Run a better team.

What is team communication?

Team communication is the exchange of information between different members of a group. In a business context, it refers to any kind of communication between two or more staff members that relates directly or indirectly to their work.

There are many forms of communication in the workplace. They include:

• Face-to-face communication, like casual chats and check-ins
• Group communication, like team building activities and team meetings
• Phone calls and text messages
• Online communication like emails and video conferencing
• Alerts, notifications, and reminders
• Written notes and letters
• Instant messaging via team chat apps
• Non-verbal communication, like body language and hand gestures

Why is effective team communication important?

Effective team communication plays a critical role in both small business day-to-day operations and long-term success. Excellent communication within a team allows you to:

• Promote collaboration between staff members. When employees communicate with each other well, they can solve problems and complete tasks more efficiently.

• Build trust and loyalty. Good communication means more transparency and clarity between your staff members. When employees know what’s happening in their workplace and understand why you make certain decisions, they’ll have more confidence in you as an employer.

• Boost employee engagement levels and morale. If your team members are able to help, understand, and support each other effectively, they’ll be happier in their jobs. 
• Set your entire team up for success. Employees who have all the information they need to do their jobs well can carry out their day-to-day tasks more efficiently. Plus, they can better handle unexpected situations when they have a clear overview of your business operations.

Effective communication is also important because poor communication has severe consequences. When misunderstandings happen, tasks end up incomplete, delayed, or maybe even missed entirely. These situations can lead to unhappy customers, demoralized staff, and reduced productivity.

How can I improve team communication?

You can improve team communication by ensuring that your staff members are readily available and accessible when required. That means everyone is well-positioned to answer questions and provide support to one another. 

It’s also essential to keep communication as simple as possible. When you have to deal with multiple phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts for all your employees, it’s impossible to know how to get in touch with anyone quickly. 

Homebase supports small businesses that want to improve their team communication by offering a free messaging platform (sign up here!). Employees can rely on instant messaging within our app to contact each other, so they never have to pay for another message or wonder how to contact a colleague again.

What is a team communication app?

Team communication apps — also called chat apps — are tools that let people send instant messages to each other. Most of them focus on text-based messages and file sharing, but some also offer video calling and other similar features. 

Some popular platforms also offer built-in direct messaging. For example, social media channels like Facebook and Instagram have widely-used messaging services. And services like Airbnb and Uber also integrate messaging into their products to centralize user communication. Homebase’s team chat app combines messaging with a range of other HR software like hiring and onboarding, scheduling, and payroll.

Why should I use the Homebase team communication app?

You should use the Homebase team communication app because of the advantages it offers small businesses. Some of the features include:

• Free instant messaging. Employees can chat with whoever they need to and get quick replies since everyone else is using the app, too. These messages are free, unlike SMS messages on some mobile plans, and no one needs to share their phone numbers or social media accounts to get in touch with each other. Plus, instant messaging is universal, so it’ll suit all your employees, no matter their workplace personality.
• Integrations with Homebase’s other HR software. Homebase’s team communication app integrates with our scheduling app. That means employees can check their schedules and contact each other in the same place. Managers can also streamline their workflow by switching effortlessly between messaging, scheduling, and payroll on the same platform. You can even create and send employee surveys to gauge employee happiness and motivation.
• Access to a manager log book. Managers can communicate with each other using our categorized, searchable manager log book — even if they don’t have any shifts that overlap. They can make notes about maintenance issues, private parties, cleaning notes, and any other information that’s relevant to your daily small business operations.
• Shift notes. Managers can leave shift notes for employees within their schedules. These notes are handy if team members need to know about something specific about their shifts, like if there’s an incoming delivery or a new team member starting.
• Alerts and reminders. Employees might occasionally forget to clock in and out of their shifts or even turn up to work. Homebase has a handy alerts and reminders feature that warns team members when they have an upcoming shift or are approaching a break or overtime. That means you don’t have to spend time checking up on employees yourself.
• Security and privacy. Our tool is a secure messaging app, so you’ll never have to worry about the safety of you or your employees’ potentially sensitive information.

Does the Homebase app fit with my business?

Homebase offers one of the best team apps for small to medium-sized businesses of all kinds. Our features suit a range of different industries and business models, too. 

For instance, if your business has multiple locations, you can use our business messaging app to keep in sync. For example, you can organize which store handles deliveries for certain areas or arrange shift covers between branches. And if you have one small team, managers can supervise their staff more effectively without necessarily having to stay on the premises. 

The Homebase app also helps small businesses run more efficiently by decreasing the need for large group meetings, reducing errors due to miscommunications, and letting team members collaborate and get to know each other better.