on this list into action should reduce the number of disagreements you have to deal with.

But some conflict is inevitable. And how you deal with it is crucial. Unresolved conflict can cause negative workplace relationships – and even a toxic workplace culture.

So it’s always best to recognize and tackle conflict promptly. When managers become aware that a conflict has arisen, they need to get both parties together and bring issues out into the open.  

This is another area where tech can make a difference. When you conduct company communication over a tech tool, you get access to lots of data.

This data can help you to visualize workplace relationships. You see where positive and negative relationships lie, who likes to chat and who doesn’t. You can then intervene early to support strained relationships and help everyone feel more connected.

Measuring the effectiveness of workplace communication

As with any initiative, when you want to improve workplace communication, you need a clear way to measure progress.

Start by looking at the qualitative data you gather through employee one-to-ones and surveys. Find out what employees think of workplace communication – and what ideas they have for improving it.

You may also like to track a selection of the following key performance indicators (KPIs):

• Content engagement: message open rates; survey response rates; number of post comments and shares 
  
  
• Content channel engagement: communication tool adoption rate; the number of tech tool logins; employee profile completion rate
  
  
• Employee engagement: absenteeism rates; employee turnover rates; employee net promoter score (eNPS); employee satisfaction rates
  
  
• Business impact: customer satisfaction rates; sales figures; the number of met and overdue milestones; costs saved

Viewed together, these KPIs will show whether new communication channels and strategies are working to improve workplace communication and overall business results. You can then use these findings to optimize your approach going forward.

How Blink can help your organization with effective employee communication

For frontline organizations, it can be hard to find communication tools and strategies that suit your version of the workforce.

That’s why we created Blink.

Blink is an employee super-app. It allows easy communication between frontline and office-based teams. 

With real-time messaging, a company newsfeed, and seamless integrations, Blink is a streamlined communication solution. 

Whether you want to ask for employee feedback, notify staff of available shifts, or simply recognize an employee’s hard work, you can do it all within the intuitive Blink interface.

Case study: Elara Caring

Let’s take a look at Elara Caring. They started using Blink because they had a huge communication problem. They were struggling to connect the 32,000 carers who worked for them.

Before Blink:

• morale was low
• there was no opportunity for peer-to-peer connection
• annual staff turnover stood at 65%
• managers had to call hundreds of personal phone numbers to book carers onto shifts

Now, 96% of employees say they would recommend Blink. Our app is Elara’s destination for everything – from paystubs to schedules, to the latest company news.

All employees can join the company conversation, receiving critical updates and shift information straight to their smartphones.

They also feel more included in company culture. Employees can connect, share their stories, and learn from each other. They also get regular recognition from peers and managers, plus in-app access to L&D resources. 

At Blink, we help companies to improve employee communication. We’re closing the gap between frontline and office-based teams. So organizations can create richer cultures and reach their business goals. 

Want to join Elara Caring and lots of frontline businesses like them? Book a personalized demo to see what Blink could do for you. 

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If you’re exploring alternatives to All Gravy, you’re likely looking for a platform that offers more flexibility, deeper integrations, or broader functionality for workforce engagement and management. All Gravy is known for its financial wellness and shift management tools, but it may not provide the full set of capabilities needed for growing organizations.

This guide reviews the best All Gravy alternatives in 2025—starting with Blink, our top recommendation—and includes pricing, reviews, and pros and cons for each.

What to look for in an All Gravy alternative

Before making a decision, it’s important to assess which features matter most to your organization.

• Comprehensive Communication Tools – Look for platforms that combine messaging, news feeds, and surveys in one place to reduce tool fatigue.
• Integrations – Seamless connections to HRIS, payroll, scheduling, and collaboration tools save time and reduce manual work.
• Ease of Use – A clean, mobile-first design ensures both frontline and desk-based staff can use the platform without lengthy training.
• Scalability – Choose a solution that can grow with your business without requiring a platform switch in a few years.
• Analytics & Insights – Data-driven decision-making starts with robust reporting on engagement, adoption, and performance.

The 10 top All Gravy alternatives in 2025

#1. Blink – The #1 alternative to All Gravy

Blink is an all-in-one employee engagement, communication, and productivity platform designed for both frontline and office-based teams. It replaces multiple disconnected apps by bringing secure messaging, company news, task management, surveys, file access, and HR integrations together in one easy-to-use interface.

Its mobile-first design ensures high adoption rates, while advanced analytics give leaders actionable insights into engagement trends. Blink integrates with major tools like Workday, UKG, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace, meaning it fits seamlessly into existing workflows. Organizations praise Blink for its intuitive user experience, enterprise-grade security, and rapid onboarding process.

• Pricing: Custom pricing; free trial available.
• G2 Rating: 4.7/5
• Gartner Rating: 4.8/5
• Pros: Unified platform, strong integrations, excellent adoption rates.
• Cons: Requires initial change management for teams moving from multiple apps.

Start your free trial of Blink today.

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#2. Connecteam

Connecteam offers a modular platform that combines chat, scheduling, onboarding, task tracking, and time management. Its mobile app is designed for easy navigation, making it a good choice for organizations that want a straightforward, customizable tool. The built-in training and knowledge base features help teams onboard quickly, while its scheduling tools ensure shift coordination without external apps.

• Pricing: Free plan for up to 10 users; paid plans from $29/month for 30 users.
  
• G2 Rating: 4.4/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.5/5
  
• Pros: Affordable, modular design, strong scheduling features.
  
• Cons: Limited advanced analytics compared to enterprise-focused platforms.
  

#3. Workvivo

Workvivo focuses on employee connection and culture-building through a social-media-like interface. Employees can post updates, recognize peers, share wins, and engage with company news in a familiar, engaging way. Workvivo integrates with productivity tools like Slack, Zoom, and Teams, and offers a customizable interface for branding.

• Pricing: Custom pricing based on company size.
  
• G2 Rating: 4.7/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.6/5
  
• Pros: Strong focus on culture, intuitive social-style interface.
  
• Cons: Less suited for task or operations-heavy use cases.
  

#4. Leapsome

Leapsome blends engagement, performance management, and learning into a single platform. It enables continuous feedback loops, performance reviews, 1:1 meetings, and learning paths to help employees grow. While it’s less operations-focused than All Gravy, it’s a strong choice for organizations prioritizing employee development.

• Pricing: From $8/user/month.
  
• G2 Rating: 4.8/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.6/5
  
• Pros: Excellent for performance and development, customizable workflows.
  
• Cons: Not designed for frontline scheduling or shift management.
  

#5. Dayforce

Dayforce is a full HCM solution covering payroll, workforce management, benefits, and employee engagement. It goes far beyond All Gravy’s scope, offering compliance features and deep analytics. The unified approach makes it ideal for organizations wanting HR, scheduling, and payroll under one roof.

• Pricing: Custom pricing.
  
• G2 Rating: 4.2/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.3/5
  
• Pros: Comprehensive HCM suite, strong compliance features.
  
• Cons: Steeper learning curve for smaller teams.

#6. Staffbase

Staffbase is an internal communications platform that supports branded employee apps, intranets, and targeted messaging. It excels at reaching distributed teams with segmented communications and integrates with enterprise systems for analytics. While less focused on shift management, it offers superior content distribution capabilities compared to All Gravy.

• Pricing: Custom pricing
  
• G2 Rating: 4.6/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.5/5
  
• Pros: Strong branding/customization, segmented targeting
  
• Cons: Limited in task or HR management functions
  

#7. Beekeeper

Beekeeper is built for frontline workers, offering secure messaging, document sharing, and workflow automation. Its integrations with scheduling and HR platforms make it a practical alternative for shift-based teams. Compared to All Gravy, it offers broader communication features but fewer financial wellness tools.

• Pricing: Custom pricing
  
• G2 Rating: 4.4/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.3/5
  
• Pros: Designed for frontline teams, good integration options
  
• Cons: Smaller app marketplace than some competitors
  

#8. Monday.com

Monday.com is a highly flexible work management tool with modules for projects, tasks, CRM, and operations. It can be customized for shift management, though it’s not a native feature. The platform’s visual boards and automation features make it ideal for cross-functional visibility.

• Pricing: From $9/user/month
  
• G2 Rating: 4.7/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.4/5
  
• Pros: Highly customizable, broad use cases
  
• Cons: Requires setup to suit shift-based teams
  

#9. LumApps

LumApps is a digital workplace and intranet platform with strong personalization and knowledge management tools. It integrates with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for seamless document access and collaboration. While not built for shift scheduling, its focus on personalized content delivery helps keep employees informed.

• Pricing: Custom pricing
  
• G2 Rating: 4.3/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.4/5
  
• Pros: Excellent personalization, robust content management
  
• Cons: No built-in shift management
  

#10. Zoho People

Zoho People offers HR management tools for leave, attendance, onboarding, and performance. It integrates with payroll systems and supports custom workflows. While less engagement-focused than Blink, it’s a cost-effective way to centralize HR operations.

• Pricing: From $1.50/user/month
  
• G2 Rating: 4.4/5
  
• Gartner Rating: 4.3/5
  
• Pros: Affordable, broad HR features
  
• Cons: Lacks rich employee engagement tools

Final thoughts

While All Gravy offers solid functionality for financial wellness and scheduling, it may not meet the full range of communication, engagement, and operational needs for every organization. Blink leads this list for its ability to centralize tools, improve adoption, and deliver measurable results—backed by excellent user reviews and enterprise-ready features.

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Why teams choose Blink over All Gravy

All Gravy is focused on flexible and gig-style workforce management, which is a narrower use case than full employee communication and engagement. Blink is built to be the single, mobile-first home for your entire frontline workforce — no corporate email required — and is used daily by teams at McDonald's, Domino's, and Chick-fil-A. See how Blink compares.

London, 1 November 2023 – Bus operator Abellio London has rolled out Blink, a mobile app that connects management with frontline, or deskless, workers.

Abellio, which operates bus services on behalf of Transport for London and serves 430,000 customers across Greater London every day, will connect its 2,800 employees across six depots and Transport UK Rail Replacement services through Blink’s super-app. Employees can connect, share information and communicate with each other wherever they are which, until now, had been impossible.

Abellio’s investment in Blink gives every worker digital connectivity to the organisation and each other, improving convenience, flexibility and inclusion. This investment forms part of Abellio’s ongoing initiatives to support inclusion within the business and tackle the national bus driver shortage. Transport for London recently revealed they were operating with a shortage of 2,510 drivers, and nationwide, many operators are still experiencing significant staff shortages, with bus vacancy rate at 6.8%, resulting in recent calls for bus drivers to be added to the Shortage Occupation List so operators can recruit drivers from abroad.

Due to the nature of their work, frontline teams – such as bus drivers – are often subject to manual processes and paperwork. They might not have immediate access to some of the tools or information that support them to deliver a positive experience to customers. Across the UK, frontline teams can feel disconnected from the rest of the workforce and, in some cases, undervalued: recent research found that only 39% of frontline workers feel heard, and that 42% are considering quitting their job.

Blink tackles these issues head-on. Beyond communication, the Blink app provides seamless, always-on access to external applications across any device. Abellio’s bus drivers only need to sign into Blink once via secure Single Sign On in order to gain access to all the key systems and information needed for their roles, including the driver allocation system (DAS); payslip information and payslips; and company updates and information that have traditionally been shared by depot notice boards, social media groups or via their line managers.

Previously, drivers needed to access multiple systems to complete certain aspects of their role which was time-consuming and required  different passwords and/or access to a computer. Mobile-first with desktop capabilities,Blink brings everything together in one super-app for Abellio’s drivers and management team. Drivers can complete their day-to-day tasks or reports via their phones in real-time and are kept in the loop at the same time as everyone else in the organisation. Crucially, they are able to directly communicate and share feedback with their senior leadership team, giving them a greater say in what’s happening.

“Abellio actively champions inclusivity, as a business that employs 43 different nationalities,  we have always prided ourselves on our inclusive culture,” commented Abellio Operations and HR Director, Lorna Murphy. “Differences are very much valued, and our company's success depends on it.  We needed an inclusive and simple way to bring our teams together and wanted to offer greater access to information and process for our frontline drivers.

“Blink fosters inclusiveness because everyone in the organisation has a mobile phone, meaning they can log in and access everything they need from wherever they are. It enables two-way conversations and brings connectivity to everyone in the business.”

Sean Nolan, CEO and Co-Founder of Blink, added: “Abellio London is on a mission to put a stop to the frontline worker gap and bring a sense of belonging to employees wherever they are. It recognises just how much an engaged frontline directly impacts how successful they are as a team. Amongst our customers we have seen that by fostering a more engaged and inclusive culture, productivity, quality, care, commitment, and retention will surely follow.

“The company is doing this by putting better company information at their drivers’ fingertips, while giving managers real-time access to frontline intelligence on employee performance and engagement. This will save them hundreds of hours, which they had been previously losing to disparate communications channels.”

The Blink app will also replace all the paper-based forms that currently require drivers to return to depot to complete. Thanks to the app’s intuitive interface, drivers can manage their schedules, payment information, and form-filling from wherever they are and whatever their technical ability.

Murphy added: “Using Blink, Abellio bus drivers can access a system of simple pathways that makes it easy for them to report issues, start a conversation with management or colleagues, or go about their day-to-day tasks such as checking shifts and accessing payslips, reconnecting them back to the organisation they work for via one simple, easy-to-use app.

“At a time when recruitment and retention in the industry is paramount, we hope that Blink, and tools like it, will support teams to feel connected to the business. Blink will help us to create a vibrant and open culture that champions better employee engagement, and give our drivers a channel through which they can voice their queries, ideas and concerns.”

As well as providing company-wide communications, Abellio can use Blink to create specific groups for supported work conversations, something that has been proven beneficial for employee wellness. Blink’s frontline intelligence and analysis capabilities will also help the leadership team to understand what employees need to perform, and how best to deliver it.

Blink has been proven to reach 95% of employees and reduce employee turnover by 26%. It also triples response rates, sees five times the number of adoption of tools thanks to its single sign-on(SSO), and gets a nine out of ten ‘ease of use’ rating from end users.

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Press contacts

For more information or interviews, please get in touch with kate@transatlanticent.com | 07980 921961.

About Abellio

Abellio London is part ofTransport UK and operates 55 bus routes in the capital on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), plus rail replacement and event services across the UK.

The business operates around nine percent of London’s bus network, running over 800 vehicles and employing 2,500staff across six depots in Central, South, and West London. Abellio is a pioneer in EV public transport, operating over 100 no-emission fully electric buses in London.

Abellio London was a double winner in the 2021 Bus and Coach Awards and is a finalist in the British QualityFoundation’s EFQM Excellence awards, following a 5-star rating in the BQF Recognised For Excellence assessment. In 2020 it was named Operator of the Year at the London Transport Awards and also helped bring the first Caetano electric single-deck buses to the UK, which were the safest in London with the inclusion of TfL Bus Safety Standard measures. Since 2019 it has held Earned Recognition status with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which recognises it as an exemplary operator, and in 2023 earned ISO 45001 accreditation across all six depots.

About Blink

Blink is the world's best super-app for deskless workers, with a mission to revolutionise work life for the frontline, closing the digital divide and enabling distributed organisations to communicate effectively and engage together like never before. Blink is used by over 200,000 frontline workers at industry-leading companies including Stagecoach, Elara Caring and Domino’s. Each user opens the app an average of seven times a day, helping lower frontline attrition by up to 25%.

Founded in 2015 and with offices in London, Boston, and Sydney, Blink is a Leader in the G2 Grid® for Best EmployeeEngagement Software and named in the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

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“Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.” — Joy Gumz

Keeping that train on the right track is the job of a project manager. You have to look at project deadlines, budgets, and deliverables. Then, craft a project plan that achieves the desired project outcomes.

But projects can be derailed by any number of issues. Poor communication. Changing stakeholder expectations. Unidentified risks. Ineffective workplace tools.

So preparation is key. Every good project manager tries to identify and avoid potential pitfalls. That’s why, in this article, we help project managers prepare for their next project.

Read on to discover our ten tips for successful project management.

How do you manage a project effectively?

Effective project management means setting a clear project plan and using the right tools to monitor progress. The best project managers can manage setbacks while keeping the company's goals and workflow on track.

Here are five tips for successful project management:

1. Foster clear and effective communication

The Project Management Institute (PMI) 2023 Pulse of the Profession report reveals a range of “power skills” for project management, as agreed by project managers.

Top of the list? Communication. 68% of survey respondents say that communication is critical to achieving organizational objectives.

Effective project management relies on communication — and not just any kind of communication. To be successful, projects require open communication. Information needs to flow freely between all relevant parties to ensure timely project progress. 

Without this type of communication, your project team becomes inefficient. Collaboration is near impossible. You find it hard to share updates with key stakeholders. Motivation and engagement are likely to dip, too.

With that in mind, here’s how to establish effective communication during projects:

• Hold regular meetings with team members to ensure everyone is on the same page. Clarify deliverables and deadlines. Use these meetings as an open forum, where the project team can share any concerns or ideas.
  
  
• Use communication tools — like Blink’s super app — to communicate over messages and in real-time, even when your project team isn’t working face-to-face.
  
  
• Send project reports to relevant stakeholders regularly, making them aware of any project changes or new developments.
  
  
• Be a good listener. Consider multiple points of view, not just your own. That way, you use all of the skills and expertise within the project team to come up with the best possible solutions.

2. Set clear goals for your project

A great project manager starts by setting goals. Clear goals keep your team focused and aligned. They aid productivity and decision-making.

Well-defined goals also help you decide what project success looks like, making it easier to assess your project once it’s finished.

So before you dive into tasks, ensure you understand the overall mission and objectives of the project. Set the parameters of your project, too. You need to know which tasks you’ll be tackling and which deliverables are expected, along with the timeframe and budget allocated.

With projects becoming more complex, you might like to go further, setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals. You should end up with something like this:

• An understanding of your project goals and how they align with stakeholder expectations
• Project SMART goals and associated metrics
• A clear definition of what return on investment (ROI) means for this project

Once you’ve established your overarching project goals, you can break these down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

3. Create a schedule

A thoughtfully crafted schedule helps a project to run more smoothly. It guides your team to complete project tasks on time, while managing stakeholder expectations, too. It also reveals which tasks are dependent on others, helping you to allocate resources effectively.

To create a project schedule, you need to put all project tasks into a logical sequence, taking into account any dependencies between tasks. You can use project management tools (or just a stack of sticky notes) to visualize project progress.

Next, estimate the duration of each task, using historical data or the past experiences of your project team. You can then identify the longest path of dependent tasks — also called the critical path. This is the project’s shortest completion time.

From this point, you need to:

• Assign resources — including team members, equipment, and materials — adjusting your schedule if resources are needed in two places at once
• Establish milestones and deliverables so you can make sustained progress toward your final project deadline
• Communicate the schedule, sharing it with the project team and key stakeholders
• Use project management tools with features like Gantt charts, time tracking, and Kanban boards to help your team track their progress

4. Use the right tools to monitor progress

It's easier for your team to operate efficiently with the right project management software. Nothing slips through the cracks because everyone can see what needs to be done. If any of your team is working remotely, then this type of tech is critical to project success.

It provides a centralized location for project documents, files, and communication. It allows easy assignment and tracking of tasks. The best software also provides reports and dashboards that summarize project information and facilitate better decision-making.

When selecting a project management software, here’s what to look out for:

• Features that match the complexity of your project and can scale with you as you grow. That way, you're not forced to switch to another software further down the line.
• A streamlined solution. You need a tool that integrates with the workplace software you already use so teams don’t have to log in and out of multiple accounts.
• A platform that’s available on your teams’ preferred devices. If your team members are working remotely, make sure there's an employee app available for mobile devices.
• A clean, modern design that minimizes distractions and a user-friendly dashboard that involves little to no learning curve for your project team

5. Assemble a multi-skilled team

A project is only as good as the people who work on it. You need the right mix of personalities and skills to aid productivity and minimize friction. Get it right and you’ll improve project efficiency and outcomes.

So what traits should you be looking for when selecting project team members?

• They must have excellent communication skills and be able to interact with lots of different people
• They should have basic knowledge of project management methodologies such as Agile and Waterfall
• They must be highly organized so they can keep on top of tasks and meet deadlines even under significant pressure
• They should be familiar with project management software — and happy to use your chosen platform

Remember that the most skilled employees may need some training to thrive as part of a project team. So be willing to invest in their personal and professional development to cultivate those essential soft skills.

6. Motivate your project team members

Skilled project managers know there are times when Waterfall diagrams, Gantt charts, and work breakdown structures aren’t enough to get your team over the finish line. These things definitely help. But the best teams have something else in their favor — motivation.

Gallup research shows that motivated, engaged employees make fewer mistakes. They’re also 17% more productive than their less motivated peers.

Of course, project managers don’t have complete control over employee motivation. But there are some things you can do to increase motivation and employee engagement.

• Recognize the effort and achievements of your team, praising them publicly on shared communication channels
• Create a supportive culture, where all people and their contributions are valued and where work-life balance is respected
• Reduce friction by giving teams the tools and resources they need to communicate and complete tasks effectively
• Don’t micromanage — trust teams to get the work done and encourage team members to share ideas and suggestions

7.  Identify and plan for risks

Risk management is a crucial aspect of project management. That’s because unidentified risks can derail a project. They cause unexpected problems that impact budgets, deadlines, and deliverables.

In the planning stage, project managers need to recognize and assess project risks. By building these risks into your project plan, you’ll find it easier to keep the project on track.

To plan for risks in project management:

• Identify risks. Review past projects and brainstorm with your project team to list potential risks.
• Use SWOT analysis. Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in relation to each risk.
• Determine the probability and impact of each risk, giving each risk a score.
• Prioritize risks with the highest score, finding ways to mitigate or avoid these risks where possible

Once your project has ended, take the time to identify and document any lessons learned. It could be that unexpected risks in this project help you to avoid similar risks in the next one.

8. Identify and interact with key stakeholders

Stakeholders are the people who have a vested interest in your project and those who are affected by project outcomes. Some will be directly involved in the project, some will influence decisions, and some just need to be kept in the loop.

Nurturing stakeholder relationships helps your project to run more smoothly. It ensures that you get stakeholder support, with vested interests understanding and agreeing to your project plans.

Here’s what you need to do to create strong relationships with stakeholders:

• Communicate with stakeholders early in the project to establish trust
• Find out how stakeholders want to receive information. Which communication channels do they prefer? Do they want you to provide high-level summaries or in-depth reports?
• Tailor communications to the interests and concerns of each individual stakeholder and resolve any issues proactively
• Engage stakeholders with regular meetings and clear channels for feedback

9. Be a leading example

As a project manager, you need to lead by example. If you demonstrate the behavior, values, and work ethic you expect from your team, your team is more likely to follow suit. You positively influence their approach to work and bolster your own authority, too.

This type of leadership approach also encourages open communication. When team members see you acting with integrity, they’re more likely to trust you. This makes them feel more confident and comfortable when sharing their ideas or concerns.

The best project leaders are:

• Ethical. They treat all team members fairly and communicate transparently and honestly at all times.
• A team player. They take responsibility for their own mistakes and share credit with the whole team.
• True to their word. They deliver on their promises and meet deadlines.
• Proactive. They seek to resolve challenges and conflicts as they arise.

Lead by example and you improve team communication and performance. This helps you achieve project goals more efficiently and effectively.

10. Ask questions

Some leaders like to behave as if they have all the answers. But the best project leaders ask the important questions.

They tap into the collective expertise of their project team so they have all the information they need. They also ask questions of stakeholders so they understand exactly what’s expected.

This approach helps to improve project collaboration and engagement. It also facilitates crystal clear communication. You clear up any doubts, challenge assumptions, and identify potential risks.

With information from all relevant parties — and no questions left unanswered — you’ll find it easier to make decisions and solve problems throughout the course of your project.

What are the most common project management problems?

No project is plain sailing. Here are some common problems to look out for when managing projects.

1. Scope creep

Scope creep is the gradual expansion of a project’s scope beyond its initial objectives. This impacts a team’s ability to complete a project on time, on budget, or in a way that meets project goals. It can also leave everyone — project team and stakeholders — feeling dissatisfied.

A study by the PMI showed that scope creep affects up to 39% of projects. It’s a problem usually caused by stakeholders changing project conditions — things like budget, deadlines, or deliverables. Scope creep can also occur when project scope is not adequately defined or documented at the outset.

To avoid scope creep, you need to proactively engage with stakeholders during the project planning stage. Pin down their requirements and expectations, then get their approval once you’ve put a plan together.

You may also like to establish a change control board or a change request process. This means you have a fixed and logical way to consider and respond to proposed changes.

2. Poor communication

Poor communication is at the core of most project failures. It undermines cohesion and clarity. It opens the door to misunderstandings between your team members and stakeholders. It also serves to erode trust.

This is why it’s so important to establish an open dialogue from the very start of a project. By communicating transparently and collaboratively, you create an environment where everyone shares information and pulls in the same direction.

Communication tools also come in useful. The right internal communication tools helps you to maintain consistent, two-way communication throughout the whole project.

3. Financial setbacks

Wellingtone reports that only 34% of companies mostly or always complete projects while remaining on budget. This is a big issue because a project can only provide the expected ROI if it’s delivered within budget.

So what can you do to keep a project on the right financial track?

We talked a little earlier about project risks. These risks can cause unforeseen costs. So good risk identification and mitigation is crucial.

You also need to ensure the right level of visibility and control over project expenditure. Establish a clear process for tracking and approving expenses to prevent project budgets from spiraling out of control.

Final thoughts on successful project management

We hope that these project management tips help you make a success of your next project. If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this — communication is the foundation of any successful project.  

Whether you’re motivating your team, brainstorming risks, or liaising with project stakeholders, frequent, open communication makes your job easier.

It supports positive teamwork and ensures you keep key stakeholders in the loop. It also facilitates informed decision-making and problem-solving.

Luckily, there are lots of communication and collaboration tools that can help.

With the Blink super-app, project teams can communicate seamlessly. They can share critical documents, launch surveys to gather stakeholder feedback, and recognize one another’s hard work.

Blink also integrates with a range of popular project management software. This means your teams can access communication and project management tools from one user-friendly interface. You can streamline the project process and prevent app overwhelm for your teams.

Want to see Blink in action? Schedule your personalized demo today.