8 Best Workplace by Meta Alternatives for 2026

Union conversations have a habit of making people nervous. Leaders worry about saying the wrong thing. Employees worry about being monitored. Union reps worry about losing influence or control.

And technology? It often gets blamed for all of the above.

But here’s the reality we see time and time again: unionization itself isn’t the problem. Poor communication is. And when communication breaks down, mistrust fills the gap.

This is where a modern, frontline‑first employee experience platform can either inflame tensions — or quietly make everything work better.

Let’s talk about how.

Why union engagement makes or breaks change

Rolling out any new workplace technology without union engagement is risky. Rolling it out to a unionized workforce without involving union reps early? That’s how good initiatives get derailed.

Union concerns are rarely about the tool itself. They’re usually about how the tool shows up:

• Is it being forced on people?
• Will it blur the line between work and personal time?
• Can data be used against members?
• Is this really about safety and communication — or “efficiencies” and headcount reduction?

If these questions go unanswered, assumptions fill the gap — and those stories spread fast.

The fix isn’t better messaging at the end. It’s earlier, more transparent engagement from day one.

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The most common union concerns — and what’s actually behind them

Union concerns tend to cluster around a few themes. None of them are unreasonable.

1. Personal devices and work creep

No one wants a workplace app that turns evenings, weekends, and lunch breaks into unpaid work time.

The fear isn’t the app — it’s the expectation that comes with it.

2. Surveillance and disciplinary misuse

“Are managers reading chats?”

“Is location tracking involved?”

“Can this data be used against members?”

If workers feel monitored, trust evaporates.

3. Data security and privacy

Unions are rightly skeptical of where employee data lives, who owns it, and whether it’s being shared or sold.

4. Digital exclusion

Not everyone is equally comfortable with technology. Digitizing forms and processes can unintentionally disadvantage certain groups if it’s done carelessly.

5. Loss of union voice

In some organizations, unions have historically been the primary communication channel. New platforms can feel like a threat to that role — unless they’re positioned differently.

None of these concerns disappear if you ignore them. They just get louder.

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Reframing technology as a worker benefit — not a management tool

When unions are brought into the conversation early, something interesting happens: the narrative shifts.

Instead of “this is being done to us,” the conversation becomes “how can this work for our members?”

Here’s where that shift usually lands.

Safety comes first

Priority alerts, emergency updates, and near‑miss reporting aren’t productivity features. They’re safety features.

When critical information reaches everyone instantly — not just the people with email access — it reduces risk for the entire workforce.

Clearer boundaries between work and personal life

Replacing informal tools like WhatsApp with a dedicated work app actually protects personal time.

Features like Do Not Disturb and notification controls make expectations explicit instead of implied.

A stronger union communication channel

A modern employee app doesn’t replace union communication. It strengthens it.

Union reps can:

• Share updates directly with members
• Run group chats and discussions
• Post sign‑up forms and resources
• Communicate clearly during industrial action or negotiations

Instead of losing visibility, unions often gain it.

Less friction, fewer workarounds

Paper forms, scattered systems, and shared logins aren’t just inefficient — they’re inequitable.

Centralizing access to tools and information creates a more level playing field between desk‑based and frontline workers.

A more equitable employee experience

When everyone gets the same access to updates, policies, and conversations — regardless of role or location — trust grows.

That sense of fairness matters more than most organizations realize.

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What successful union engagement actually looks like

The organizations that navigate union alignment well don’t rely on clever slogans or last‑minute reassurance. They follow a few consistent principles.

Engage early (earlier than you think)

Unions should hear about new platforms before launch plans are finalized — not after.

Early conversations surface concerns while there’s still time to address them.

Make participation voluntary — and mean it

Choice matters. When people feel coerced, adoption drops and resistance hardens.

Ironically, voluntary rollouts often see higher uptake because the value is clear.

Involve union reps as champions

Union reps shouldn’t be observers. They should be part of the champion group helping shape how the platform is used.

Ownership beats endorsement every time.

Explain the “why,” not just the “what”

Link the rollout back to real issues unions already care about — safety, inclusion, access, and communication gaps raised by members.

When the problem is familiar, the solution makes more sense.

Keep the dialogue going after launch

Union engagement doesn’t end on go‑live day.

Post‑launch check‑ins, feedback sessions, and open forums build credibility — especially when concerns are acknowledged and acted on.

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What we see in the real world

Across transport, logistics, healthcare, and other unionized environments, the pattern is consistent:

• Unions that are resistant at first often become the strongest advocates once they’re genuinely involved

• Union‑led communication through the platform increases trust and reach

• During negotiations or industrial action, having a clear, controlled communication channel reduces confusion and misinformation

The common thread isn’t the industry. It’s respect.

Technology doesn’t replace relationships — it exposes them

No platform can fix a broken relationship between leadership and unions. But the right technology does amplify intent.

If the intent is control, workers will feel it. If the intent is safety, clarity, and fairness, that shows up too.

Unionized workforces don’t need fewer tools. They need better ones — introduced with transparency, choice, and trust. Blink was built for environments exactly like this — complex, frontline‑heavy, and relationship‑driven.

Because when communication works, everything else gets easier.

Diversity and inclusion aren’t just HR trends. They’re strategic issues.

Studies show that lack of inclusion in the workplace costs U.S. businesses up to $1.05 trillion. Insights highlighting the costs of poor diversity measures are forcing companies to reevaluate existing policies and practices.

Specifically, the COVID-19 global pandemic has shined a light on diversity and inclusion issues affecting frontline workers.

On the flip side, companies that implement diversity and inclusion strategies are reaping benefits such as increased employee engagement, better retention, and more creative problem-solving.

Here’s what you’ll learn

• Current state of diversity in the workplace for frontline workers
• How a lack of diversity in the workplace affects frontline workers
• Business benefits of providing diversity in the workplace
• What diversity in the workplace looks like
• Obstacles to diversity in the workplace
• How to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace
• Final thoughts: championing diversity in the workplace for frontline workers

In this post, we’ll discuss the current inclusion challenges facing frontline workers. We’ll also outline how businesses can better promote diversity in the workplace – and how to include it in your internal communications.

Current state of diversity in the workplace for frontline workers

Frontline workers in the United States are employed in the following six industries:

• Grocery, convenience, and drugstore
• Public transit
• Trucking, warehouses, and postal service
• Building cleaning services
• Health care
• Child care and social services

When the U.S. government issued mandated business shutdowns, these essential industries remained open. The frontline workers who keep these businesses running experienced pandemic-related stress and risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Here’s a quick look at the demographics of the more than 31 million frontline workers in the United States:

• 64.4% female / 36.6% male
• 58.8% white
• 17.0% Black
• 16.3% Hispanic
• 6.7% AAPI (Asian American / Pacific Islander)

Although women make up most frontline workers, they’re underrepresented in the public transit (29.1%) and trucking, warehouse, and postal service (22.7%) industries.

How a lack of diversity in the workplace affects frontline workers

Frontline workers are the face of your company, and they provide valuable insights into your customers’ needs and pain points. However, if you don’t prioritize diversity and inclusion in your frontline workforce, you could risk losing many of these high-impact team members.

Here are a few ways lack of inclusion and diversity in the work environment creates a negative experience for frontline workers:

Poor communication

Communication between team members with different native languages or cultures can be challenging. Add to that the fact your frontline employees aren’t necessarily in the office every day; they’re out in the world facing customers.

Without communications systems in place that cater to all of your employees, your frontline workers can feel confused or disconnected from the greater team. In more extreme cases, poor communication channels can lead to conflict between team members.

Increased chance of discrimination

A lack of diversity creates a workplace environment with a higher chance of discrimination.

When companies have a clear majority profile, it’s more likely for an employee who doesn’t “fit the mold” to experience harassment and discrimination. If you don’t have diversity in management positions, it’s harder for employees to speak up about harassment or other negative experiences.

Less incentive to feel engaged at work

Even if frontline employees don’t experience harassment at work, lack of diversity leads to lower employee engagement. A frontline employee who’s different from the workplace majority can experience isolation and feel they’re not seen or heard.

And if your company tends to promote only those who fit the majority, then employees who feel different won’t see room for long-term growth that keeps them engaged.

Ultimately, employees who don’t feel safe or valued in your organization are more likely to leave. Over time, the cost of continually replacing alienated and dissatisfied employees will cost your business.

Business benefits of providing diversity in the workplace

Creating a more diverse place and inclusive culture doesn’t just benefit your frontline employees; it’s a competitive business advantage too.

Here are the top benefits that businesses report after investing in diversity and inclusion programs:

Increased perspectives and creativity

A diverse workforce brings unique perspectives to the table, which increases creativity and problem-solving. According to a Boston Consulting Group study of more than 1,600 companies, teams with diverse leadership drive almost 20% more innovation revenue than their counterparts.

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Increased profits

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 20 businesses ranked the highest in diversity and inclusion scores recorded 12% operating profit margins. Companies who ranked low on diversity initiatives, on the other hand, only generated operating profit margins of 8%.

Bringing together people from different backgrounds gives you a broader customer perspective, results in better decision making, and helps you avoid tone-deaf features or marketing campaigns.

Different perspectives in your business help you identify and capitalize on more market opportunities.

Reduced employee turnover

Higher employee engagement remains one of the top benefits of hiring diverse teams — businesses with better employee engagement experience less turnover in their workforce.

What diversity in the workplace looks like

It’s clear that successful workplace diversity and inclusion efforts can give businesses a strategic advantage.

But what exactly does diversity in the workplace look like?

It turns out that diversity is, well, diverse. Business owners and leaders must consider several types of diversity, including:

• Cultural background diversity
• Religious diversity
• Gender identity diversity
• Race and ethnicity diversity
• Age diversity
• Neurodiversity
• Disability diversity
• Sexual orientation diversity

Modern diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) programs need to go further than race and gender diversity.

Companies also need to think about embracing diversity in all departments and at all levels of their organization. Diversity initiatives are most successful when they include leadership and management.

Obstacles to diversity in the workplace

While the benefits of workplace diversity may seem clear, many companies struggle to implement effective diversity programs.

The primary obstacles businesses face when creating a diverse and inclusive environment are:

• Leadership buy-in
• Manager training
• Lack of awareness
• Encouraging honest feedback from employees

How to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace

1. Expand where you post job notifications
2. Train leaders and managers
3. Allow employees to take off cultural and religious holidays
4. Offer on-site daycare
5. Extend options for flexible hours
6. Use an app with on-demand translation
7. Solicit feedback from your employees

1. Expand where you post job notifications

Fostering a diverse workplace starts with the hiring process. Hiring managers can reach a more diverse talent pool by expanding where they share job openings. Your hiring department can build relationships with outreach groups, community hiring offices and chambers of commerce, and job fairs that cater to minority groups.

2. Train leaders and managers

You can’t assume that your managers know the value of diversity. To successfully implement diversity and inclusion efforts into company culture, both leadership and frontline managers need to buy into the idea of creating diverse teams.

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As you make changes in your hiring process, conduct manager training sessions that underscore the benefits of an inclusive workplace. Give them tools to implement your initiatives on their teams.

3. Allow employees to take off cultural and religious holidays

When you hire diverse talent, demonstrate that your company honors and celebrates the various cultural backgrounds and points of view your team brings to the workplace.

One simple way to do that is by letting employees take off work for religious or cultural holidays that aren’t observed by the entire office. By creating a culture that empowers all workers to observe important holidays, you can increase employee engagement and retention.

4. Offer on-site daycare

Many diversity initiatives focus on race and ethnicity, but gender diversity is an equally important facet. Although gender roles are expanding, access to quality childcare presents a significant challenge to working mothers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 2.9 million women left the workforce between March and September 2021, when schools closed.

According to Care.com, over 60% of parents would be more loyal to their company and have better job performance if they had access to employer-subsidized child care.

Let’s face it: your employees’ lives don’t revolve around their jobs. Many of them want to start families and raise children. If you consider child care a business issue, you can improve retention and job performance.

5. Extend options for flexible hours

If you can’t offer employer-subsidized child care, then consider expanding your flexible work hour options. Telecommuting, remote work, part-time positions, and job sharing help you provide equal opportunity to a more diverse talent pool.

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Flexible work hours will grow increasingly important as more baby boomers move into retirement and old age. Minorities rely less on professional care for the elderly. So, many millennials are entering an era where parent care and child care compete with work for their attention.

Offering remote work or even hybrid work models means your diverse employees won’t have to choose between work and parent care. You’ll have a more engaged team that feels seen, heard, and supported.

6. Use an app with on-demand translation

It’s not enough to focus on hiring people from diverse backgrounds; you have to ensure that your workplace culture feels inclusive to everyone. If you create a recruitment process that succeeds in cultivating a diverse workplace, consider using an app with on-demand translation.

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Make it possible for everyone at the company to access your internal communications in their native language.

7. Solicit feedback from your employees

Bottom line, fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace is an ongoing process. You can’t do it all in one fell swoop. To ensure your entire team feels heard, consistently ask for feedback from employees.

That’s helpful when starting, and it lets you measure your success as you roll out changes to company culture. Keep in mind that change doesn’t happen overnight. Diverse employees may not feel comfortable voicing concerns to managers or other leaders in person. So, consider using an internal communications app to let employees submit feedback.

Final thoughts: championing diversity in the workplace for frontline workers

Implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives helps you create a workplace where your employees feel included and empowered. When you have an engaged team of diverse employees, your business performs better.
Explore Blink today to learn more about technology solutions that improve engagement and retention for everybody on your team.

Are you stuck between Speakap and Blink for your organization's employee communication solution? 

Keep reading to find out the major similarities and differences and see which one is right for you.

Speakap vs. Blink — quick facts

Speakap and Blink are both mobile-focused employee communication apps designed for organizations with many frontline workers. 

The main difference is the number of features — and cost.

Speakap could be the perfect lightweight top-down communication software for you if you’re just looking for a way to keep employees up to date and enable chat features.

However, if you want more extensive interactions, a centralized hub, and in-depth customization that replaces all other employee intranets, Blink’s features are more than worth the price. 

Speakap vs Blink: How they’re similar

Blink and Speakap have a few similarities: 

Modern UI

Speakap nails its app by providing a straightforward user experience that is comparable to consumer-oriented apps your employees are already familiar with. With its timeline and one-on-one chats, it will fit right into your employees’ day.  

The same can be said for Blink. The user interface is intuitive and modern, making it enjoyable to use for any employee. Users report that the platform “works equally well for desk and frontline workers.” 

Timeline 

Blink offers a versatile feed to share news, updates, and employee-generated content. You can send important notifications, share inspiring pictures and stories, and collect acknowledgements through actionable posts. 

In Speakap, it’s straightforward to share news articles, publications, documents, and images. However, some features are slightly more limited. Some user reviews say “docs can't be opened directly within the app” and that there is a “Limited availability to insert images into posts.” 

Custom branding 

Blink’s theming options make it simple to add your own colors, images, logo, and even a fully white-labelled app with your company’s branding. 

Speakap also offers excellent features to create a branded employee communications platform. You can create a branded app, add a custom logo, and play with menu themes.

Speakap vs. Blink: How they’re different

Analytics

Blink is a robust frontline communications platform that offers a lot of analytic capabilities and customizations to reach and engage every worker. 

You can track your employees’ engagement with the content through data on every post’s reach, impressions, and interactions. 

For uploaded documents, you can see the total number of views for each file and the change in views over time. You get an overall picture of your organization's engagement through a total user and active adoption count as well

Speakap has metrics that provide insight, including usage, adoption rate, read receipts, and user polls.

However, some users will find the analytics weak compared to other platforms. Besides tracking the employees who engage with your posts, data like reach and impressions are missing.

Omni-directional communication

Blink leans on user-generated content for their feed, making it ideal for organizations that want to open up lines of communication and encourage engagement.

In contrast, Speakap prioritizes a top-down style of communication. This could be a disadvantage for organizations looking for maximum engagement and collaboration between all levels of employees.

The communication style is less targeted to individual groups and teams, and some reviewers report that they “can’t target multiple recipients per post.”

Integrations

Along with a feed for daily updates, a hub for document sharing, pages for long-form content, and a multi-directional chat, Blink can be tailored to the needs of each organization. 

You can customize the look of your app through personalized branding and many integrations. You can also add any essential software through Blink’s API. 

Using Blink’s micro-app feature, you can add just about any functionality to your centralized app. Complete end-to-end customization can take some work through micro-apps and necessary integrations. 

In Speakap, you do have a good range of integrations for HR and e-learning. But you only get read-only interfaces, links, and iframes rather than something more substantial. 

Speakap is unlikely to be an overall internal communications solution as it lacks a native way to customize the functionalities within the app.

Besides linking integrations, users can’t add additional functions like payroll tracking into the app itself. Users say a con for their experience with Speakap is that there is “no ability for custom features.” and you “can't connect different apps easily.”

Customer service

Blink’s newness is a major plus for user experience and feature adoption, but this means some essential features are still being rolled out, and bugs do occur.

However, the customer service and development teams are quick to resolve any issues. Blink offers each client a dedicated support contact that oversees the transition and helps to optimize the platform for each business.

Blink also takes customer input and feedback heavily into consideration when developing new features. 

Speakap’s users also frequently say they appreciate the company’s customer support, which also assigns a dedicated customer success manager to each account. Nonetheless, users report that “There are some features that would need better customer support.”

Speakap vs Blink: pricing

Blink offers four levels of paid service based on company size, while Speakap offers three pricing tiers based on features and customer service. 

Blink levels: 

• Essential: $3.40 per person, per month
• Business: Price on application
• Enterprise: Price on application
• Enterprise Plus: Price on application

Speakap levels: 

• Basic: Price on application
• Premium: Price on application
• Additional features, customer support 
• Premium+: Price on application
• Additional features, priority technical support

Speakap vs. Blink: final thoughts

Both Blink and Speakap are good employee communication tools for organizations with a number of frontline workers. If your goal is to encourage across-the-board engagement with a total communications solution, go with Blink. 

If you’re looking for a more targeted top-down communication app that fits into your organization’s existing platforms, go with Speakap. 

If you’re not sure, try Blink’s powerful frontline employee communications solution for free.

Searching high and low for the perfect employee to fill a complicated role can be difficult. It stresses you out if you’re already short-staffed and in a rush to get more hands as quickly as possible.  

Of course, it would be preferable not to worry about hiring at all. Retaining employees you already have can be a lot simpler than constantly hiring. And it can benefit your business too. 

While you’re probably familiar with some of the benefits of employee retention, there are several hidden advantages of employee retention that you may not have considered. 

If you’re ready to get motivated to kick your retention efforts into high gear and retain your top talent, keep reading and learn some of the lesser-known benefits of staff retention.

Why employee retention is important

Employee retention is important because it can improve the productivity of an organization.

Organizations with high employee retention profit from increased employee engagement, higher employee morale, more experienced employees, and lower employee turnover costs.

That’s why 91% of Human Resources leaders are concerned about employee turnover in the near future. 

Besides the revenue, companies with a lower turnover rate can spend time on their employees, build a cohesive company culture, and achieve innovations that outperform their high-churn counterparts. 

Employee retention’s effect extends beyond your annual revenue or quarterly performance reports — it improves each day for your workers, managers, and customers. 

In short, it’s hard to overstate the importance of effective employee retention strategies as they can impact just about every aspect of your business, including revenue, service, and company culture. 

1. More quality hires

Hiring typically increases when employees leave your company. So it should decrease as your retention goes up. 

The hidden benefit of high retention is that you can allocate more resources to the time-consuming job of sourcing new hires. You can be more selective in finding candidates with relevant experience and perfect cultural fit instead of rushing to fill a vacancy.

The candidates you hire this way are more likely to stick around and better fit your organization, which further improves your retention rate. 

Ultimately, more employees staying means more business growth and more new positions. You can focus your hiring efforts on adding to the team rather than replacing previous talent. 

2. Better employee training

Hiring new employees takes up a significant portion of your company’s HR budget and time. It’s estimated that replacing an employee costs anywhere from 50% to 200% of their annual salary. 

Retaining just one extra employee means thousands of dollars saved you can use in other areas. 

One often-neglected management area is training, with 78% of workers saying they want more training. By saving on hiring, you can spend on training. 

With more time for training, your employees will be happier, more skilled, and even more likely to stay with your organization. 

3. Improved customer relationships

Most of your return customers and clients don’t think of your business as a logo or physical store. They think of the person with whom they interacted. Your employees are the face of your business, from frontline workers up to account managers. 

Your customers rely on your employee’s knowledge of their needs and history with the company to deliver the highest level of service. So when an employee leaves, the relationships they built with your customer base leave with them. 

A PWC report found that 80% of Americans think a knowledgeable staff is the most important element to customer satisfaction, along with speed and convenience. They also pay more for things when they experience a positive customer experience. 

The benefits of employee retention reach beyond your current staff and bottom line and impact the customer experience. A high employee retention rate ultimately improves your clients’ and customers’ perception of your business.

4. Faster progress

While onboarding and formal training programs are essential for satisfied, efficient employees, these resources are hardly the only way employees learn on the job. 

One of the most valuable sources of guidance and information is your current employees. Studies show that 91% of employees with a workplace mentor are happy with their jobs. 

By retaining most of your employees, you get:

• Strong relationships between your employees that impact their performance
• Employees who possess in-depth knowledge in their fields
• Great mentors who have the technical skills and know little-known tricks in the field to help the newcomers

You benefit from the perks of high employee retention: Employees have a wealth of team members to turn to when they have a question or need advice. This turns your newest employees into your best employees.

Also, when turnover is low, you keep the work environment of cultural cohesion and the know-how of experienced employees. This results in less stress and high productivity. 

Final thoughts: 4 hidden benefits of employee retention you should know

Why retain employees? The answer is clear. 

The benefits of employee retention are wide-reaching for your entire organization. Employees, management, and customers all reap the benefits of employee retention.  

Employees benefit from greater satisfaction, higher productivity, and better support on the job. Employers can enjoy greater profit and less uncertainty. And your customers can rely on consistently high-quality and personalized customer service. 

These benefits are well worth the expense of managing incentives like healthcare, training, and work-life balance. 

If you’re ready to improve your employee retention, an all-in-one employee communication tool like Blink can maximize your organization’s initiatives.

Good internal communication is the glue that holds organizations together. It keeps everyone informed, aligned, and connected — helping employees understand company priorities and feel part of a shared purpose.

In 2026, internal communication involves more than noticeboards and scattered email threads. Organizations with hybrid or frontline teams need modern internal communication platforms like Blink to connect employees, simplify updates, and enable easy collaboration. 

A successful internal communication strategy includes all communication types: top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer. These channels work together to connect employees and ensure information flows throughout your organization.

For larger or dispersed teams, achieving this can feel like a tall order. But with the right internal communication software, even global workforces can stay connected and engaged.

Luckily, many new tools and platforms can help your company improve communication. 

So, which platforms are worth your investment? 
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Types of internal communication tools and platforms

Before diving into specific providers, it helps to understand the main types of internal communication software shaping the modern workplace in 2026.

The most effective organizations use a combination of these tools — or a single employee experience platform like Blink, which combines many of these functions into a single mobile-first solution.

Instant messaging tools

Internal communication isn’t just top-down. Co-worker collaboration tools keep conversations flowing across teams and locations by enabling quick information sharing, file exchange, and informal social connections.

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Advantages:

• A communication tool that allows employees to chat and share information (along with emojis and GIFs)
• Most instant messaging tools are available on both desktop and mobile
• Messaging tools can be used for communication between co-workers, but also for information-sharing between leadership and employees

Best tools: Blink, Slack, Jive, Workvivo

Emails and newsletters

Digital newsletters have always been great for sharing essential company updates. Modern tools enhance this channel with templates, analytics, and branded content delivery.

Best tools: ContactMonkey, Axero, Poppulo, Staffbase

Audio and video conferencing tools

Rewind a decade and video conferencing probably wouldn’t be one of the top staff communication tools on your list. Today, however, in a world of remote and hybrid teams, video conferencing tools are a workplace essential. They allow employees to talk face-to-face, even when they’re not based in the same office.Now a workplace essential, these tools make remote and hybrid meetings seamless — from one-to-one calls to company-wide events.

Best tools: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams

Employee recognition center

Recognition platforms reward effort and build engagement by blending social recognition with tangible rewards to boost morale and employee retention.

Best tools: Blink, Bonusly, Unily

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Employee engagement and surveys

Engage your employees and you experience countless benefits, including improved productivity, customer loyalty, and profitability. But if you really want to improve employee engagement, you need to measure it.

Employee surveys and feedback forms are an essential part of any internal communication toolkit. They support bottom-up communication and give you valuable insight into how employees really feel about working for your firm.

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Best tools: Blink, SurveyMonkey, Bonusly, Qualtrics

Company news feed

A private, social-style feed alerts employees to company updates and important cultural moments.

Best tools: Blink, Workvivo, Staffbase, Happeo

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Project management

Project management platforms keep work visible, accountable, and collaborative.

Best tools: Asana, monday.com

Intranet

Evolving beyond traditional intranets, these tools now enable engagement, two-way communication, and document collaboration.

Best tools: Blink, Simpplr, Happeo, Unily

Employee communication app

Mobile-first employee communication apps centralize updates, messaging, and engagement features — ideal for hybrid and frontline teams.

Best tools: Blink, Workvivo

Employee experience platform

These top-tier employee experience platforms offer a user-friendly way to access messaging, news, surveys, recognition programs, and HR functions.

These platforms go beyond communication — supporting onboarding, engagement, and culture-building.

Best tools: Blink, Workvivo, Staffbase

The takeaway:

Modern internal communication relies on an integrated ecosystem or a unified platform like Blink, which simplifies your tech stack and enhances workforce connection.

Blink serves as a mobile-first communication app, a modern intranet, a recognition tool, and a complete employee experience platform. That agility makes it ideal for companies looking to streamline their technology and boost employee engagement.

20 best internal communication tools

Ready to find the right comms solution for your organization? Take a look at our round-up of the best internal communication tools for 2025.

1. Blink

Blink is a modern internal communication tool and employee experience platform that brings together messaging, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics into a single mobile-first solution. It’s designed for organizations that want to improve communication, engagement, and access to information across both desk-based and frontline teams.

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As a mobile-first internal communication platform, Blink’s unified interface lets teams share updates, message peers, and access essential workplace applications in real time, without a corporate email address — no matter their location.

Unlike single-purpose messaging apps, Blink functions as an all-in-one internal communication software, combining collaboration and employee engagement tools in one place.

Features like pulse surveys, recognition, and content personalization enable two-way communication and make company-wide updates more meaningful.

Blink also includes social-style communication features — such as Stories, Communities, and a personalized news feed — that make information sharing intuitive and engaging. Built-in analytics help leaders understand message reach, engagement trends, and content effectiveness.

Pros

• Unified internal communication toolset: Blink combines chat, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics.
• Mobile-first accessibility: It works on smartphones and desktops, and doesn`t require a company email.
• Personalized communication: Blink’s audience segmentation and employee journeys ensure targeted updates.
• Seamless integrations: Connects with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HRIS, and scheduling tools.
• Data-driven insights: The analytics dashboards measure communication performance and engagement.

Cons

• The search functionality could benefit from more advanced filtering and refinement options.

Pricing

Pricing is available on request

Use Cases

• Strengthening culture and alignment through data-informed communication strategies
• Connecting hybrid and frontline teams with one internal communication platform
• Centralizing all company messages, tools, and resources in a single hub

Improving engagement through interactive multimedia content

2. Asana

Asana is a well-known project management tool and, if you use it, you’re in good company. Around 85% of Fortune 100 companies say they use Asana.

With this workplace communication platform, you can create, prioritize, and allocate tasks. You can view tasks in timeline, board, and list formats — and track your progress toward milestones.

The visual format makes it easy to see which tasks your team needs to complete first. And the process of identifying and remedying project bottlenecks becomes much easier too.

Pros

• A free version that supports 10 members and comes with unlimited storage, tasks, and messages
• A clean, intuitive interface and a comprehensive selection of project and task management tools
• Comes with a mobile app so employees can keep of track of projects on the go
• Good integration with third-party tools

Cons

• A high volume of email notifications can be frustrating for users
• One of the more expensive project management solutions available
• The mobile experience pales in comparison to the desktop experience
• Collaboration tools aren’t as extensive and effective as those of other project management tools on the market

Pricing

Monthly pricing for Asana starts at a basic free plan. A business plan costs $24.99 per user per month when billed annually.

Use cases

• Giving remote teams the tools they need to manage projects effectively
• Cross-team collaboration
• Status updates and reporting — leaders can view dashboards and reports to stay informed of project progress.

3. Jive

Jive is a community-building communication tool that you can use for top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer connection. Team members can share photos, videos, documents, status updates, and blog posts. They can also decide whether their post gets seen by one team member, a specific group, or the whole organization.

Another great feature of Jive is its People Directory. Here, employees can search for co-workers they want to connect with, based on their skills, endorsements, and favorite activities.

Pros

• Jive is an all-purpose business communication tool
• Supports personalized news updates
• Provides a single inbox so employees can manage all company communications and conversations in one place

Cons

• Jive has a complicated interface and a cluttered layout that can be difficult for users to understand and navigate
• Limited integrations with the other workplace tools you use
• Some users say the Jive mobile app is slow and clunky with lackluster features

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Creating a centralized hub for updates and document sharing
• Personalizing company updates to make them more relevant and engaging
• Giving employees the tools they need to interact with leadership, managers, and coworkers

4. Zoom

Zoom is often listed as one of the most reliable video conferencing platforms. It offers excellent audio and visual quality, even when internet connection is patchy, and it’s really easy to use.

You can record meetings, direct meeting participants to breakout rooms, and make use of a meeting annotation function. Zoom offers a range of other useful features too, including an online whiteboard and virtual working spaces (known as Zoom Huddles). 

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Can run small one-to-one meetings, large conferences, and anything in between
• Advanced features include breakout rooms and webinar hosting

Cons

• Zoom can be expensive for larger teams, with add-ons needed for meetings of more than 500 participants

Pricing

A Pro plan, for up to 99 users, costs $15.99 per user per month. A Business Plan, for up to 250 users and with a greater range of features, costs $21.99 per user per month.

Use cases

• Running live meetings and webinars
• Supporting video and audio communication for hybrid and remote teams

5. Bonusly

Bonusly gives you all the tools you need to run a successful recognition program. Via an intuitive platform, employees can tag peers and congratulate them on their accomplishments. Congratulated employees earn points, which they can then use to claim their preferred reward — a gift card, cash, or a charitable donation. 

Reporting tools give leaders insight into team dynamics and patterns of recognition. It helps you to discover top performers and identify people who haven’t had any recognition in a while.

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Pros

• A user-friendly interface and next to no learning curve
• The option to tailor recognition programs to fit your culture and values
• Out-of-the-box integrations with other workplace tools including Workday, Asana, and Slack

Cons

• Limited analytics — so it can be hard for companies to understand employee engagement and recognition patterns

Pricing

Monthly pricing options for Bonusly starts at $2 per user.

Use cases

• Strengthening company culture and employee morale with regular recognition, even when employees are working remotely
• Creating a culture of peer-to-peer recognition — employees can award points and praise to their co-workers

6. Axero

Axero is an internal comms platform designed to unify teams, increase productivity, and improve workplace culture. It features mass email tools, an activity stream, a blogging platform, and instant messaging.

Using Axero, you can create a central hub for files, communications, and company updates. Collaboration features also come in handy, with space for team discussions and the option to co-edit documents.

Pros

• Axero’s customer service is responsive and helpful
• Good customization and integration options
• A comprehensive employee directory that makes it easy for staff to find and connect with co-workers

Cons

• A steep learning curve — users say that Axero can be overwhelming for beginners
• Some users say that Axero functionality lags behind that of other intranet competitors
• Limited features on the mobile version 

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Creating a single hub for news, updates, and resources
• Supporting collaboration across your company, with file sharing and team discussions
• Building a personalized employee experience, with custom dashboards tailored to the roles and departments of employees

7. ContactMonkey

ContactMonkey is one of the best newsletter platforms available. Unlike some of its competitors, ContactMonkey integrates with both Outlook and Gmail so you can send emails from and receive replies to your usual inbox.

The platform provides an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop email builder. Multiple team members can collaborate on the same email. And analytics tools help you judge which newsletter content is best engaging your workforce, so you can create more of the same.

Pros

• Employee survey tools so you can email your surveys to the workforce with ease
• Integration with Outlook and Gmail
• SMS integration that allows you to reach employees with urgent updates
• Real-time tracking and analytics — so you get insight into email open rates and click-throughs

Cons

• You can only use ContactMonkey for internal emails, not external marketing emails
• Only supports communication over email, which may not be particularly engaging or appropriate for all organizations
• Unlikely to fulfill all your internal communication needs

Pricing

Prices start from $600 per month for 500 employees. Prices for more extensive plans are available on request.

Use cases

• Engaging email and newsletter communication for employees
• Launching employee surveys to help you acquire useful feedback

8. Slack

Slack is an instant messaging tool that supports asynchronous communication. Slack works well for desk-based employees who have access to other platforms, like Google Drive. Slack doesn’t work as well for on-the-go, field-based employees, who don’t have such easy access to separate cloud storage.

People within your organization can launch chat threads, including as many or as few team members as they like. They can create threads for different projects, departments, and topics. Teams also get access to little extras, like file sharing, message search, and a task reminder function.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Integration with a wide range of other workplace software
• Customizable notifications

Cons

• Doesn’t work well for teams who are on the go — Slack is most suited to desk-based teams
• Can be hard to find what you’re looking for across multiple chats and channels

Pricing

Slack offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start from $8.75 per user per month.

Use cases

• Ensuring real-time communication between dispersed team members
• Providing a variety of internal communication channels — including direct messages, group chats, and channels

Read more: Top Slack alternatives

9. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey has made it to our employee survey top spot for its ease of use. This employee communications platform has lots of survey templates to choose from and, if speed is your priority, lots of features that help you get employee feedback fast.

You can choose from hundreds of expert-written questions or write your own. And with the help of custom templates, you can find or create surveys for any situation, whether you want to conduct 360 reviews, find out your Net Promoter score, or seek feedback on your employee engagement efforts.

Pros

• Ease of use — SurveyMonkey has a clean, uncluttered interface that employees will enjoy using
• Using the Genius Assistant and the “build it for me” feature, you can create surveys quickly
• Excellent analytics that help you make sense of employee responses

Cons

• Limited free features
• Limited customization options, so you may struggle to create complex or specialized surveys

Pricing

Prices start from $30 per user per month.

Use cases

• Boosting employee satisfaction and engagement with the help of employee feedback
• Making it easy for your teams to launch and respond to employee surveys 

10. Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint is a file-sharing software that integrates seamlessly with the other Microsoft tools you may already use. You can create branded document libraries called sites, customizing them for document collaboration or top-down comms.

Teams get to share news, documents, and data. They can also edit documents collaboratively — setting notifications so they know when a co-worker makes changes.

Pros

• Easy integration with other Microsoft products
• Allows you to segment employees by division, giving each division its own calendar and visual timeline
• Customization options so you can build forms, workflows, and custom applications for your teams

Cons

• Not particularly user-friendly, especially on mobile
• Cost of implementation is high and adoption rates tend to be low

Pricing

A basic SharePoint plan costs $5 per user per month.

Use cases

• Project collaboration — teams can co-edit documents and manage workflows
• An easy way for desk-based teams to access company documents and resources
• Using internal announcements and newsletters to communicate with all employees

11. Monday.com

Monday.com is a project management tool that supports comms and employee engagement. You can use this internal communications software to create and assign tasks, track project progress, and create performance-tracking templates for employees.

Team members receive notifications when action is required. And an easy-to-use visual interface makes it easy to see where each project is up to at a glance.

Pros

• A comprehensive set of project management tools
• Customizable project templates to get you started
• A weekly overview so you can see tasks and project milestones you need to tackle over the next few days

Cons

• The backend of this business communication software is complicated and involves a steep learning curve
• Limited comms tools so Monday.com isn’t useful as a standalone business communication platform

Pricing

Prices start from $8 per user per month.

Use cases

• Improving project management and work collaboration
• Task and workflow automation to streamline repetitive processes

12. Workvivo

Workvivo is an intranet software company owned by Zoom. You can use this internal communication tool to improve comms, employee engagement, and recognition, too. You can also make use of multiple communication channels and employee feedback tools.

Standout features include live broadcasting tools, so you can launch live streams and podcasts. You can also create microsites, where teams and special interest groups can create their own, tailored communities.

Pros

• Strong translation abilities for multilingual organizations
• An engaging, social-media-style interface that will feel familiar to employees
• Rich communication tools including a news feed and instant messaging (available through integrations with tools like Slack, MS Teams, and Zoom meetings)

Cons

• Chat functionality on the mobile app falls behind the desktop experience
• Advanced features — including chat, Workvivo TV, and advanced analytics — are add-ons that come at an additional cost
• Admins say they want better customization options and improved third-party integrations

Pricing

Workvivo’s Business Plan starts at $20,000.

Use cases

• Creating engaging, social-media-style communications
• Ensuring internal communications move in all directions — top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer
• Opening up internal communications to deskless employees

Read more: Top Workvivo alternatives

13. Staffbase

Staffbase is an internal communication platform designed to connect and engage employees. It brings company news, messaging, and resources into one place, making it easier for you to reach your workforce — whether they’re remote, hybrid, deskless, or office-based.

With Staffbase, you can communicate over the company intranet and send emails and SMS, all from one centralized dashboard. You can also create tailored content paths so employees receive the right information at the right time.

Pros

• A great user experience across desktop and mobile versions
• Brings a range of communication and workplace functions into one location, supporting top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer conversations
• Built-in reporting so you can see how employees are using the platform and interacting with your content
• You can customize the platform so it matches the look and feel of your branding

Cons

• Some add-ons and integrations come at an additional cost
• There are few out-of-the-box features on the employee app
• Search functionality and integrations aren’t as good as they could be

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Launching employee surveys with in-built tools
• Creating a single source of truth within your organization thanks to communication channels that all workers can access
• Making comms more personal, with the option to segment your audience and deliver relevant content to different employee groups

14. Poppulo

Poppulo is an email and mobile communications software. It also provides digital signage functionality and digital tools for desk and meeting room management.

You can target messages based on location, role, or interests to cut through the noise. You can also access tools for planning and promoting internal events, like town halls and team meetings.

Pros

• Omni-channel communications, across email, SMS, intranet, and digital signage
• Drag and drop email design tools plus advanced personalization
• Strong analytics — Poppulo gives comms teams clear visibility into message performance

Cons

• Poppulo is more complex than some of the other tools on this list, so there can be quite a learning curve
• While it brings multiple communication channels together, Poppulo isn’t comprehensive enough to work as a standalone company communication system

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Enterprise email communication and analytics
• Improving the quality of email messaging with employee segmentation tools
• Managing office workspace among hybrid teams

15. Qualtrics

Qualtrics is an employee survey and feedback tool. You can use it to capture employee data via surveys and passive listening — and discover how your business is doing across metrics like intent to stay, engagement, inclusion, and wellbeing.

Surveys are easy to customize, with advanced question types and logic, while analytics and reporting tools help you turn insights into actionable strategies. 

Pros

• Flexible survey design options
• Powerful analytics and reporting capabilities
• AI tools that guide you to take action based on your employee feedback findings

Cons

• Using advanced features effectively may require training
• Qualtrics can be overly expensive for smaller businesses

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Improving employee satisfaction and engagement with the help of regular surveys
• Creating a culture of 360 feedback to improve the effectiveness of management and leadership

16. Happeo

Happeo is a Google-based intranet that provides a centralized location for all internal communications. It provides a hub for company news, documents, and collaboration tools.

Key features include a social intranet, an employee directory, and an intuitive search function. You can also use AI tools to find and fix gaps in your knowledge base. 

Pros

• Easy integration with Google Workspace tools
• Excellent search functions so it’s easy to find the people, posts, and integrated third-party apps you’re looking for
• The option to create hubs and communities based on departments, roles, and shared interests

Cons

• Limited integrations beyond the Google suite
• A web-first platform, best suited to desk-based teams

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Creating a centralized hub for updates and document sharing
• Building company culture and employee engagement
• Connecting hybrid, remote, and office-based teas

Read more: Top Happeo alternatives

17. Unily

Unily is an employee experience and internal communications tool. It provides features that support its “four cornerstones” of digital employee experience: Alignment, Engagement, Enablement, and Simplicity.

Key features include email, employee feedback, and recognition tools. You can design, sequence, and automate employee journeys so staff receive relevant information at the right time. You can also use gamification features to improve intranet engagement.

Pros

• An excellent desktop version, with an engaging and intuitive user experience
• Fine-grained controls for admins
• A good range of notifications

Cons

• Mixed opinions on Unily’s customer service and ability to support its partners
• Translating Unily’s comprehensive desktop features to mobile is a challenge for admins

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Creating channels for company-wide communications
• Boosting employee engagement with dynamic content and gamification
• Making recognition a key part of company culture

Read more: Top Unily alternatives

18. Simpplr

A comprehensive intranet platform, Simpplr supports internal communication and employee engagement. It provides a user-friendly, social-media-style interface and provides AI-driven content recommendations.

Standout features include employee listening tools, surveys, and a recognition program. There are also lots of communication channels you can use across email, SMS, a mobile app, and desktop software.

Pros

• An intuitive, uncluttered interface
• Strong analytics that make it easy to track engagement metrics and content performance
• Great search functions

Cons

• Difficult login process, with multiple links provided
• Some users say the struggle to integrate Simpplr with their preferred third-party apps
• Advanced features can be expensive

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Use cases

• Making employee feedback and listening a key part of company culture
• Creating a centralized hub for communications, resources, and community
• Bringing large organizations and distributed teams together

Read more: Top Simpplr alternatives

19. Google Meet

Google Meet is a video conferencing and virtual meeting tool. It’s integrated into Google Workspace, so it connects easily to Gmail, Calendar, and any other Google tools your team happens to use.

It’s incredibly easy to use via an internet browser so users don’t even have to download the software. This makes it one of the most accessible virtual meeting tools currently available.

Pros

• Easy to set up and use
• The ability to hold meetings with up to 1,000 participants
• Chat, emoji, and screen share functions available during meetings

Cons

• You need additional tools to fulfil all internal communication needs
• Fewer advanced features compared to Zoom and Microsoft Teams

Pricing

Prices start from $6 per user per month.

Use cases

• Virtual team meetings, webinars, and company-wide announcements
• One-on-one video meetings
• Virtual training and employee onboarding 

20. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams combines instant messaging, video conferencing, and file-sharing tools. As you’d expect, it offers the best possible integration with other Microsoft Office tech. You can use a selection of tools to create an all-round internal communication solution.

You can use Teams to run video meetings and team chats when your employees are working remotely or across different locations.

Pros

• Strong integration with other Microsoft products
• Secure communication and file sharing

Cons

• Interface isn’t particularly engaging and there are few social-media-style features
• Teams is designed for desktop use so mobile users don’t get the same user experience

Pricing

Prices start from $4 per user per month.

Use cases

• Creating digital channels for internal communication and project management
• Launching video and audio calls and sharing company-wide updates
• Bringing remote and hybrid teams together, even when they’re working in different locations

Read more: Top Teams alternatives

Choosing an internal communication tool for your frontline organization (2026)

The right choice depends on your organization’s structure, workforce, and goals — particularly if you operate with hybrid or frontline teams.

For frontline organizations, the most significant communication challenge is dispersion. To resolve this, every employee should receive critical updates and feel part of the same company culture, even if they rarely visit headquarters.

To build a sense of belonging, choose a mobile-first internal communication platform that’s user-friendly and equally accessible for all.

To identify the best fit, ask yourself these four questions when evaluating internal communication software:

#1. Is your organization office-based, or do you have deskless workers to consider?

Some internal communication tools suit desk-based teams, such as intranets designed for desktop access. However, these are often unsuitable for reaching frontline workers who rely on smartphones.

To prevent information gaps, look for mobile-first internal communication solutions that offer the same functionality across devices. A dedicated mobile app ensures equal access and engagement across every team member — no matter where they work.

#2. Do your employees have regular opportunities to connect during the workday?

Connection drives performance, and employees who feel they belong are much more engaged and productive.

The problem for frontline teams is that they often lack organic “water cooler” moments. Using internal communication tools that enable social-style interaction — such as chat, feeds, and communities — fosters real-time collaboration between field and office teams.

#3. How much time can your employees spend on internal comms each day?

As frontline employees are busy serving customers, maintaining operations, or working off-site, they need a simple and reliable communication platform. 

When evaluating tools, prioritize their ease of use, onboarding speeds, and precise message delivery.

Also check adoption rates and engagement levels as they’re powerful indicators of how smoothly a tool integrates into your daily workflow.

#4. How many internal communication goals do you want to cover?

Some platforms specialize in single functions, such as surveys, document sharing, or project management. Others, like all-in-one employee communication platforms, combine these capabilities.

To streamline your tech stack while enhancing connection and engagement, choose an internal communication tool that supports multiple channels — chat, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics — within one system.

The importance of internal communications in an organization

Every organization — frontline or otherwise — needs an effective internal communication strategy that unites employees behind the company culture and values, improves collaboration, and enhances retention.

Strong internal communication also supports:

• Company connection: When employees feel aligned with organizational goals, engagement and satisfaction rise
• Change management: Transparent communication ensures buy-in during transitions
• Problem-solving: Clear, direct messaging limits misinformation and strengthens trust
• Productivity: Employees perform best when information is easy to find and act upon

Many internal communication tools support these goals — from instant messaging and surveys to intranets and recognition platforms. For frontline teams, the right solution must be mobile-first and easy to access on the go.

The right internal communication software can transform a disconnected team into a cohesive, informed community. 

Blink shows how this works by helping companies like Go North West connect all their employees through a single digital hub.

Blink. And transform company communication with an all-in-one internal communication platform built for every worker.

56% of US companies have been increasing their level of remote work, according to a 2021 survey.

But as more and more workers operate from different locations, managers around the globe are facing the uncharted territory of managing remote teams. And that’s as if managing a team wasn’t hard enough already in person.

Regardless, the hardship of managing remote teams is a small price to pay for the benefits they offer. Plus, how you handle this new reality of work will shape your true potential as a leader. 

So consider this post as your go-to guide for managing remote teams. We’ll begin with some common challenges that plague virtual managers, followed by our best strategies to lead your remote team with confidence.

Challenges of managing remote teams

Working from home seems normal these days, but many organizations didn’t have remote work on their radar until the global pandemic forced them to.

Before we get to the remote management strategies, let’s see some key challenges faced by leaders and their team members when adapting to this new way of working.

Shifting to a new structure

Human beings are creatures of habit. From that morning commute to the evening snack, our daily work routines have probably been pretty consistent.

When you and your team members start working remotely, everything can get upside down. You are forced to establish a new routine, along with juggling your personal and professional duties outside the office, factory, or wherever you used to work before.

Plus, it doesn’t help that you are now supposed to deal with a lot of new virtual tools, communication methods, and remote work policies. No wonder managing remote teams seems overwhelming.

Adopting tech-based communication

Facing an issue, or need a second opinion on something? Just go to your nearest team member and sort it all out in a second.

This is possible in an office, but may feel like a distant dream in today’s remote working environment, too good to be true!

In fact, 45% of employees worry over not seeing their team members in person because of remote work, and 34% have doubts about their ability to collaborate virtually. Ensuring you're providing a good digital employe experience is key.

As communication moves to technologies such as email and instant messaging, managers and their team members are finding it hard to get the answers they need in time.

Juggling productive and personal time

Personal time at home. Work on site. It has been a simple rule to follow. When you work from an office, there’s a clear line between your professional and personal life, at least more straightforward than the boundaries set by remote work.

With remote work, the lines are blurred. It’s easy for the personal responsibilities to distract you from your work, or for your work to eat up your family time. So both managers and their employees are faced with the issue of striking a balance between the two.

Building trust and rapport

When managing remote teams, you want to keep your team members assured that you are available to lead and support them. And that you’re in touch with their concerns, needs, and suggestions.

But when everyone is struggling to communicate efficiently, it gets increasingly difficult to do that. And with no visible body language and non-verbal cues, you may not get an accurate sense of their level of engagement, feelings, and emotional well-being.

We don’t mean to scare you with a laundry list of challenges of leading remote teams. But rather to drill down the fact that you’ll need to really pull up your sleeves for the job. To truly manage and engage remote teams, you should be ready to work harder than ever, which brings us to the next section.

Best practices for managing remote teams

Ready to learn the tips and tricks to manage remote teams the right way? Here’s how to get the best results from your remote employees.

1. Establish clear expectations

34% of remote workers worldwide say that transparency from leadership triggers a deep sense of connectedness at work. And a big part of transparency is setting clear rules and regulations for your team members.

When managing remote teams, it’s important to set boundaries and expectations that your team members are supposed to work with. For example, random video meetings may get awkward for some employees if they weren’t expecting them.

So you need to let your team members know exactly how you plan to manage them from a distance. This includes communicating the following:

• Values and behaviors that shape the company culture
• Remote work procedures
• Guidelines specific to their project
• Communication style guides
• Expectations regarding workload and availability

The best way to start implementing work expectations when managing virtual teams is to have a kick-off meeting to introduce all the policies and procedures. Then keep reinforcing them in regular weekly and monthly meetings.

2. Implement the right communication channels

Email has its place. But there are many different types of communication, not all of which are best-suited for emails. These include:

• Status updates
• Frequently used resources for team members
• Project schedule and deadlines
• Troubleshooting guide for common problems

Because of this, picking the right communication channels is crucial for managing remote teams.

For example, depending on the nature of communication, you may also want to use channels like instant messaging, virtual meetings, or cloud sharing from time to time. And if you want to limit the use of random video calls, you can establish email and online chat as the main communication channels for your team.

Avoid having too many different tools and channels as they can overwhelm your team and allow important messages to slip through the cracks. It’s better to use a single communication platform or employee engagement tool that consists of multiple communication streams.

Blink, for example, is a mobile app that allows team members to communicate via a social-media-style feed, instant messaging, and cloud-based document sharing — all from one place.

3. Set regular check-in times

When your team is working from an office, it’s easy to check in regularly with the whole group as well as individual team members. But don’t think you can’t do the same with remote teams.

In fact, if your team has just started working remotely, you might need to schedule extra check-ins until the team members have adapted successfully to the new routine. Then scale back based on what works for your team and the given workload.  

For example, start with a daily meeting of 15-20 minutes. Go around in a circle and give each worker a chance to talk about their plan for the day, any issues they have, and what they need from other team members.

4. Invest in mental health and well-being

According to World Health Organization (WHO), anxiety and depression lead to productivity losses that cost the world $1 trillion annually.

Not just that. For every $1 that goes into workers’ mental health, there’s a return of $4 in terms of employee health and productivity.

When your team members are working remotely, their mental health should be an even higher priority for you than what it was in the office. Because with remote team management, you don’t have as many opportunities to identify what emotional challenges your workers are struggling with. 

For example, some employees may find it easier to adapt to remote working and maintain sound health than others. And for the ones that don’t, you’ll need to identify and support them as per their needs. Some ways to do that include:

• Offering employee benefits related to mental health
• Encouraging open communication among team members
• Appointing a psychotherapist the employees can talk to
• Sharing guidelines and resources for self-care
• Encouraging workers to take frequent breaks

5. Celebrate both small and big wins

Achieving milestones together is what makes your team, a team. So when managing virtual teams, don’t let the physical distance come in the way of celebrating and rewarding accomplishments.

Celebrating successes will encourage your remote employees and motivate them to keep doing their best work. For example, you can host virtual parties, get a gift delivered to a team member’s doorstep, or give a bonus day off. 

Also, don’t postpone a celebration in your wait for achieving something big. Even short-term successes count, especially when managing remote teams. Otherwise, your team members can easily feel discouraged.

6. Document everything

Managing remote teams can get real complicated, real fast. As you take your project activities from the physical world to a virtual environment, many key steps and tasks can slip through the cracks.

So for effective remote team management, it’s not enough to have the workflows, roles, and processes just in your head. The best way to retain and enhance team productivity is to document as much as possible and make the documentation easily accessible for all remote employees.

Create detailed documents that provide step-by-step breakdowns of all the things the team needs to get done, when to do them, and who is responsible for the work items. For example:

• Checklists and templates for routine tasks
• Playbooks that go deep into project protocols and procedures
• Flow charts showing what actions to take in dynamic circumstances
• Forms to record key information and instructions to fill them properly

To make sure your team can refer to these documents as needed, put them on a shared storage platform and set permissions for team members to access at any time. This will reduce bottlenecks and get the team members to complete their tasks efficiently.

7. Provide socializing opportunities

According to a Buffer survey, 20% of remote workers go through a heightened sense of loneliness, and another 20% find it difficult to collaborate and communicate.

So it’s vital to encourage social interactions among remote teams. You need to proactively create time and opportunities for employees to connect and socialize with one another.

Some of the best ways to do that include virtual hangouts, joint brainstorming sessions, morning coffee standups, online lunch and learns, and team-building games.  

Conclusion: managing remote teams like a pro

As you can see, managing remote teams is not a piece of cake. It requires you to keep a close eye on not just the progress of tasks and project goals, but also team members’ emotional well-being and their relationships with one another.

No doubt, you’ll need to step up as a leader in some big ways. Some of the remote team management strategies we have covered may already be familiar to you, while others will need you to go out of your comfort zone.

Regardless, if you’re serious enough to be reading this article, we’re confident that you can handle managing remote teams with flying colors. So start following these best practices today, and see the difference they make in your remote team’s performance.

Plus, as we said earlier, consider using an all-in-one communication app that can make collaboration easy and bring team members together despite the physical distance that comes with remote work. Book a free blink demo.