Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

November 2023

Improvement-focused employee monitoring: Switching from control to collaboration

Although we’re eager to move past the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s impossible to separate the events of the last few years from the rapid rise in employee monitoring software adoption. As companies worldwide suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves working remotely, employee monitoring software became a way to manage the transition. Companies wanted to ensure their people were working when they were supposed to be working.

Next-level engagement: How to empower teams with UX research democratization

If you want to design optimal user experiences, you can’t skip UX research. It provides insight into what users want and need and how they use your product, which ultimately leads to more satisfied customers. Many companies are adopting a user-first approach to product design. But effective UX research can’t be done in a silo — it requires cross-functional collaboration and engagement from stakeholders throughout your organization.

FINED! How Financial Services Can Avoid Paying Millions for Using Unsecured Messaging Apps

💰 FINED: The use of unsecured messaging apps cost American financial firms over $500M in fines – Don't be next! Wells Fargo and other major players in the Financial industry were hit with the biggest penalties by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 🤔The reason? Employees were exchanging messages in non-compliant apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal.

What is Interpersonal Communication and Its Role in the Workplace

Good communication skills are NOT the same as people’s skills. Sometimes, these two types of skills don’t go hand in hand. An employee might be able to express their ideas and opinions clearly and properly but still fail to form connections with colleagues. No matter how brilliant this employee might be, the lack of interpersonal skills can stunt their growth. Worse, failure to communicate within the workplace can also impact business growth and may cause imposter syndrome among employees.

Bad leadership: 10 traits to avoid - and lessons bad leaders can teach us

Do you know the signs of bad leadership? At their worst, bad leaders create toxic environments that hurt employee morale, stunt innovation, decrease performance, and can even lead to business failure. But when even one bad leadership trait rears its ugly head, the impact can rattle many areas of the organization. Thankfully, good leadership is a muscle you can develop and strengthen.

Partnering With Product and Tech for a Better Employee Experience with Shawnee Irmen-De Anda

This episode features an interview with Shawnee Irmen-De Anda, Chief People Officer at Thriveworks. Shawnee has two decades of experience serving as a human resources strategic business partner for growing and well-established healthcare organizations. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Shawnee to discuss creating brand awareness while recruiting, incorporating tech into the employee experience, and fighting burnout during times of crisis.

Better Together: Miro and AWS drive innovation for product teams

At Miro, we empower product teams to create the next big thing, regardless of their location, by launching diagramming tools, templates, frameworks, and so much more. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce that Miro has won the Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) 2023 Independent Software Vendor Partner of the Year award, in recognition of our commitment to building software that shapes the future.

Embracing Global Collaboration for a Resilient Future

Dear Mattermost Customers, Partners, and Open Source Contributors, Today marks a significant milestone in our journey. I am thrilled to share that Mattermost has joined the World Economic Forum Global Innovators Community. This is more than just an accomplishment; it’s a testament to our commitment to building a more secure, transparent, and resilient world.

8 Different Perks Your Company Could Offer Employees

When managing a business, attracting and retaining top talent is crucial. Strategies abound, from competitive salaries to corporate culture, yet one facet often overlooked is employee benefits. More than just the basics such as health insurance or retirement plans, it's the added perks that can set your company apart. But you might wonder - which are truly worth the investment? Read on as we dive into exploring different perks your company could offer employees that are indeed worth the cost.

8 best eCommerce chat tools for increasing online sales in 2024

Imagine you’re at a bookstore and trying to find a book by your favorite author. If you can’t find it, you would start thinking, is it out of stock? Or is it located somewhere else? You wouldn’t want to go write an email or make a phone call and wait endlessly for a response as it is a very simple, basic question. You might lose interest in the purchase and discard the process. This is what happens when customers don’t get quick responses in eCommerce stores.

New in Basecamp: Filter Activity by People or Projects

The activity page shows everything that's happening across all your Basecamp projects. But what if you want to only see what members of your team have been working on? Or need to check in on just a handful of projects? It can be challenging to sift through everything and find what's important – but not anymore! Now you can filter activity by projects or by people. From the top of the activity page, choose how to filter your results, then search by people or projects to customize the report.

Automated Success: Email Efficiency in Workplace Insights

Effective workplace communication is essential in handling operations smoothly and increasing the productivity of every individual. Email automation is one of the primary reasons to ensure that effectiveness. We are about to witness the untapped advantages of email automation services that help improve the communication strategies of an organization and its people.

What's New: What we launched in November 2023

It’s already almost December and we’re excited to end the year with a bang by sharing one of our most impressive updates yet: Miro Assist! This is Miro’s AI-powered innovation partner that can elevate your innovation game. We also have product development and Miroverse improvements to share, and a hint of what to expect next month when we do something extra special to close out the year. Read on for all the details.

How to Boost Workplace Productivity Through Time-Batching

Employees agree that time management is important. Just look at the stats. A staggering 90% agree it would help them increase productivity. Meanwhile, 91% say it would lead to reduced stress at work. You cannot talk about time management without talking about time batching. According to John Medina’s “Brain Rules”, switching between different tasks can hamper your productivity. Time batching can help you do more by ensuring you don’t do things at the same time.

Understanding Leader Standard Work For Management Professionals

In today’s highly unstable economy, effective leadership is more important than ever for business success. As a management professional, you’re more than likely aware that the role of the leader extends beyond mere decision-making. It involves a whole set of responsibilities, including setting organizational goals, guiding and managing others, fostering a positive and productive culture, and ensuring that the team operates seamlessly.

5 best chat solutions for military and defense

When military units, dispersed across diverse terrains need to make rapid, coordinated decisions, reliable military chat solutions become indispensable. These systems not only facilitate swift strategy formulation and information dissemination but also uphold stringent security measures. Additionally, these platforms provide vital emotional and psychological support to military personnel, ensuring they remain connected and supported even in the most challenging situations.

Convene - Quick Start Video for Directors & Executives

Meet Convene, the ultimate Board Management Software trusted worldwide by directors and executives. Explore the full potential of Convene in simplifying board meetings and decision-making, making your workload lighter and decisions smarter. Ready to elevate your board experience? Watch now and explore the possibilities!

How to Document Key Processes for Improved Knowledge Sharing

Have you ever completed a complex task or process successfully, and had a work colleague ask you how you did it several months later? It can be worse if you don’t remember every step that helped you complete it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your organization had some form of process so people could learn from others’ successes (and mistakes)? By documenting key processes, you can ensure that knowledge sharing becomes a reality.

The ROI of internal communications: How to build a business case for a modern intranet

This article was originally published on Jan. 19, 2021, and was updated on Nov. 21, 2023. As an internal communicator, you know the value internal comms brings to the table. But can you prove that value to decision makers in your organization — the folks who hold the budget for IC software, tools and services like a modern intranet?

6 best APIs to build in-app chat functionalities

In-app chat API is crucial for businesses seeking to maintain a competitive edge and foster customer loyalty. Without it, companies often risk losing vital customer connections, decreasing engagement and potential revenue losses. In-app chat APIs and SDKs offer real-time, efficient communication, essential for enhancing customer experience and driving business growth.

Marketing project management: How to structure your strategy

Marketing project management is a methodology used to keep marketing campaigns on track and stakeholders informed throughout the project lifecycle. It provides clarity among teams, keeps your projects within scope, and helps team members meet customer needs. In this piece, we’ll discuss the challenges of marketing campaigns and explain how marketing project management can help you succeed.

What's New in Asana | November 2023

Welcome to the November edition of What's New in Asana. This month is all about Asana Intelligence. See how AI has joined the team. First, summarize the highlights from tasks with smart summaries. Create subtasks based on the key action items, too. Next, write clearer, more compelling responses that strike the right tone with smart editor. Let Asana Intelligence auto-generate and fill custom fields based on the data in your project with smart fields.

How to Set Up Automatic Push Notifications Based on Segment Events

Push notifications have carved their own niche as a powerful tool for continuous user engagement. Regardless of whether an app is actively in use, they deliver your messages straight to your user's device. Two useful tools to enhance your push notification strategy are Segment and Courier. In this article, we show you how to set up Courier to listen to your Segment events and then send push notifications to an Android device based on data from these events.

5 Effective Website Marketing Tactics for SaaS Businesses

One of the most challenging aspects of starting and running a SaaS business is getting visitors to come to your website. There are over a billion websites. It’s easy to see why you might think getting your site found is almost impossible. But don’t worry. There’s a way for your business to stand out and get the traffic–and paying clients—it deserves. In this article, you’ll learn five website marketing tips you can use. Let’s get started!

Optimizing Live Web Chat Software for Leads, Engagement, and Sales

Implementing live web chat software on your website is a great way to engage visitors in real-time conversations and convert them into leads and sales. However, to truly realize the benefits of lead generation and sales, you must optimize your live chat strategy, setup, and agent training. Live web chat software can boost conversion rates and revenue when you have the tools to optimize and implement it correctly.

Asana + Hubspot Integration: Streamline enterprise sales and marketing workflows

Discover how the Asana and @HubSpot-CRM integration empowers teams, from fast-paced startups to large enterprises, to streamline sales and marketing initiatives, enhance pipeline conversion rates, and close more deals. This integration allows for centralized project management, cross-functional collaboration, and improved process improvement methodologies, ensuring that strategic goals are met efficiently and effectively.

Demo: Project Management with Jira | Atlassian

Get to know the ins and outs of project management with Atlassian using Jira Work Management, Jira Software, Confluence, Atlas, and more. See how you can go from siloed tools and processes to seamless, cross-functional collaboration by making the switch to Atlassian. Jira Work Management makes it easy for business teams to collaborate, align, and deliver work, all in one place. Connect with Jira Work Management and Atlassian.

Data retention controls added to Admin Console!

Element Server Suite (ESS) is Element’s flagship offering: a truly enterprise-grade Matrix distribution that lets you run your own secure, interoperable real-time communication, at scale, on your own terms. Think of ESS as the ‘special sauce’ which binds together all the component Matrix projects into a single coherent, supported, scalable deployment - complete with beautiful admin and installation interfaces, unifying all of Element’s enterprise products!

5 fun ways to practice gratitude with your team

With the holiday season in full swing and the end of the year quickly approaching, your team is in the thick of wrapping up loose ends and planning for next year — along with enjoying some festive get-togethers and hopefully taking some well-deserved time off. But there’s one more thing that should be on your to-do list during this busy season: gratitude. Looking for some fun and memorable ways to offer praise, encourage camaraderie, and extend a hearty thank you?

How Product Designers Use CAD Workflows For Efficiency

Navigating the intricate world of product design requires tools that lend precision to creativity. As we delve deeper into the digital age, it's clear that Computer-Aided Design (CAD) has emerged as a trusted ally for designers. Echoing a global digital shift, CAD tools are enabling designers to work more efficiently and bring their most ambitious concepts to life.

8 best web chat solutions in 2024

Customers expect quick involvement when seeking assistance, focusing on speed and quality. Balancing the two continues to be a complicated task. Fortunately, utilizing web chat solutions along the customer lifecycle will drastically accelerate and enhance conversation and increase the quality of customer service. Web chat has developed as an interactive mode of customer communication. Web chat is the ideal way to satisfy and exceed customers’ expectations at a higher ROI.

Employee leadership development: Why every employee should be a leader

Employee leadership development is a topic of discussion for organizations worldwide as they look for ways to increase efficiencies and retain top talent. Betsy Leatherman, Global President of Consulting Services at Leadership Circle, calls this cultural shift the “democratization of leadership.” In a recent interview, we discussed the many benefits of employee leadership development and strategies for empowering employees to become great leaders.

Visually track the progress of tasks with Basecamp Hill Charts

In this video, we break down Basecamp's Hill Chart feature for getting a visual representation of the status of a to-do list. Every piece of work has two phases. First there’s an uphill phase where you figure out your approach. You have a basic idea about the task, but you haven’t figured out what the solution is going to look like or how to solve all the unknowns. Eventually you reach a point where there aren’t any more unsolved problems. That’s like standing at the top of the hill. You can see clearly all the way down the other side. Then the downhill phase is just about execution.

How Technology Is Revolutionizing Communication In The Transportation Sector

There was a time when transportation technology focussed almost solely on speed. Bullet trains and Concorde airplanes were the high standards of travel innovation, and the notion that faster was better reigned supreme. Nowadays, new goals are taking precedence in the transportation sector. Accessibility, sustainability, and efficiency are hot topics, while journey planning, tracking, safety, and security sit high on the priority list for both operators and consumers.

Background Checks for Contractors: All You Need to Know

Regardless of a role’s complexity and the critical skills gap that needs filling, bringing on board skilled technical contractors can provide immense value to a company. Hiring high-quality contractors can provide both a reliable short-term stopgap to keep operations running while full-time replacements are sought, or even as a long-term recruitment strategy for businesses in the tech space.

How to use the new board and backlog in Jira company-managed projects | Demo Den | Atlassian

In this demo, Eoin Ryan, Senior Product Manager, walks you through the enhancements that have been made to the board and backlog on company-managed Jira Software projects. Say hello to inline editing, more out-of-the-box filters, redesigned epic and version panels, and much more. None of the functions you use to plan or track will be lost – just upgraded for a better experience.

Jira Work Management Monthly Minute: November 2023 | Atlassian

Learn more about the latest Jira Work Management updates in our Monthly Minute. Customize how your tasks are visualized, work from anywhere with mobile app updates, and add approval steps to your workflows. Jira Work Management makes it easy for business teams to collaborate, align, and deliver work, all in one place. Connect with Jira Work Management and Atlassian.

Leadership Agility and Resilience | Scaling Enterprise Agility | Atlassian

Guest host Nick Polce, Business Agility Practice Lead at Accenture, speaks with Diana Larsen, Leadership Agility Advisor at Eos House Consulting. Nick and Diana sat down at the Agile Australia Conference to talk about how, even though retros are often a device that gets set aside when things are busy, changing your teams’ way of thinking about retros can improve efficiency in both short sprints and over the long term.

Best Practices for SMS Tools and Text Message API Implementation

Once upon a time, SMS was the crowning achievement of communications technology. It combined email’s asynchronous archive of messages with a portable device, allowing anyone to send and receive information anywhere they were. Today, widespread mobile internet access has somewhat eclipsed the main functionality of SMS, but it remains a dominant form for communication in many markets and in particular business cases.

Why every employee should be a leader with Betsy Leatherman, Global President of Consulting Services

This episode features an interview with Betsy Leatherman, Global President of Consulting Services at Leadership Circle. In this episode, Amanda and Betsy discuss leadership development, common mistakes leaders make during layoffs, and the two leadership orientations.

Software supply chain security: 12 strategies to reduce supply chain risks

Malicious code insertion, dependency poisoning, data exfiltration — these are worrisome words to organizations who deliver software products to customers. The complex process of deploying and maintaining software is fraught with supply chain risks, and the likelihood of an attack is higher than ever.

6 tips for operations leaders to optimize their organization's tech stack

A tech stack full of redundant tools puts employee efficiency and financial health at significant risk. Take a proactive approach and discover the steps you can take to trim, consolidate, and optimize your organization's tech stack. Organizations are grappling with an overwhelming number of tools—323 SaaS applications on average—leading to fragmented workdays and diminished productivity.

5 ways to use visual content on your intranet to supercharge engagement + visual content examples

For digital content to reach and resonate with audiences, it needs to be clear, compelling — and visual. Visual content is key to attracting more attention, better communicating ideas, and increasing audience interest.

12 need-to-know statistics to harness AI in operations

Operations leaders are at the forefront of driving innovation and fostering long-term growth. With the ever-changing business environment and current emerging technologies, it's crucial that they also stay ahead of AI in the workplace. The Work Innovation Lab, a think tank by Asana, conducted research and found that operations leaders are AI realists—they see the technology’s vast potential and acknowledge its complexities.

How to create a winning marketing plan, with 3 examples from world-class teams

A marketing plan helps leaders clearly visualize marketing strategies across channels, so they can ensure every campaign drives pipeline and revenue. In this article you’ll learn eight steps to create a winning marketing plan that brings business-critical goals to life, with examples from word-class teams.

The Ultimate Guide to Backlink Building for Your Website

I started my marketing career as an SEO analyst. Back in 2010, the process of backlink building was fairly easy. I’d see people putting together a press release and distributing it to hundreds of no-name platforms. Some would leave a slew of useless comments peppered with links beneath a blog post. Others would write a low-quality article that looked more like a random bunch of words put together, turn it into a link cemetery and call it a guest post.

Revolutionizing Salesforce Diagramming and Data Modeling: Enhance visualization and teamwork with Miro

In a world where information is highly valued and data is considered valuable, it is essential for companies to have effective tools for data modeling and diagramming. This is especially true for those who want to utilize the potential of their data. The realm of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has been greatly influenced by this surge in data with Salesforce leading the way.

8 top live chat apps for your website in 2024

The evolution of website chat apps is pivotal for enterprises, particularly for customer-facing teams focused on efficient customer engagement. With millions of websites employing online chat technology, the importance of it is undeniable . Website chat turns out to be a good investment for businesses. Those adopting live chat have seen a 10% increase in average order value. This is not just a boost in sales; it represents enhanced customer interactions and streamlined communication processes .

CEO vs Owner: Who is Higher? + Key Differences

Large corporations and small family-run businesses may seem worlds apart. However, they do share a common thread: their destinies hinge on the person atop the hierarchy. Depending on the business’ size and structure, this individual can either be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the owner of a company. A common misconception is that these two hats are similar and interchangeable.

How to Use a Push API to Send Notifications from your Mobile App

Perhaps because we are constantly swamped with push notifications, they can go overlooked as a messaging category. They are nevertheless an important medium of modern communication, and a more diverse one than you might think. Push notifications initialize interactions between a recipient and a sender, in an era of communication where response times are measured in seconds. Such high-frequency information requires effective distillation to remain efficient and to avoid flooding recipients with noise.

Project management software and tools: Your best picks for 2023

Project management software connects teams, enabling everyone in the organization to prioritize the work that matters most. Software that fosters this type of high-level collaboration is essential for most companies. But at a glance, many of the tools organizations use have seemingly similar features. Use our guide to narrow down your choices and understand which tools are best for different types of companies. If you manage work, you’re a project manager. But that wasn’t always the case.

Freehand joins the Miro team

I’m excited to announce that Miro has acquired Freehand, the visual collaboration platform. At Miro, we believe that organizations on the forefront of innovation are radically focused on accelerating time to market and ensuring continuous alignment with customer needs and company strategy. More than 60 million users and 200,000+ organizations worldwide count on Miro to develop strategy, design new products and services, and manage processes through the entire innovation lifecycle.

7 ways governments can improve citizen communication

Effective government-citizen communication is crucial to promote participatory governance and informed decision-making. In today's world, governments must re-imagine the way they connect with citizens. The nature of communication and participation is moving online, just as a lot of public services do. For example, Germany made all public services accessible online in 2022 through a federal Online Access Act.

In-App Chat Solutions for Gaming Apps: 6 Essential Features

In-app chat solutions have become new avenues to engage and retain players of gaming apps. Recent years also have witnessed a revolutionary change in the gaming industry, with mobile gaming currently leading the way in terms of user engagement and income creation. Also, in-app chat can satisfy users' needs for convenient communication, increase brand awareness, increase retention, and provide businesses with complete control over the customer experience.

A new home and license (AGPL) for Synapse and friends

We believe in open source because it encourages innovation, ensures transparency and puts end-users in control. It’s why we created Matrix as an open source project, and ensured a well-defined open governance model around it through the Matrix.org Foundation, to ensure the protocol will always be guided by its original manifesto.

Building transparent leadership and trust from the intranet up

Trust is currency in organizations. At a time when remote work is more common than not, change is the only constant, and retaining talent is a top priority for many employers — transparent leadership is key. Leaders who are transparent stand out. They lead the way for stronger teams, resilient cultures and ongoing success.

Using communications to transform culture at Nissan

Change management is a scary topic — especially when it involves transforming culture. But, you shouldn’t shy away from opportunities to champion change within your organization. We recently had the opportunity to discuss transforming culture with Brian Brockman, VP of Communications for US and Canada at Nissan. In the interview, we unpack several interesting topics and lessons Brian learned while working on the Nissan Next initiative.

SWOT analysis: Examples and templates

A SWOT analysis helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for a specific project or your overall business plan. It’s used for strategic planning and to stay ahead of market trends. Below, we describe each part of the SWOT framework and show you how to conduct your own. Looking for a way to separate your organization from the competition?

Why automated user provisioning matters: Benefits, vendors, support and more

Automated user provisioning is the IT pro’s best friend — especially when it comes to employee onboarding. Manual provisioning and deprovisioning of user accounts can be time-consuming and error-prone, delaying productivity as new employees sit idle, waiting for the tools and systems they need to do their work.

6 steps to create a daily schedule template

A daily schedule is an excellent way to manage life’s moving parts. It can give you structure, reduce stress, and increase productivity. When you create your daily schedule template in an online tool, you’ll have the added flexibility to make changes and track updates in real-time. Plus, by visualizing your work in multiple ways, you can plan your day and set yourself up for success. Sometimes it feels like you don't have enough hours in the day.

Jira Align Product Overview | Jira Align Product Demos | Atlassian

Jira Align connects the work that IT, Dev, and business teams are doing with the organization’s goals and objectives, enabling executives to fund, manage, and execute their portfolio of projects with an outcomes-based approach. Watch this short overview video to get a deeper understanding of why companies use Jira Align to power their enterprise agility.

7 best citizen engagement platforms in 2024

Citizen participation has taken center stage in the quickly changing terrain of modern administration. Governments worldwide are realizing how crucial it is to improve public services, increase transparency, and involve citizens in decision-making processes. In this context, citizen engagement platforms have emerged as critical instruments in this attempt.

New in Basecamp: Cycle through Images

When you have a lot of images in the Docs & Files tool, it can be difficult to flip through them quickly. Not anymore! You can now cycle through photos, videos, and files in just one click. The magnifying glass icon opens up a preview, and the arrow buttons on the right and left or the arrow keys on your keyboard let you quickly move through the items in the folder.

10 Examples of Nonverbal Communication

Communication is the process of sharing information, ideas, and opinions between two or more people. It makes teams bond stronger, get to know each other, and find solutions to problems if there are any. Effective communication and identification of nonverbal cues when having meetings or hot discussions are essential. We often try to hide our emotions, feelings, and ideas but our bodies still send some subtle messages.

5 Steps to Implement Interprofessional Collaboration (With 5 Success Stories)

Did you know that ants are great at working together? Just like them, your team can do amazing things with good teamwork. A great way to boost teamwork is by adopting interprofessional collaboration in your organization. Not sure what it means? Let’s explore the concept of interprofessional collaboration together to see how it can help your team work like a well-organized group!

How to Send Firebase Notifications to iOS Devices Using Courier

Firebase offers useful SDKs for both iOS and Android apps. It provides database services, analytics, and push notification tools. It also works with most programming languages, including Swift. If you're reading this article, you've probably already come across Firebase and its Cloud Messaging tool, which can be used to send push notifications to both Android and iOS devices.

5 ways to increase citizen engagement

Citizen engagement sounds familiar yet elusive. It’s not a wonder since it includes different methods, examples, and actions. Since every country has a different political system, there are radically different opportunities and resources to engage citizens. Encouragingly, governments across the world are digitalizing their public services in increasing numbers.

What are SMART goals? Examples and templates

Vague goals that lack clarity are often left undone, even if they have great potential. Transform fuzzy objectives into attainable goals with the SMART goals framework. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. In this article, we'll dive into why each element of the SMART goals acronym is essential and how to apply them to your own goals. Every team that’s accomplished something phenomenal first had to set goals to get there.