Meet Tom King

It's time for your annual internal communications check-up.

You’ve invested in an internal communications platform, so you’re good to go — right?

Not so fast.

The technology landscape has evolved rapidly, and so have employee expectations. In fact, research shows that companies with outdated communication tools experience 23% higher employee turnover and 40% lower engagement compared to those with modern, mobile-friendly employee communication platforms.

Modern internal communication solutions are no longer just message boards or email replacements. They’ve become go-to hubs for connection, collaboration, and engagement. The best ones don’t just help your internal communication strategy survive — they help it thrive by providing features that enhance everything from onboarding to day-to-day tasks.

If your employee communication software hasn’t kept up with the times, it could be holding your business back. How can you tell? Here are five key signs that your internal comms platform might be letting you — and your employees — down.

#1. Your mobile experience is MIA

If your platform is a desktop-only by design, it’s time for a reality check. For deskless and frontline employees, mobile access isn’t just nice to have — it’s a necessity.

Think about it: Frontline workers like delivery drivers, retail associates, and healthcare staff are rarely in front of a computer. If your employee communication software platform doesn’t offer full functionality on mobile devices, you’re potentially excluding a significant part of your workforce from critical updates and engagement opportunities.

A truly effective platform ensures that all employees can easily navigate communication channels, tackle daily operations like shift scheduling, access real-time collaboration tools, and get important resources directly from their smartphones.

The gap between desktop and mobile functionality creates unnecessary barriers. Your remote employees or mobile workforce might feel undervalued or left out, leading to disengagement.

To create equity, your platform must deliver the same robust experience on every device, ensuring that everyone stays in the loop — no matter where or how they work.

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#2. The 1990s called — they want their static platform back

Does your employee communication tool feel like an old-school bulletin board?

Today’s employees are growing increasingly familiar with dynamic and engaging platforms like Instagram and Facebook. If your platform isn’t offering key features like short-form videos, interactive news feeds, or user-generated content, don’t be surprised if your updates aren’t getting the traction you want.

The modern workforce expects more than a repository for company updates. They want to feel connected, heard, and inspired. Platforms that incorporate a wide range of features inspired by social media — such as stories, polls, and real-time messaging — foster two-way communication and increase employee satisfaction. Consider short-form videos that replace long email threads, or how you can enable user-generated content to allow employees to showcase achievements or share ideas.

An outdated, static system doesn’t just fail to engage — it can actively alienate employees. By mirroring the tools they already use in their personal lives and providing a user-friendly interface, a modern internal communications platform helps bridge the gap between work and life, fostering a sense of familiarity and connection.

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#3. You’re stuck in a click-a-thon

Ever feel like you need a GPS to navigate between business applications?

If your team has to jump between multiple tools to take employee surveys, respond to polls, fill out forms, or reach the company intranet, you’re wasting time and energy — and so are your employees.

Employees shouldn’t have to open a new app or browser tab every time they need to complete a task. An effective internal communication tool centralizes these capabilities in a single platform, letting users seamlessly deploy and respond to surveys, forms, and polls within the same digital workplace through single sign-on and powerful integrations. Not only does this save time, but it also reduces cognitive load and frustration.

Simply put: The easier it is for employees to engage with company content, the more likely they are to participate. A unified platform creates a frictionless employee experience by streamlining workflows, keeping communications clear, and ensuring that no task gets lost in the shuffle.

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#4. Your platform looks like it belongs to someone else

Your internal communication platform should feel like an extension of your brand. If it’s generic and non-customizable, it’s missing a major opportunity to reinforce your company culture.

From colors and logos to tone and messaging, your platform should reflect your organization’s unique identity. A white-labeled solution ensures that employees see your brand — not someone else’s — every time they log in, reinforcing brand familiarity and loyalty over time.

And customization shouldn’t stop at aesthetics. The functionality and usage of your platform should align with your company’s values and communication goals.

When your platform mirrors your brand identity, it fosters a stronger connection and a sense of community between employees and the entire organization. It shows that you care about creating a cohesive, immersive experience that resonates with your workforce.

After all, branding isn’t just for customers — it’s for your employees, too.

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#5. Insights get lost in a black hole

Do you have any idea what’s actually working? If your platform isn’t giving you analytics on employee engagement, sentiment, and reach, you may be winging it with your strategy.

Internal communication software isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. To truly understand your workforce, you need data-driven insights. Advanced analytics can reveal which messages resonate most, which channels drive engagement, and where improvements are needed. Metrics like click-through rates, sentiment scores, and survey responses provide a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not.

Without these insights, you’re essentially shouting into the void. Modern internal communications tools don't just deliver your messages; they also show you how they’re received. With the right data at your fingertips, you can continuously refine your approach and create communications that truly connect.

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Time for a check-up?

In a landscape where finding talent is competitive and resources can be limited, a healthy internal communication platform isn’t a luxury — it’s an investment in business success. If these red flags sound all too familiar, it might be time for an upgrade.

With the right internal communication tool, you can help you empower your workforce today and set up your workplace culture for success in 2025 and beyond.

‍Blink. And assess the health of your internal comms platform.

While staying in a hotel in Belgium, I ate half a cookie with my breakfast and left for a couple of hours to explore the city on foot. It was a large cookie, so I left it in my room thinking that I’d finish it when I get back.

But when I returned, it was gone. I called the front desk and they said housekeeping threw it away because they thought serving me a fresh one would be better. I contacted the kitchen, and found that they were already informed to deliver the cookie as soon as I called.

Do you see the quality of service and convenience I experienced because the front desk, housekeeping, and kitchen staff worked together and kept each other in the loop? And do you think I’d want to stay in that hotel again? Absolutely!

That’s the potential of good teamwork and collaboration. Working as a team, your employees can merge their unique talents and give your company a real competitive advantage. On top of that, cultivating teamwork skills helps you create a happy working environment for yourself and your workers.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what it means to work as a team, the importance of teamwork skills, and the top skills your team should have for effective collaboration.

What are teamwork skills?

Teamwork skills are the traits and abilities that allow you and your employees to work well with one another on a project or task.

If you’ve played a sport in school or joined a club at work, you may already be familiar with what it means to work as a team.

Most educational institutions try to incorporate these skills in students early on, since they lay the groundwork for all your future endeavors, whether professional or personal.

So “teamwork skills” is more like a blanket term encompassing qualities such as proper communication, active listening, and conflict management.

Why work as a team?

Teamwork isn’t just a fancy term to put on your website and posters in the office. It’s an integral part of your culture and business operations. Plus, it has a direct impact on your revenue.

As per a survey by EIU, when workers are not working as a team, the impact on overall revenue is serious. Over 33% of sales lost as a result were valued between $100,000 and $999,999.

No matter your industry or job role, the ability to work alongside others is crucial for you and your workers to contribute positively to the company.

Communication and collaboration among a team are the attributes that unite a group of diverse individuals towards common business objectives. And they make it more likely for organizations to achieve them.

Teamwork skills you need to work as a team

Your ability to work as a team depends on how well you instill and demonstrate the teamwork skills mentioned below. But if a skill doesn’t come naturally to you, worry not. All of these can be improved with the right teamwork development strategies.

Communication

Clear, steady, and efficient communication is critical to consistent teamwork. When team members inform, educate, and inspire one another, amazing things happen; barriers are broken down, knowledge is shared, and productivity skyrockets. Team management tools can be used to maximize productivity while building a strong and trustworthy remote team. 

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: checking in with team members, asking clarifying questions, articulating your ideas, and sharing information in a timely manner.

Project management

Contrary to what you may think, project management skills are not just crucial for managers and coordinators, but they also benefit other team members.

Knowing the basics of project management, team members can understand and align better with the plans and processes set forth by the leader. Plus, project management best practices help employees feel more assured about the timeline and completion of the projects.

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: setting realistic goals, assigning roles and responsibilities, managing project budget, defining tasks, and prioritizing them based on their urgency and importance.

Delegation

Every team member has different strengths and capacity to accommodate the tasks associated with a project. They need to know exactly what their job is, and have a reasonable amount of work on their plate. 

So to function effectively, teams need leaders who know how to delegate. You should have the ability to clearly assign tasks to the people who can handle them. Plus, you’ll need to set deadlines that are challenging yet achievable. 

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: creating guidelines, setting expectations, showing what a successful outcome looks like with example, and scheduling.

Conflict resolution

Conflict is part and parcel of any collaborative project. Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen in your team, whether in the form of a small disagreement or a large debate.

But how you handle such a situation speaks volumes about your aptitude to work as a team. Strong team players keep their cool and look at any conflict as an opportunity for clarification, learning, and growth.

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: being open to ideas different than yours, being fair and respectful, listening with the intent to understand, and backing up your ideas with examples and unbiased data.

Active listening

Listening seems like a simple and passive activity, but it isn’t always as easy for some people as speaking and expressing their own ideas. 

Real, active listening is much more than just sitting back and letting others talk. It takes effort and focus. It involves giving your 100% attention to the speaker and listening not just for the words, but also the intent and emotions behind them. 

Most people don’t really listen. Even when they do, they listen to prepare an instant response in their mind. But good listeners listen to understand first. And then they ask clarifying questions to validate what they understood. This whole process takes the trust and satisfaction of the whole team to another level. 

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: Giving undivided attention to the person speaking, considering non-verbal cues, making eye contact, and not making unfounded assumptions.  

Rapport building

Rapport is the informal connection you have with your team members that makes it easy and comfortable to carry out the formal responsibilities.

Being able to bond and engage in enthusiastic conversations is important for you and your team to realize their full potential. It leads to better communication, planning, and an overall more pleasant working environment. 

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: showing an interest in your team beyond what they do at work, finding common interests, empathizing with their needs and frustrations, and offering help and support.

Public speaking

How can we talk about working as a team and not talk about public speaking and presentation skills? You’ll frequently need to address your whole team to explain a process or persuade them to adopt a new approach.

It’s often scary for people to present because they expect everything to be smooth and perfect. And they want to look like a fancy orator. But a good presentation is more like a normal, friendly conversation focused on clearly communicating your points. As long as you do that much, your job is done.

Actions that demonstrate this skill include: working with MS Powerpoint or other presentation software, designing visual slides, understanding your audience, and telling stories that hook. 

Steps to improve how you work as a team

Teamwork skills are mostly soft skills. So improving them is a little more complicated than hard skills, since hard skills usually have a straightforward rulebook. Still, there are steps you can take to boost your teamwork skills significantly.

Learn from strong team players

Whether inside or outside your immediate team, you will always find people who work really well as part of teams. And you can learn a lot by observing them and their ability to collaborate.

See the behaviors and words of people who excel at teamwork and take notes about things that stand out to you. Whenever you see an example of great collaboration, jot it down and try to incorporate the lessons in your own words and actions.

Set specific goals

To truly grow yourself as a team player, you must identify specific areas for improvement and set concrete objectives. Plus, it’ll really help if you put time constraints on your goals. 

For example, saying something like, “I’ll start communicating and showing an interest in my team members’.” is not a specific goal. A better alternative is, “I’ll ask each team member if they need any help at least once every week.”

Practice teamwork

Honing your ability to work as a team takes patience and consistent practice. Once you set goals, try to find every opportunity you can to practice the skills you want to improve. 

For example, you can start volunteering to your team with small tasks, or be the first one to raise your hand when there’s a chance to work with someone new.

The more you work with a diverse set of professionals, the better you’ll get at collaboration.

Get regular feedback

We often tend to miss the little things that we need to improve the most, while berating ourselves on stuff that no one would notice. When speaking in front of a group, for example, you may be worried that you look nervous. But mostly it’s just in your mind. 

The point is, it can be hard to determine what you need to improve on your own. So the best way to get around your blind spots is to ask coworkers for feedback.

Get your mentor, supervisor, or a trusted peer within your team to evaluate your ability to work as a team member. By sharing their honest and unbiased opinion of your strengths and weaknesses, they can help you work on things that really matter. So you’ll know where to channel your time and energy.

Wrapping up: improve the skills you need to work as a team

Great teamwork does not happen by chance. Working as a team requires a lot of work from managers as well as team members.

You need open communication, clear delegation, team building, and other important skills and best practices we’ve shared above. All of them will give you a good starting point to get accustomed to the basics.

Plus, improving your teamwork skills is a journey that never ends. There will always be new things to help your team learn and get inspired. So keep researching and learning from the best businesses out there.

With adequate time and practice, you will eventually build a collaborative workplace that’ll keep you ahead of the curve for years to come. And while you’re at it, also consider using a tool that streamlines ongoing communication and collaboration at your company, such as Blink. Book a free Blink demo today.

"A good leader will always …"

How you complete that sentence could speak volumes about your leadership skills.

Good leadership in the workplace is crucial for the long-term success of your business and superb employee experience.

In fact, there's a 1674% chance of an employee having a strong perception about your leadership when you connect them to their purpose, accomplishments, or each other.

Great leaders inspire and motivate their team members. But it's easier said than done. 

Being a good leader can be challenging. It takes a lot of practice and focus. But like any other skill, you can learn to be an effective leader.

If you don't know how to be a good leader, you're in luck. We'll explore 10 qualities of a good leader to give you tips to become a strong leader at work.

What makes a good leader in the workplace?

A good leader engages in open communication, motivates their team members, leads by example, listens to feedback, and is open to new ideas in an ever-changing workplace. 

Anyone can sit in a corner office and boss people around, but there's more to effective leadership than that.

Learning the traits of a good leader will help you significantly impact your company's success.

With that in mind, here are 10 attributes of a good leader and how to use them effectively to your advantage.

1. Good leaders engage in open communication.

Employees want to be heard — whether it's an issue that needs resolving or ideas they believe would improve the business or better serve clients.

When you don’t communicate well with your team, they may feel discouraged, resulting in poor morale and lower production. Project.co shared that 35% of businesses have lost an employee due to poor communication. 

The best leaders customize their communication styles to suit each situation and team members' preferences — which means they take the time to learn which communication mode each team member prefers. 

Do your employees prefer email or phone conversations? Or maybe face-to-face? 

You can also use a straightforward mobile app like Blink to turn your employees into a close-knit group by enabling communications between them.

Effective communication decreases misunderstandings and employee errors, builds trust among team members, and improves morale. Pumble backs that up, stating that effective communication can increase a team's productivity by 25%.

As long as it's done respectfully, you should maintain a work environment that promotes honest communication.

You can also encourage open communication by:

• Promoting a judgment-free environment since your employees are likely to give their opinions more often when they don’t fear discrimination.
• Giving undivided attention to your team members when they’re speaking.
• Asking your employees for suggestions to increase their engagement. You'll aim to implement employee engagement strategies that work.
• Asking (not demanding) your employees to do stuff for you.

2. Great leaders encourage professional and personal development.

One of the most critical leadership qualities you can have is nurturing your staff by giving them personal development opportunities.

That can include anything from leadership training or teaching them a new skill to encouraging them to pursue a passion that inspires them in and out of the workplace.

In 2021, Lorman shared that 70% of employees are likely to leave their current job to work for an organization that invests in employee growth and development. 

Employees value learning opportunities, so it's no surprise that companies with successful training programs typically see a significant increase in employee retention. 

Picture a company culture where every team member receives training according to their interests. In such a case, every employee will feel you care about their goals, dreams, and overall well-being. 

When that happens, your employees will go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals and vision.

Here are four strategies you can use to encourage professional and personal development in the workplace:

• Encourage mentoring and coaching between managers and employees.
• Identify and develop soft skills such as time management, active listening, and delegation.
• Implement cross-departmental training programs to increase the efficiency of your entire company.
• Use a learning management system (LMS) to streamline employee training.

3. Successful leaders lead their employees by example.

One of the characteristics of a good leader is their ability to ‘walk the talk.’

Here’s an instance of a true leader leading by example:

Jane is a manager at a local bank with a team of seven employees (you can pretend that’s Jane and her team in the above picture). She shows up to work a few minutes early to plan her schedule. 

When her team starts to arrive, she greets them warmly and inquires about their families.

She then calls her team members into a morning meeting. And instead of leading with her plan, she gives each person a chance to voice their ideas. She appreciates their input and asks them to create proposals to bring their ideas to life.

When it’s time to start working, Jane attends to clients like the rest of the team.

As a result, Jane gets high levels of employee engagement since she demonstrates that she’s invested in her team's initiatives and business.

Leading by example means guiding your employees through actions instead of words. The saying ‘do as I say, not as I do’ has no place in today’s world.

Nowadays, employees want to see your actions match what you say. That means showing them what’s required instead of just telling them.

Here are four ways to lead by example:

• Be a role model to your employees by walking the talk.
• Give clear instructions to your staff. 
• Avail yourself to answer questions your employees might have.
• Make employees feel part of the team by letting them know why you're giving them specific instructions.
• Use respectful words like ‘please’ when giving instructions to your team members.

4. Strong leaders give constructive feedback to employees about their performance.

Employee feedback is an incredibly effective tool. Offered well, it can grow your employees, strengthen bonds between staff and managers, and improve trust levels. 

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
— Bill Gates 

Direct, honest feedback is the best way to steer your team in the right direction.

Don’t wait for monthly or quarterly assessments to give your employees feedback. Give them right after an event has occurred. It will have the most significant impact on their performance.

Here are four tips to help you give employees effective feedback that gets the results you need:

• Give individual feedback privately.
• Avoid sandwiching corrective feedback between two positive feedbacks. It will create confusion, undermine the feedback, and decrease trust levels.
• Focus on your employees' behaviors (what they do) rather than their personality traits (what they’re like).

5. Secure leaders ask for feedback from employees about their leadership style.

The saying goes: there’s always room for improvement. That’s especially true when you're a good leader. 

Who can point out these growth opportunities better than your employees? 

After all, they work with you every day, so they know your strengths and weaknesses. 

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions.”
— Ken Blanchard

However, getting honest feedback isn’t always easy.

Employees may feel awkward revealing their true thoughts. They may not want to offend anyone's feelings or face future consequences for harsh criticism. That may cause them to give you fluffy feedback or avoid the request.

Use these tips to ask your employees for feedback and increase the likelihood that they give honest, actionable feedback:

• Ask your employees specific questions instead of vague questions such as, “What do you think?”
• Tell your staff not to hold back on their feedback and make them feel they’re doing you a favor by being honest.
• Give them time to think about your questions and develop helpful answers.
• Ask employees about what you can do better in the future rather than what you did wrong in the past.

6. Transformational leaders are open to change and new ideas.

Change is hard — even if the change is for the better. Successful leaders are aware of this and don't pretend otherwise. 

They also understand that embracing change with the right mindset is critical to creating an environment where change is integral to their company's DNA. 

A great leader never wants to be the smartest person in the room. They surround themselves with a team of experts with more ideas and experience without feeling threatened. 

And when these experts are led well, they can be a powerful force in driving strategy, making changes, and enhancing the company's bottom line. They’ll perform at a high level with little oversight and push you to grow continually.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
— Steve Jobs

Whether you're leading a team of two or five thousand, below are four ways to embrace new ideas and get your employees on the ‘change-wagon’ faster:

• Surround yourself with a committed team of experts.
• Understand why you need the change and clearly express the desired outcome.
• Include your employees in decision-making from the get-go to strengthen their commitment to change.
• Make sure your beliefs and behaviors support the change. Be resilient, persistent, and willing to step outside your comfort zone.

7. Effective leaders set clear employee goals and delegate work.

A good leader makes sure their employees are doing what they’ve assigned them to do to achieve the company's mission and goals. 

The instructions you give should be measurable and quantifiable. Use existing data to develop a baseline for employees to do their best work. 

Moreover, 2021 research by Bi Worldwide showed that 31% of employees said their manager set attainable goals for them, but they weren’t challenging. So be sure to have goal-setting discussions with your employees to set goals that will challenge them to grow. 

An effective leader also knows what tasks to delegate. They know they can’t accomplish everything alone, so they assign tasks to team members they’re confident will complete them. 

As a result, they empower and boost their employees’ morale. And in the process, they free up their time to focus on what will yield the highest returns and grow the business.

Here are three tips to help you delegate tasks to your team members:

• Look for opportunities to delegate tasks based on your teams' strengths and weaknesses.
• Walk your employees through the project you're delegating and clarify when you need it done.
• Give continuous feedback and be specific on what they did well and what they need to improve on.
• Aligned with implementing employee experience strategies and positive employee lifecycle

8. Great leaders are passionate about their work.

A good leader has the right motivation and passion. They’re not driven by money or prestige but genuinely want to inspire others to do their best.

Passionate leaders increase productivity and make sure workers are committed to the company's values, mission, and vision.

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
— John C. Maxwell

Most successful leaders have a passion (not a job) and know how to rally others around that passion. 

In short, passionate leaders lead with heart.

Here are seven qualities that set passionate leaders apart from the crowd:

• They're open-minded and respect differing opinions.
• They have a positive attitude and superb problem-solving skills.
• They’re great communicators and listen with the intent of genuinely understanding rather than advancing their agenda.
• They're future-focused and capable of engaging others to achieve their goals.
• They look at the big picture and embrace challenges.
• They're risk-takers and put in the hard work to execute ideas. 
• They're self-aware, surround themselves with like-minded people, and sustain collaborative relationships.

Your ability to inspire, motivate, and create a magnetic vision needs commitment and perseverance. But it’s worth the effort, whether your goal is productivity, employee retention, or project management.

9. Successful leaders have a positive attitude even when things go south.

Most people tend to associate good leadership with smooth sailing. 

After all, what can go wrong if you build and nurture a great team and generate excellent ideas? 

…. a lot.

But whether it's a minor misunderstanding or a significant error, how you handle a negative situation reveals a lot about your emotional intelligence and leadership abilities.

“Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference.”
— Mac Anderson

When things go south, your words and actions as a leader are critical. Here’s what you can do during those times:

• Take time to evaluate the situation and know what the problem is.
• Face the problem with positivity and look for solutions.
• Be flexible and adaptable and make adjustments along the way.
• Remain persistent and determined to solve the issues.

10. Good leaders are always learning.

All successful leaders have one trait in common — a hunger for learning. They enroll in relevant online courses, read great books, use the best tools, and constantly improve.

Great leaders have an innate sense of curiosity that often drives them to learn more, which helps them perform better for their businesses and provide personal fulfillment.

“Leadership is not an expertise. Leadership is a constant education.”
— Simon Sinek

Learning helps great leaders challenge their assumptions and bring clear understanding to the table. 

In contrast, failure to keep learning means you won't adapt to the ever-changing work environment. And depending on your industry's competition, this can be a significant issue that spells the death of your company.

Here are three ways to keep learning and become a better leader:

• Embrace an open mind to see things from different perspectives.
• Read relevant books, industry publications, and blogs.
• Take advantage of consultants, personal networks, industry events, and other organizations and learn from them.

How to be a good leader at work: your checklist

1. Openly communicate: Make sure your team always know what's going on and what is expected of them.
2. Develop your team: Push each team member in their personal development. Make sure you each team member has a clear and robust personal development plan.
3. Lead by example: Easier said than done, but be the example your team can learn from. Show them the type of employee you want them to be.
4. Give constructive feedback: Don't be afraid to give constructive feedback. 1-1's are normally the place for this.
5. Ask for feedback: You won't always get things right, and not everyone will agree with you. Ask for feedback from your team on your management style and how you can improve.
6. Be open to change and new ideas: If a team member has an idea or a new way of doing things, be open to it. Don't stick to the way things are just because "that's how it's always been".
7. Set goals & delegate: You can't do everything on your own, give your team responsibility and delegate tasks appropriately. This can help with point 2 as well.
8. Show your passion: If you love your job, show it. This passion can be infectious and help motivate your team.
9. Keep positive: Things won't always go to plan, but you can weather the storm. Keep positive and let your team know you have their back with whatever road bumps you hit.
10. Don't stop learning: Your development also doesn't stop. If you want to lead by example you need to make sure you are up to date with the latest techniques and strategies for your role.

Wrapping up: What makes a good leader in the workplace?

Most people aren’t born with the ability to get things done and inspire others every day. And that’s okay — you don’t have to be born with that ability to succeed.

Although it takes time to be a good leader, you can learn strong leadership skills. But like any other skill, it takes a lot of practice and focus. 

Just keep in mind it also requires you to grow and engage your team. Blink’s Employee Engagement App can help you keep employees engaged and connected. Try it out today. 

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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Meet one of Blink’s earliest builders — Ryan McClarnon, London-based Android Developer and proud co-creator of the Blink app itself.

Nearly eight years ago, he joined a tiny team with a big vision. Since then, he’s helped bring that vision to life — architecting our Android experience from scratch and playing a key role in shaping the platform that now powers millions of frontline workers worldwide.

We caught up with him to talk about product pride, purpose-driven work, and what it’s like to grow alongside the app you helped create. Let’s get into it.

1. Which Blink office do you work out of?

London.

2. What is your position at Blink?

I’m an Android Developer.

3. How long have you been at Blink?

I’m about to hit my 8-year Blinkiversary!

4. What initially attracted you to join Blink?

When I interviewed, Blink was still in its infancy. The product looked very different — many of today’s features didn’t exist yet — but in my conversations with Sean I could clearly see where he wanted to take it. His vision of building something people genuinely benefit from, rather than just have to use, really resonated with me. Joining felt like an opportunity to help shape something meaningful from the ground up.

5. What’s a project you are proud of from your time at Blink?

Before I joined, there was no native Android app — only a web version you could load on a phone. My teammate Olly Fox and I built the Android app entirely from scratch and have maintained and grown it over the last eight years. Knowing that a stable, user-friendly app, which millions of people rely on every day, started as our blank canvas is easily what I’m most proud of.

6. How would you describe the company culture at Blink in three words?

I’d sum it up as innovative, collaborative, and driven.

We’re constantly evolving — whether that’s the app itself or the way we work together—so innovation is baked into everything we do.

Collaboration is equally core. Every success here is a team effort, and people genuinely lean on one another’s expertise.

And finally, we’re driven: The company sets clear goals and everyone rallies around them, pushing hard to make them a reality.

7. What’s one thing you’re excited about for the future of Blink?

I’m excited for the day Blink becomes a household name — when any frontline or office worker immediately thinks of our super-app (not the security camera!) the moment they hear “Blink.”

8. Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launched at Blink that you found particularly exciting?

The Blink for Everyone initiative — the charitable arm of Blink that supports non-profit organizations everywhere — really inspires me. Hearing about the organizations signing up and the impact it can have on them shows how much difference our platform can make.

9. Why do you work for Blink?

Blink’s mission aligns with my own values: We build a product that genuinely helps people. On top of that, as one of the product owners, I have considerable responsibility and variety in my day-to-day work, which keeps things engaging and rewarding.

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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.