Team communication with Pumble

Team communication is a crucial component of a happy, productive, and opportunity-filled workplace. With Pumble, teams can increase their productivity by 30% by using one place where everyone can create a workspace around their needs and stay in sync. When all communication and collaboration happens in one place, teams can stay transparent and productive no matter when or where they’re working from.

Pumble is a business messaging application that makes on-site, hybrid,  and remote team communication easier. Using Pumble will save you from getting stuck in endless text or email threads. Plus, you can use Pumble on any device, so you don’t have to wait until you get to the office to collaborate with your team. 

In this guide, we’ll introduce you to team communication in Pumble and highlight its importance for successful teamwork. Then, we’ll provide you with an overview of key Pumble features that facilitate effective team communication:

• Channels, 
• Direct messages, 
• Notifications, 
• Search, and 
• Video conferencing. 

We’ll focus on the main benefits of Pumble for team communication, and offer some advice on how to get started with effective team communication.

What is team communication?

Sharing information within a group of colleagues working toward a common goal is considered team communication. Doesn’t it appear to be rather simple?

Yes, yes it does. 

However, there are several opportunities for team communication to devolve into misunderstanding. Just because the information is exchanged doesn’t mean it is always done efficiently.

Communication is the foundation of every element of a business. It’s the process of sharing information among team members while keeping in mind what you intend to say, what you actually say, and how your team perceives it.

Although team communication is complex,  almost every problem in a company can be addressed or fixed by changing the communication method. 

While it is not the management’s responsibility to initiate discussions, they may help by creating a suitable work environment for discussions and providing tools, platforms, and touchpoints that facilitate these conversations. 

Employees should have a voice in how they interact with one another, and they should offer feedback on this on a frequent basis. Today, communication in remote workforces is being revolutionized by tools like Pumble.

How Pumble improves team communication 

What role does Pumble play in effective team communication? 

Well, it can play a crucial role in several different scenarios. 

For example, Pumble can play a role in a large company operating on-site.  

However, remote teams don’t have the same opportunities to see each other every day and spend time together in meetings or over lunch.  This is where organizations can utilize team communication technology to help foster better employee relationships and improve employee engagement. 

According to one PwC study, over 80% of employees want to work from home at least one day a week. Pumble as a team collaboration and communication platform, allows remote workers to communicate effectively and keep up with who’s in charge of what. In Pumble, teams can chat with one another, make voice calls, leave voice messages, or organize video meetings.

In the remote world, it’s pretty crucial to ask questions and get involved, and keep your team in sync, and Pumble makes all this possible.. Nothing is more frustrating than keeping your coworkers in the dark about your project’s development.

Channels help you discuss a particular topic

Teamwork and communication in Pumble take place in channels. A channel is a single location where a group of people sends messages, images, and/or files. 

For example, you can have a channel for your marketing team, one for your product development group, and another for a specific project. And Pumble channels aren’t just limited to individuals in your organization — you can invite people outside of your company to join. 

Channels in Pumble can be organized by team, project, or any other category you deem important. Members of the team can join and leave channels when they want.

There are two types of channels in Pumble — public and private. 

Public channels can be accessed via a Channel browser or via Search. All team members can join public channels and get access to all information posted in these. 

Public channels thus promote transparency by ensuring more efficient knowledge sharing within an organization.

Two default public channels in Pumble are #general and #random, and everyone who joins your workspace will be automatically added to these channels. 

Public channels are used for team messaging in a certain project component, such as marketing, for example All discussions concerning the project’s marketing progress take place in the #marketing channel.

Private channels, on the other hand, are used for sensitive and confidential conversations. Only those who are invited can view the channel or find its contents in search. People must be added to a private channel by someone who’s already a member of the channel. Messages or files posted in a private channel can only be searched by members of that channel.

Tip: When you create a channel, you can decide if it will be public or private. It can be turned from public to private afterward, but not the other way around.  A private channel can’t be made public for privacy concerns.

Let’s see now what features you can use in channels, how to know which channel is for you, and how you can benefit from them. 

Channel description

Every channel should have a clear purpose. This purpose will be specified in the description field at the top of the channel or in the Details section. Channel description allows anyone joining or exploring the channel to quickly grasp what type of information they can access, contribute, or question within a specific channel —resulting in increased efficacy.

Threads

Threads help you organize conversations around certain topics in DMs and channels. In channels, threads allow for focused and structured conversations. Thread replies are linked to the original message when you initiate or reply to a message. They allow you to go further into a topic without disturbing a channel or direct message chat flow. 

For example, if you want to discuss your social media strategy for upcoming holidays in a marketing channel, start a thread on this topic and discuss your plans with your colleagues.

User groups

Think of user groups as an email list. They allow you to communicate with many members at once but don’t limit you to communicating only within a specific channel. You can mention a user group’s name — @designers, @backend_dev — in any channel or conversation, and everyone from that user group will be notified, no matter where you post the message.

Pin and save important messages

The option to pin important messages to a channel allows for:

• Easier access to answers to most common questions, 
• Faster onboarding, and 
• Reduced repetition. 

Highlight the most important resources and keep them in the sidebar at all times.

Emoji reactions 

Emojis are, obviously, entertaining. Often, a simple emoji response to a message is sufficient and can save you time and effort in coming up with a witty reply. Emoji reactions, on the other hand, may be quite useful if you use the right ones. For example, instead of responding to a progress update question in a full sentence, you can simply drop a ✅ emoji.

Voice messages

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed having to type a long message to your teammates, Pumble offers an option for you —voice messages. With a click of a button, you can record a voice message and send it to anyone in your workspace, all inside Pumble.

Direct messages help you communicate with groups and individuals

With the right tools for communication between team members, remote work can be a real joy. You’re never more than a click away from your colleagues, even if they’re on the other side of the world. In essence, the flexibility of remote communication is reflected in the continued use of various communication tools and apps. With communication shifting to mobile phones now more than ever, employees can stay in touch even when they leave their home offices.

When a conversation on a certain topic begins to take up too much space in the channel chat, it’s sometimes necessary to switch to a more focused, DM or group message setting, to fix the problem. 

It’s frequently preferable to move the conversation to a more concentrated location when discussing assignments or specific projects with a clear action item, for example. This way, you’ll be able to assign the right task to the right person in the right spot.

Another example is channel conversations, which can often turn into two-person conversations. To prevent overcrowding the channel with 50+ irrelevant notifications, it’s best to continue the conversation in a DM in this situation. If required, you can ping the channel with a resolution or notes from your private conversation.

Video calls help you to have more effective/clear communication

If you want to get your message across more effectively, there’s nothing better than a video call. In Pumble you can organize a group video meeting in a second. One-click of a button, and you can start a group video meeting with your team. During a meeting, you can share your screen to better explain your idea, share the presentation you’ve prepared or show the files.

Set up your current status help you to show availability

The practice of setting status in your team communication app comes in handy, especially for informal updates like when you’re going to lunch, if you’re starting later because of a doctor’s appointment, or if you just need to walk your dog that morning. Something as simple as updating your team about your working hours can make the biggest difference to both productivity and a sense of connectedness. 

In addition to informal updates, you can use your status to inform your teammates about important things happening in company, and keep everyone in the loop for any big decisions. Nobody likes to be kept in the dark.

Manage notifications helps you to have more time for focused work

Separating personal and professional life is one of the most common challenges for those who work remotely. This is especially true for individuals who work from home, where distractions abound and employers urge “work-life integration” or “work-life mix.” We were pushed into the deep end of an “always-on” work culture in the remote work environment where we expected to be available 24/7.

Flexible working has numerous advantages, but they must be balanced by effective time management, clear communication, and setting expectations.One of the perks of using Pumble is that you can always set your availability and inform your colleagues about it. Set your notification options, enable Do Not Disturb mode, and turn off any notifications that could be distracting.

As a Pumble user, you may be a member of several channels and therefore receive notifications from all of them, even though some of them may not be necessarily relevant to you. This may cause distractions. To prevent this, you can mute any channels that you’re not using right now. It’s also a good idea to set your status to  “Away” until you’re ready again when you’re not focused on an important assignment. Knowing these Pumble tricks can help you boost your productivity to new heights.

Search options helps you find what you need

Learning how to find the exact information you need in Pumble may save you a lot of time and increase your productivity. Whether you’re looking for a certain channel, person, or file, you can use search filters like “in: #channel” or “from: user” to narrow down your search queries.

One of the significant advantages of Pumble is unlimited chat history. Pumble lets you see all the messages ever sent, for free. You can search your team’s entire conversation history and find an important message no matter how long ago it happened. Use the search bar to type the term you’re searching for and no matter how long ago the conversation happened, you will find it.

Conclusion

An engaged employee is one that enjoys their job and wants to benefit the company they work for. We suggest using all the tools at your disposal to keep your employees engaged and in the loop with every important piece of information. Most importantly, keep your team communication at a high level and you will have high-performing employees.