Whether you’re fully in-office, fully remote, or navigating a hybrid workplace, team messaging can really come in clutch. It’s less hassle than a scheduled meeting and lets team members solve problems and get back on track in a matter of minutes.
But how does it work? And can it help your team beyond back-and-forth chats throughout the day? Let’s find out.
Today, we’ll cover:
- What is team messaging?
- The benefits of team messaging for businesses
- How team messaging works
- Why employees love team messaging
- How to implement team messaging at your business
💬 How to buy a team messaging app: Follow our checklist for success.
What is team messaging?
Simply put, team messaging is instant messaging for your business. It’s often hosted on its own chat app or built into other software (or your email provider).
Many companies use a team messaging app to manage workflows and share information between co-workers or teams. While it’s super handy for remote or hybrid teams, even in-office collaborators enjoy the speed and ease of team messaging their coworkers.
The benefits of team messaging
With a powerful* solution, you could:
- Improve workflows
- Increase productivity
- Reduce miscommunication
- Maximize project management
- Organize important files
- Cut down on lengthy, hard-to-follow email chains
- Optimize collaboration
- Help employees feel more connected
*The market for these kind of apps is crowded today, but not all messaging apps are created equal. As you’re looking for the right solution, be sure to hunt for a platform that’s feature-rich and ready to grow with your business.
How team messaging works
Let’s get into the brass tacks. To show you how a team can use messaging, we’ll look at RingCentral MVP: a powerful communications platform that comes fully loaded with messaging, video conferencing, and your business phone all in one.
Here are just some of the ways RingCentral’s team messaging powers businesses to work smarter.
Group and 1:1 chats
It’s easy to start a conversation of any size in RingCentral MVP. Simply click the “+” and start adding your team members:
File sharing
It’s also a breeze to share documents via RingCentral! You can drag and drop from your desktop, or attach files from your computer or even Google Drive:
Plus, all your files are stored and organized chronologically which makes them easy to find.
Learn more about how to share files with RingCentral.
Project tracking
In RingCentral, you can also assign tasks to your team members. You can even set deadlines and color code the task to track multiple projects!
From there, you can see all of the tasks for any given group on a calendar view in your Workspace, for easy management of tasks across different groups:
Easily find past conversations
One of the biggest drags about office communication: slogging through mile-long email chains to find the info you need.
With an app like RingCentral, this problem is a thing of the past! You can pin important conversations for later, or simply use the search bar to find what you need:
Quick flip to video
Are things still getting lost in translation? With one click in RingCentral, you can hop on a Team Huddle to make yourself clear and keep moving forward:
As you can probably see, this kind of real-time communication can be useful for almost any company, but some of the more common ways companies use these features are:
- Managing project workflows
- Addressing customer service issues
- Tracking time for billing purposes
- Sharing important contacts and team info
- Keeping an eye on company security
- Managing company-wide events
Why employees love team messaging
A chat app is simple to use, but it can have a huge positive impact on the workplace in the following ways:
- Easier collaboration between employees and co-workers
- Better team morale
- More productive employees
- Easier access to company information
- Easier access to employees who are away from their desk
- Easier file sharing (and no more email spam!)
Employees who feel like they are part of a team are more likely to stay with the company for longer. Companies gain a great tool to promote engagement and inclusivity. All of this could mean increased employee happiness, which leads to a lower turnover rate.
How to implement team messaging for your business
There are a few important things to consider. One of the most important things is to choose the right app for your company. There are a variety of apps on the market, so it’s important to find one that will work best for your needs.
Once you’ve chosen an app, you’ll need to get everyone on your team using it. All employees should download the app and be added to a chatroom—even new hires. If they don’t have access to their mobile device or computer, they can still stay in communication by playing around with the app.
You’ll also need to create some rules and guidelines. For example, you should let employees know that not all messages need to be sent via the chatroom. Team members should feel free to send direct messages or set up a smaller group chat if they’re discussing something sensitive.
Finally, it’s important to remember that chatting is still a work feature, so employees need to be respectful of one another. They should avoid spamming the chat, using all-caps, or being unprofessional in their messaging.
Team messaging: Is it worth it? (Yes!)
We bet you’ve seen here some ways that team messaging could help your business. Whether it’s untangling confusing conversations, quickly sharing documents, or improving collaboration, there are a wealth of benefits to hopping on the instant messaging train.
Just remember: take your time and find the app that works best for your team and business. And don’t settle for less! There are several powerful, feature-rich options out there for you today.
Originally published Jun 09, 2022, updated Aug 23, 2024
