5 essential Cliq channels to help your team communicate effectively

Did you know that using channels in Cliq can help you communicate and collaborate more effectively with your team?

Bring order to your work by creating channels for specific projects, team, or topic and communicate efficiently with organized, searchable conversations. Channels are one of the focal features of Cliq and are one of the best ways to communicate effectively among teams and promote transparency within your organization.

In this blog, we'll talk about the benefits of Cliq channels and the five types of channels that your team needs.

Robust and effective communication is the need of the hour

Good communication is vital for businesses to be more productive and to maintain healthy relationships at all levels of an organization. Especially in the light of many businesses adopting work-from-home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest challenges is virtual communication as there's room for misunderstandings and confusion in the absence of visual cues. So it's crucial to adopt a business communication tool that allows you to communicate with clarity eliminating confusion.

One basic reason for a drop in productivity while working remotely is poor communication. According to research by McKinsey Global Institute, productivity increases by 20-25% with improved communication and well-connected employees.

How Cliq channels can help reshape your workplace

i) They help bring through organized conversations.

ii) They simplify group collaboration by making communication more transparent.

iii) Searchable conversations make it easy for you to find the information you need instantly.

iv) You can access data or information from your favorite apps right from within the channel window by associating your tools with the channel.

v) Channels help you collaborate better and stay connected not only with users in your organization but also with members outside your organizations.

Here are five necessary channels in Cliq that can help cross the hurdles of effective communication in the workplace and collaborate with ease.

1. Announcement channel to easily share information

Imagine a situation where you're onboarding a new set of employees into your organization. You will have to communicate all major announcements, company policies, and so forth. An announcement-only channel comes in handy in such situations. You can configure permissions and disable all participants from sending messages in the channel to keep it free of off-topic or conflicting messages, as well as ensuring all information in that channel is correct.

An announcement channel can be used to share company-wide announcements, alerts for events, and more. For instance, in Zoho, we have a channel called #Zohocorp-Announcements dedicated to company-wide announcements.

Reserve a dedicated channel for circulating information intended for everyone in the organization.

Learn more about how to configure permissions in a Cliq channel here.

2. Team channels to improve collaboration

Nearly every organization has multiple departments like Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Technical Support, and so on. You can mirror these sections of your organization in Cliq by creating specific channels exclusively for each department. It helps them to plan, collaborate, and run their work smoothly from one unified place.

For example, let's consider a channel specifically for the marketing department.

This channel can be used to bring all your marketing team members together in one place to plan and execute marketing strategies. You can also associate your analytics tool with this channel and get access to analytics reports from within the channel.

From formulating strategies to lead generation and monitoring your marketing efforts in real-time, this channel brings everything into one platform. Ultimately, it helps make sure that all the members of the department are up to date.

3. Channels to enhance social relations and promote interest groups

In addition to the channels focused on work, it's vital to have a dedicated space for social channels for employees to plan social events, share common interests, and so on...

In Cliq, we have channels like #share-moments, #Music Lovers, and a lot more. Channels like these help forge healthy relationships between employees, as well as help them destress from work pressures and stay connected when many or all are working remotely.

You can even create separate channels for team-building activities to encourage collaboration, rather than competition, between employees.

4. Space to share ideas

Employees tend to be more engaged when they feel their voice is heard and their ideas matter to their company's leaders. Thus, it's helpful to provide a safe space for employees to contribute their concerns and suggestions. One way is to have a dedicated channel like #suggestion-box where employees can pitch new ideas and offer suggestions to improve existing products or services.

5. Keep your internal help desk within reach

Happy employees are more productive and engaging. One way to make your employees' lives easier is by helping them solve their problems quickly.

One way to provide them with 24/7 support is by creating a designated channel to connect employees with your company's internal support team. This gives your employees a simple, efficient way to reach out for help and means your support team can make sure no request gets overlooked or forgotten.

Now we've gone over some of the channels your team could use to communicate and collaborate more effectively, here are some best practices for using those channels:

3 Cliq channel best practices

1. Every channel must have a clear name and description to directly convey the purpose of the channel.

 For example, the channel name #internal-support clearly indicates that this channel is intended for internal support-related discussions.

2. Make sure that all channels in your organization follow the established naming guidelines.

3. Keep your channels organized. Delete or archive unused or out of date channels to keep your organization's Cliq platform clear and structured.

Streamline your organization with Cliq channels and get work done faster. Whether you're in the office or all working remotely, a centralized workflow and a well-structured workplace means nothing can stop your company from moving forward.

Try using Cliq channels to pave the way for effective communication in your workplace. If you have any questions or want to share your feedback, leave us a comment below or write to us at support@zohocliq.com.