How To Improve Hybrid Workplace Communication with Eden’s Announcements Tool

The wide adoption of hybrid and remote work has resulted in more satisfied workers and lower turnover rates. That said, we know we aren’t the first to tell you that there are still some challenges when it comes to the hybrid workplace model.

One of the biggest challenges? Workplace communication. Not just interpersonal and team-specific dynamics—the ability of a company to disseminate the right information to the right people at the right time. 

On any given day, companies can have dozens of updates to share—many of which are only intended for employees in specific locations, to be seen at certain times, or for those in specific roles. 

To help their hybrid organizations thrive, company leaders need a clear process for making announcements. Your process for sharing important updates should ensure that the right people see the announcement, that each update is given the appropriate level of urgency, and allow the recipient to take any necessary follow-up action.

Learn About Eden’s Hybrid Workplace Announcements Tool

Why having a process for workplace announcements matters

It seems like such a small thing, but why is getting workplace announcements right so important? 

1. Employee productivity is on the line 

Sending an @here Slack to the entire company or sending a message to the whole organization is appropriate in some situations, but it can divert an employee’s attention toward information that isn’t relevant to them. 

Take, for instance, a message regarding moving the location of a company meeting in the office, but it’s seen by someone who’s offsite for the week. 

2. Relevant employees aren’t always notified

Should you decide to make an announcement to a specific group and avoid the situation outlined above, you may inadvertently forget to CC all of the appropriate stakeholders on the email. 

3. Notifications get buried

Third, notifications through email or your company’s chat software could easily get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes, notifications are time-sensitive or require acknowledgement and follow-up. It’s hard to get that across in some circumstances, leaving the message-sender on the hook for reaching out to those who haven’t responded. 

4. It fits the hybrid work model

With a hybrid work model, there will be days when some employees are on-site and others aren’t. These employees might only need to see pertinent news for days they’re actually in the office.

5. Messages have varying severity

Finally, things get further complicated when you consider the severity of workplace announcements—after all, there is a difference between “Flood Alert: Evacuate the Building Immediately” and “Leftover Pizza in the Kitchen—First Come, First Serve!”

All of this to say, even though it seems obvious, having a process in place for making announcements should be a key cog in a hybrid organization’s operational strategy. One of the best ways to do this is with a tool that includes an announcements feature, like Eden’s flexible workplace suite. 

Using a tool to share announcements in your hybrid workplace

As you consider a tool to standardize and streamline announcements, here are some features to consider. 

1. Integration with the right tools

First and foremost, whatever you use to send out announcements should integrate with your existing HR tools, workplace software, chat, and email platforms. You want to make sure that your messages are going to the right aliases, inboxes, channels, and ultimately the right people. 

2. The ability to reach the right employees

The tool should be able to filter and select recipients as needed so that the appropriate employees are notified. Examples of these filters might include:

• Employees currently in the office. 
• Employees who are scheduled to come in the first week of December. 
• Employees who were on-site in the last six months. 
• Visitors to the office. 

There are situations when filtering by any or all of these criteria is the right call—and anyone outside of these groups might be distracted or confused upon getting a notification not meant for them. The filtering tool is essential to a smooth-running announcements tool. 

3. Scheduling announcements 

Your announcements tool should be able to send scheduled messages. For example, if you have a company-wide announcement that you want in everyone’s inbox at 9 AM on Monday, you might have it ready to send by Friday afternoon. 

A scheduling feature allows you to get all the work done for an announcement in advance, yet still have it go out at the opportune moment. 

4. Require Action

Finally, announcements occasionally require follow-up action, or even a simple acknowledgement of receipt. 

Eden’s announcements feature sends messages with the option to require employees to note that the message has been received and understood. Think about time-sensitive announcements on topics like open enrollment, for example.

Announcing a better announcements tool

If your company is looking for an easy way to send announcements that do everything outlined above (and more), look no further than Eden’s new announcements feature. 

Admins can send announcements to the right cohort of workers thanks to accurate data on employee location and work preference. Plus, see all the data you need on past announcements to form a gameplan on what to announce, how, and when. 

Eden’s flexible workplace suite is designed to make managing a flexible, hybrid workplace easy and enjoyable for everyone at your company. If you’d like to learn more about Eden’s announcements feature and suite of flexible workplace tools, click the button below to book a demo.