A gallup revealed that an organization with active employee engagement can be 22% more profitable than others. This explains the paradigm shift in business strategies in contemporary times.

Speaking of driving forces behind high engagement, motivation takes the top spot. But what are the driving forces behind high motivation in the workplace? What makes employees feel motivated to display exorbitant commitment and diligence? Well, there could be different answers to these questions.

However, one determining factor that plays a vital role in driving motivation in the workplace is employee recognition. Appreciation from superiors, managers, and co-workers stimulates great zeal and motivation among employees.

In fact, as per HubSpot, 69 percent of employees assert that they will invest greater commitment in the workplace when they receive genuine appreciation. Besides,  a report by Randstad concluded that 27 percent of employees tend to quit in the absence of appreciation.

So, as you can see, from the motivation of employees to high engagement and retention among employees, employee appreciation is indispensable. In the absence of virtues of appreciation, recognition and other fringe benefits, employees can get demotivated and disengaged.

To help you find ideas, this article puts forth some unique and innovative ideas for employee appreciation. Without further ado, let’s jump in.

1. Award flexibility and autonomy

Speaking of employees’ expectations in this reinvented corporate space, flexibility is what they desire the most. Employees will be more than happy to continue remote work even after the pandemic is long gone. They are of the view that flexible working arrangements facilitate a better work-life balance. So why not make flexibility a reward they can win with exemplary performance?

As per CompareCamp, 73 percent of employees assert that flexible work arrangements are vital for greater job satisfaction. Having said that, they seek flexible working styles and flexible working hours. Moreover, they desire autonomy to work in their own way and on tools of their choice.

Therefore, offering greater flexibility and autonomy to your top performers can be a brilliant idea. When you recognize your employees by empowering them, it will set a performance benchmark for the entire workforce.

Everyone would love to work their way to winning more flexibility and autonomy, isn’t it? Let autonomy be a metaphor for employee appreciation and recognition.

 2. Cultivate a culture of gratitude

Appreciation and gratitude are quite complementary to each other, aren’t they? Given that, it is better if both appreciation and gratitude co-exist in the workplace.

Here is a fascinating insight on workplace gratitude! Research by Harvard University concluded that gratefulness in the workplace can amplify employee productivity by 50 percent. To add, 81 percent of employees opine that they would be happy to go the extra mile for a grateful boss. Are you a grateful boss who believes in the simple art of thankfulness?

When there is a natural culture of gratitude in the workplace, appreciation is facilitated better. A sense of thankfulness will further promote the need for appreciation. However, it starts with you and you need to lead by example. When you start thanking people and appreciating them for their contributions, it will become a natural virtue in the workplace.

Now it makes complete sense why you should be a thankful boss, isn’t it?

3. Offer personalized rewards

It is obvious that your employees will have varied interests and passions. Having said that, awarding fancy trophies to your employees may not be the most innovative idea.

Give them something valuable to them and they can use it to their advantage. That will be a much better reward than a trophy to keep in the cabinet or a framed certificate to be hung on the wall. Personalized rewards would be great as tokens of appreciation!

If someone is a fan of binge-watching, buy them a Netflix subscription instead of a trophy. Similarly, if someone is a fitness maniac, show appreciation by awarding them a gym membership. Also something for those that love to learn new things, like a new language, you can provide them with access to language learning resources.

On similar lines, you can take the help of the HR department to explore the interests of your employees and exhibit your appreciation via customized rewards. Your employees would absolutely love the idea! Besides, they feel far more motivated than receiving gift hampers or certificates of appreciation.

Besides, such personalization in rewards will further foster a sense of belonging in them. This feeling of belonging will have its own role to play in the motivation of employees. A study by BetterUp revealed that a strong sense of belonging can enhance job performance by 56 percent.

So, you better start working on promoting greater belonging in your employees! Personalized rewards based on their interests would be a great way of achieving that.

4. Leverage social media for employee appreciation

We all know how powerful and charming social media is in this era of overwhelming digitalization. Do you know that as per projections by Statista, the number of global social media users will reach 4.41 billion by 2025?

Given the colossal outreach of social media, you should look to leverage it for your business in all plausible ways. One of the greatest benefits social media offers is that it gives you a perfect platform to appreciate your employees.

Celebrate the persistent hard work and excellence of your employees through social media shoutouts. Post the pictures of your top performers on the social media handles of your business and express gratitude and appreciation through heart-warming captions. Let everyone connected to your social media profiles know who your top performers are.

Employees would find themselves brimming with confidence and motivation to be at the receiving end of such appreciation. Besides, it will also enable their peers and co-workers to congratulate them by posting comments. As a result, it can bring more likes and higher engagement rate that can help your business growth, too.

Needless to say, employees would love every bit of such special mentions on social media. They would want to win more social media mentions in the future and for that, they will keep their productivity upbeat. Quite a smart and social way of exhibiting employee recognition, isn’t it?

4. Feature appreciation in internal newsletters

If your company has gone completely remote, there may be a certain deficit in employees’ access to the latest company information and developments. This is where digital internal newsletters can be of great help.

Internal newsletters can serve multidimensional purposes in an organization. They can be used to keep employees in remote jobs updated with the latest events in the organization. Besides, you can also extend appreciation to your best performers by featuring them in the internal newsletters.

You can dedicate an entire column in the newsletter to employee recognition and appreciation. In this column, a detailed account of the achievements of the employees can be given. In this way, everyone in the organization will know who the top achievers of a specific month or quarter are.

Moreover, the top management of the company can also share their vision and strategic plans for the coming quarters through internal newsletters.

6. Create an exclusive achievers’ club

Let the highest form of recognition in the workplace be in terms of privileges offered by an exclusive league of achievers. An achiever’s club in the workplace should be about exclusive benefits for performers who settle for nothing less than excellence.

An achiever’s club can offer the following exquisite benefits to the top-performing employees as an expression of your appreciation for employees.

• Exclusive mentorship programs for career development
• Health and financial wellness programs
• Sponsored vacations
• Health insurance and telemedicine benefits
• Monetary incentives and attractive perks

The list is inexhaustible and you can add as many exclusive privileges as you may think of. Of course, they have to be in line with the budget you want to set for employee appreciation. In fact, an achievers’ club can be a fabulous idea for motivating employees.

Those who get an entry into this achiever’s club and get access to these privileges will be able to derive massive motivation. Besides, for others who see their co-workers being a part of this superlative league, they too would want to put in greater commitment and make their way to this club.

All in all, such a league of achievers will set a fine performance benchmark in the organization. It will act as a perfect motivation for employees who would then want to realign their goals with the objectives of the organization in a more worthwhile manner.

Besides, of course, it will also be a creative way of extending recognition and rewards to employees. The impact such a framework will have on employee engagement and retention will also be incredible.

7. Celebrate your people

The idea of employe appreciation should not be limited to celebrating achievements. You also need to appreciate the effort and the persistence invested by your employees in every task. Sometimes their efforts would translate into accomplishments and at times they might not.

This is where you have to be more flexible with your idea of appreciating your employees. To keep your team motivated, celebrate your people. Celebrate their contributions, accomplishment of small goals, and their allegiance to your organization.

Let them know that the celebration of diversity in the workplace, birthdays and even the smallest milestones are all part of an inclusive culture of appreciation. When you organize such celebrations in the workplace, be vocal about the idea behind it.

Tell your employees that these gestures are in lieu of their undying commitment and the value they add to the company. See how they would respond with enchanting smiles and greater motivation to keep the positivity going! Everyone deserves a nice break full of great things to stay motivated after all, isn’t it?

Always remember, celebrating your people and their little acts of goodwill is one of the best tactics for high employee engagement.

8. Give bonus paid leave

If you ask your employees to tell you their top three wishes, additional paid leaves would most certainly be one of them. Employees always find themselves in a crunch situation when it comes to paid leaves.

Most of them seek some extra time off from work to get a better work-life balance going. Moreover, they feel that some extra paid leaves would be great for their mental health and work motivation.

Hence, offering some bonus paid leave to employees for exemplary performances will be a good idea. Let’s say in the usual sense, your employees are entitled to two paid leavers per month.

However, if someone has performed well in the last month or quarter, you can offer them to avail a few additional paid leaves. When you do that, remember to tell them that it is a token of appreciation from the organization.

They would feel great to hear that and the feeling of appreciation behind this special entitlement will rejuvenate their motivation. In fact, additional paid leaves are among the best non-monetary rewards you can give to your employees.

9. Order surprise meals

Who does not like food? So, if you have to think of some nice gestures for appreciating your employees, order surprise meals for them. Even if your team members are working from home, you can have a surprise meal delivered to their doorstep with a small appreciation note.

Your employees would adore such sweet acts and the appreciation note would be the cherry on the cake. All you need to do is pick up your phone and place an order for the favorite meal of the employee you want to reward.

Quite a convenient and cost-effective way of appreciating someone, isn’t it?

10. Conduct virtual coffee breaks

As per Forbes, 70 percent of the global workforce will be in remote arrangements by 2025. We all know how remote and hybrid workplace cultures are becoming a hit in contemporary times.

Having said that, the bright future of remote work is well known to us. Telecommuting is the way forward and we need to adapt briskly.

What this means is that employers and managers need to find some unique ideas to appreciate employees virtually. Besides, it is a well-known fact that employees prefer recognition in front of their peers to receiving appreciation in private.

Hence, the need of the hour is to find some brilliant ideas for virtual appreciation. Well, virtual coffee breaks can be an amazing idea to serve this purpose. Whenever there is a need to extend recognition to employees, you can conduct a virtual coffee break using virtual escape rooms.

A virtual coffee break means that everyone breaks at the same time and connects through video conferencing software. The virtual coffee breaks can be about relaxing and candid conversations outside the ambit of work.

Moreover, during these breaks, you can take out a moment to appreciate your employees and let everyone know of their accomplishments. A lot can happen over a cup of coffee after all! Doesn’t it make a fabulous idea to recognize prodigious performance?

To conclude, it is interesting how the expression of appreciating employees is becoming a competitive advantage for organizations. Companies are now acknowledging the quintessential link between employee recognition and motivation. Better appreciation leads to greater motivation and engagement which are paramount to an organization’s success.

However, better employee appreciation in contemporary times is synonymous with unique ideas to reward employees. This blog for sure sets a perfect template of innovative and novel ideas for employee appreciation.

The post 10 Unique Employee Appreciation Ideas appeared first on Fleep Blog.

Regardless of the industry, customer-company communication trust is a critical part of a company’s success. When trust is lacking, it is difficult to make a deal. When a partner or customer provides confidential information to a supplier or partner, they must trust that it will be handled responsibly.

That’s why email encryption should be a key component of your company’s security policy. Here are 15 reasons to start thinking about email encryption.

1. Preventing business risks

As there is so much at stake these days due to various email dangers, no one wants to send emails that are not encrypted.  With the exception of using email marketing software for marketing efforts, any internal email or email with clients should be encrypted to protect both parties. Without encryption, anyone can read your email and have access to the information it contains. Such information can be used against you by anyone, including your competitors. Encrypting your email to help protect sensitive data is recommended to avoid business and other types of risks.

2. Preventing data breaches

Source: Unsplash

Confidential information exposed to outside companies or government agencies can have severe consequences for your organization. In the worst-case scenario, the data breach could result in lost income or reputation, fines, or even criminal investigations. However, the chance of private or confidential information slipping into the wrong hands is minimized when an email is secured.

3. Email provides no privacy

Too often, the insecure nature of e-mail is disregarded – outsiders can read an email as easily as a postcard. Many people believe that an email travels only from one machine to the next. In practice, the message is routed through numerous mail servers and proxy servers before reaching the targeted recipient.

4. Keeping business-critical data safe

Is your firm sending emails with information about your business that you don’t want your rivals to know about? Every company has something unique to offer that should be protected. Knowledge is the foundation of all business.

However, for a business to keep running, information must be shared. In senior management and sales, financial administration, product development, human resources, and customer support, there is a need for confidential communication because the shared information is critical and usually classified.

5. Keeping customer communications secure

Customers want to be able to communicate quickly and easily. They are familiar with digital ways and have more options for sharing information than ever before. They also have trust in your ability to protect the personal information they share with you.

On the other hand, customers might not always be aware of or have access to safe communication methods. The company’s responsibility is to provide secure communication channels that fit the customer’s needs (and employees).

6. Time-saving

Source: Unsplash

For confidential communication, many companies rely on traditional mail. In a fast-paced environment, this is often no longer an option. Processes become much more efficient and faster with encrypted email messaging. Developing an encrypted email strategy can be easier if you use roadmap planning to visualize the process.

What used to take days or weeks can now be done in minutes. Securely. Printing, mailing and scanning take up less time for employees, allowing them to focus on more important work.

7. Identifying the receiver

You always want to know who the other party is when interacting electronically. It may even be required for you to make deals. Aside from using private messaging platforms with complete privacy protection like Tauria, you can identify the receiver using e-mail encryption. There are various methods for determining the email receiver, including robust electronic identification.

8. Observance of regulations

Contracts, legislation, and other regulations all have their own set of rules for keeping personal information safe. Every corporation operating in the European Union, for example, must adhere to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (also known as GDPR). As a result, personal data must always be processed by data protection legislation data protection principles.

Furthermore, many industries have their own communication regulations that must be followed. The obligations imposed on communications can be addressed by using a flexible e-mail encryption solution that considers various use cases.

9. Keeping data safe from leaks caused by human errors

Email encryption prevents sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, such as credit card details, bank account numbers, and social security numbers. On the other hand, the sender may forget to encrypt the message or misunderstand the critical nature of the content.

10. Securing your brand’s image and reputation

How do you want your company to be perceived? Any company’s brand is becoming heavily dependent on its reputation. That’s why you need both a good investment portfolio strategy and an encrypted email strategy.

Confidential client relationships are built over time, but the confidence that has been earned can be lost in an instant if news of information leakage makes it to the front pages of newspapers. Information security helps to maintain and protect a trustworthy corporate image.

11. Email encryption is easier than using traditional mail

Source: Unsplash

Using standard mail to send a confidential document involves multiple procedures. Let’s imagine you need to get papers to a specific person urgently. You print the document, seal it in an envelope, write the address on it, order a courier, wait for them to arrive, and then hand it over to them for delivery.

Depending on the recipient’s location, the delivery could take hours or even days. With email encryption, all you have to do is attach the document and send it.

12. Reject sent messages

Since it is so easy to fake regular email messages, you’ll never be able to establish that a specific individual sent you a particular message. This means that a person can deny sending you a message even if they did send it. This has significant consequences for using email for contracts, electronic commerce, and corporate communications, among other things.

13. Stay away from identity theft

If someone obtains your login and password for accessing your email servers, they will be able to read the emails you send and, even worse, send false email messages on your behalf. This is called identity theft, and it may be avoided if you use email encryption.

14. Restrict message replay possibilities

Source: Unsplash

You probably already know that the message you sent can be changed, but you can do one more thing with your messages. Messages can be saved, edited, and resent at a later time. Unfortunately, after receiving an authentic message, one can also receive false messages that look official.

15. Backups that aren’t protected

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers, often known as outgoing mail servers, store the messages you send. Text copies of your messages are included in server disk backups. These backups can last for several years. So, even if you think you’ve erased a message, anyone with access to the backup files can read your conversations and use the information to your disadvantage.

Conclusion

Information security and email encryption should not alter performance. Encryption is frequently perceived as burdensome and complicated. It does not have to be. Without the need for installations, new accounts, or passwords, encryption can be simple to use for both the sender and the recipient.

The post 15 Reasons to Use Encrypted Emails for Company Communication appeared first on Fleep Blog.

While starting a business can pay off, managing a remote team can be challenging for new business owners.

Every aspect of the traditional office environment changes when employees are spread over different cities, towns, and sometimes, even countries.

Here are 10 tips that will help you manage your newly assembled remote team.

1. Set the right foundation

A strong foundation is an indicator of a successful business, remote or not.

Entrepreneurs or small business owners need to conduct thorough research to formulate a remote business plan that includes:

• Business description
• Business goals
• Unique selling point (USP)
• Internal structure
• Work processes
• Financial projections

When all of these factors are planned comprehensively, starting a remote business becomes easier. A solid business plan helps founders secure funding since they can clearly explain what they’re going to do with an investor’s money or business loan.

2. Employee Management

From an employee perspective, a good business plan gives you a clear idea of the kind of remote team members you want to work with. Everything from the job description to the hiring process is efficiently crafted and executed.

However, before hiring team members, you need to decide how you will manage the back-end operations.

When starting a remote business, you often don’t have the time to individually manage all the paperwork, payroll, benefits, etc. In a traditional business, the HR department handles these tasks.

To reduce the burden on their shoulders, remote business owners should consider outsourcing their employee management.

When you don’t have administrative tasks to bog you down, you can focus on a potential employee’s skills, experience, and how they fit into your team rather than their paperwork.

3. The Right Software

Once you’ve got the best people working for and with you, the first step in ensuring they can do their job efficiently is providing the right software.

For general workflow management, you can choose a tool like Fleep that combines team communication, messenger apps, and video-calling platforms.

A dynamic tool like this helps streamline team communication, and gives everyone transparency regarding what’s going on in the company. It also enhances collaboration both within a team and between different teams.

PRO TIP: When you start a company room or workspace, create a channel for general conversation. This channel should ideally be for non-work chatter where people can connect.

You’ll also need to invest in a good CRM, spend management software, accounting software, project management software, an online course platform for training, mobile device management software for improved data security, and any other specific tool related to your niche or business.

4. Set Expectations

As the founder, everyone looks up to you, and most employees will likely be intimidated by you.

It’s vital that you actively create a friendly work culture where everyone is cordial without disregarding professional conduct.

The key to a good workspace culture is to set expectations early. You need to provide clear guidelines, set boundaries, and outline the basics.

One way to do this is to use cloud-based software to link to company information and guidelines.

You should also be on hand to answer queries quickly. This is especially important in the initial stages when you’ve just hired key team members like managers and team leads.

When higher-ups are well-informed and abide by your guidelines, it’s easier to form a culture where everyone understands the business’ goals and priorities.

5. Build Rapport

(Image source)

Entrepreneurs and business owners have to walk a fine line between building a friendly workculture while still maintaining their authority.

You want to come off as a genuine person that cares about their employees without crossing a line.

As stated earlier, a non-work channel for general chatter is excellent for this. You can share fun pictures, comment on things happening around the world (keep it light, though), host polls, share gifs and memes, etc.

As the company leader, you want those under your employ to come to you if they have any work-related problems rather than let things get worse in silence because they’re intimidated.

This could be a manager that has noticed an issue with the workflow or an employee that is having trouble focusing on their tasks.

6. Have Longer One-on-ones

When a team is fully remote, one-on-one meetings become an important part of connecting with employees.

You might already be having solo meetings, but remote companies require lengthier sessions.

A one-on-one is typically a feedback session, but the praise or complaints go both ways. A solo meeting helps you let employees know where they stand and clears any doubts about expectations and performances.

It humanizes you as well. You aren’t just seen as a money-hungry CEO or manager, but rather a leader that cares and wants to connect with their troops.

Encourage your employees to provide criticism or any suggestions for improving current work processes.

One-on-ones are also excellent for building rapport. All those random conversations that typical employees might have in the break room or at company events don’t happen for remote teams, which is why group or solo virtual meetings are so important for bonding. Get yourself one of the virtual meeting platforms that are available and start building rapport with your team.

7. Maintain Morale

Morale is an extremely important part of remote team management. You can bond, address frustrations, etc., via company events, retreats, or a nice office dinner in a traditional office.

You can’t do any of those things with a remote team, so you need to be creative.

Replace breakroom hangouts with a virtual one, like an hour-long coffee session once a week. Virtual games are also an option for team building.

Both remote and in-person companies can boost morale by sending gifts for important occasions or milestones.

Since you don’t know each of your employees’ likes and dislikes, you can send generic gifts (sweatshirts, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.), or you could offer them coupons to get discounts on whatever they want to buy.

8. Automate Remote Processes

Productivity is the backbone of business growth. As such, you and your team should constantly be working toward your goals rather than mindlessly busy with mundane tasks.

Every department can benefit from automating business processes.

(Image Source)

Automation is crucial for companies that are just starting. Every day has a significant impact on the business. You don’t want your employees to focus on repetitive tasks or waste time moving files manually.

The goal is to keep your team working on as many impactful tasks as possible while automation handles the rest.

For example, your HR team will save time and can focus on employee management when processes like leave requests, sales orders, onboarding for new employees, etc., are automated.

9. Sales Development

New businesses heavily bank on sales reps to get new clients or client projects. An ineffective sales team or sales process can be the downfall of a company.

While sales executives capture leads, sales development representatives (SDRs) nurture them and move prospective customers down the sales funnel.

Given how crucial their role is, business owners and managers should build an SDR process that dictates team members’ roles and responsibilities.

Arguably the hardest part of the SDR process is prospecting — when the team sends emails, makes phone calls, and utilizes social selling to create opportunities to close the deal.

You need to clearly define each aspect of this process with your SDRs in detail and provide them with the right tools to get the job done. For example, an email verifier can help SDRs speed up outbound emails and ensure they’re not wasting time.

(image source)

Your SDR process involves many other elements and is likely to keep changing with current market trends. Be sure to design every element efficiently and make sure you answer any questions upon implementation.

10. Schedule Annual In-Person Meetups

There’s only so much you can do over video calls and chat. Nothing beats getting everyone together in person at least once a year.

You can shell out for a company trip to an exotic location or organize a meet-up at a location that is close to everyone.

It’s like a mini-vacation with your coworkers. Spirits are usually high, conversations flow, and you can have epic discussions about anything from time travel to company culture.

You can use a part of the meet-up to show gratitude for your employees.

It’s also a great opportunity for team bonding. Some companies plan team icebreaker games during retreats for a little bit of competitive fun.

When planning company meet-ups, don’t plan strict schedules. You can plan some activities but leave enough space for employees to actually enjoy themselves.

If your remote team is scattered around the world and can’t all travel to the same destination, you can encourage smaller groups to meet at a convenient location once or twice a year.

Conclusion

Remote teams are the way of the future. Many studies of employees and CEOs have found that a significant portion of the workforce wants to stay remote, even after the pandemic subsides.

Entrepreneurs have a unique business opportunity in front of them — they can create diverse remote teams that work just as well or better than an in-person one while saving money on startup and overhead costs.

Of course, your remote teams require just as much management and guidance. We hope the tips we’ve provided help you become an even greater leader.

The post 10 Tips for Managing a Remote Team When Starting a New Business appeared first on Fleep Blog.

It’s the one tool that you know you’re going to be using every single day in business. So when you get into work, you check your emails.

Over the weekend, you might keep an eye out. And you certainly send essential sales, marketing, and financial communications this way.

Around 121 business emails are sent daily. This is a huge number. Yet if we’re all communicating in such a major way via this medium, shouldn’t we make sure that it’s super effective?

Think about it.

You communicate with customers, colleagues, managers, business partners, clients, support staff, and various other stakeholders daily.

So isn’t it essential to make sure that they’re done right?

We all know just how easy it is to misunderstand a message or pick up at the wrong time. So it’s safe to say that nailing your email communications is paramount. But what does it take to do that, and does it make a difference?

To make each message count, you’ve got to break down the anatomy of a good email. How it’s written, how it’s perceived, how it looks, the tone – and even leading trends.

Taking all of this into account is bound to help you improve your email deliverability and get your point across at the same time.

Let’s take a look at exactly how you can improve your email communications in just nine simple steps.

1. Understand Email Trends In 2021

Image Source: Really Good Emails

Before you take to anything, it’s always good to do a bit of research.

Yes, we’re talking about sending an email here, but trends come and go in email communications, just like in anything else. So knowing what’s in, now, and trending can help you to keep ahead of the curve.

Gone are the days when clunky and chunky emails work well. We’re all so busy these days that receiving something short and sweet is best.

Some companies opt to send out a short text, rather than the long-form counterpart we’re used to. It’s kind of like an SMS message – no visuals, no bows, and whistles.

Just like the kind of email you’d get from your colleagues. Kind of cool, right? Straight, easy, and to the point.

And some are taking it to the next level, getting up close and personal with their audience by using gifs, emojis, and memes to connect with the current culture and kicking your email marketing images up a notch.

You need to understand what messaging style and what trends sit successfully with your brand, which revolves around your brand’s mission statement and culture.

2. Write A Longer Subject Line

When it comes to the subject line, be sure to make the most of it. Don’t worry so much about keeping it short and sweet – especially if it doesn’t convey your message well. It’s better to be clear and concise with your subject to encourage the open – rather than too strategic.

That being said, opting for a longer subject line could work. Of course, it needs to fit within the message box – so nothing too long here. But statistics say that around 50 characters could be the sweet spot.

Above all else, go with a subject line that gets to the point.

You want it to showcase the message content well as well as ensure that it gets read. Choosing to A/B test your subject lines could also work well here, or you can try an online email subject line tester to get some insights.

3. Check Your Tone

Image Source: Really Good Emails

An essential element in your main body text here will be your tone. You have to be sure that your email communications are received in the right way. Are you writing a professional email that needs to be…perfect?

Either way, ask yourself – how do you want to come across?

Is this a formal email or something casual? Do you need to choose your language meticulously to please your readers, or can you have a little fun?

Again, think back to the idea of using emojis – these can work well and connect with your audience, but only in the proper context. In casual emails and in communications with people you know well, this works.

But when in doubt, it’s always best to keep things professional and leave them out!

4. Start With The Main Point

Image Source: Really Good Emails

Emails will often get scanned. Yes, that means that important information can be misunderstood or even missed altogether. This is why you have to start with the main point.

Know precisely what you’re trying to get across before you begin. Don’t waffle, and definitely don’t fill the text with fluff that isn’t relevant to what you’re trying to say.

If you know that you’re trying to be information or persuade, explanatory or tell a story, it’ll help you understand the point you’re trying to communicate here.

Then, you can be sure to lead with the most critical topic and expand on it if need be. Remember, there will always be a takeaway from the email – so lead with that and be upfront. Respect the reader’s time and get straight to the point.

5. Read The Last Message Fully

It’s also important to read the room.

And this can work in two ways.

First of all, you need to listen. Do you understand the person you’re communicating with? What sort of tone do they have? Make a mental note of whether they have a sense of humor, tend to be very abrupt, or whether they’re pretty neutral here.

Knowing these things can help you to mirror their methods and connect with them as you communicate.

After all, if you’re reading with an old-school kind of guy and you want to make an impression, you know to keep your comms very traditional. And vice versa.

But then also, rereading the previous message helps you to minimize communication errors and keep the conversation flowing well.

6. Break Up The Text

Image Source: Really Good Emails

Who wants to read paragraphs and paragraphs of blocky text? We already mentioned that scannable emails are easy to read. Looking to keep things scannable can work for you here.

The best way to do that is to bread it all up. Feel free to use different headings or to highlight key points by putting them in bold or italics.

Even putting each key point on its line can work better. That way, your reader can easily take in all of the information without being overwhelmed.

It doesn’t have to be a huge essay to be essential or articulate. Sometimes, something simple can be so much more effective.

7. Use Visuals

Image Source: Really Good Emails

Design matters in email communication as much as the messaging does. Because if your emails aren’t catching the eyes of your readers, they just won’t get read!

So make them beautiful.

Feel free to have fun with imagery and definitely use it to illustrate your key points.

A lot of people are visual learners – 65% in fact, so don’t alienate them with too much text. The different fonts you choose, picking out the right pictures, and even your use of whitespace all contribute.

Use tools like Vectornator for creating fully custom illustrations, Giphy for great GIFs, or Canva for customizable visuals. You can also think about customizing fonts or adding in different prompts for your readers to click, the Calls-To-Action (CTAs).

Just feel free to have more fun with your emails to see what works.

8. Use Interactivity

Image Source: Really Good Emails

And don’t be afraid to get interactive.

Do you want to get clicks? You want your readers to react? Then ask them to!

Why not post a poll or hold a contest? If you want to make your readers tick, then click, you have to stimulate their curiosity and spark action in them.

But there has to be something in it for them. Hosting a giveaway or offering some kind of incentive is the best way to do this. Again, play around with different ideas and work out what your audience responds to the most.

9. Use Behavioral Analytics

Image Source

Above all else, always, always, always, use your analytics. Not just because they are there, but because they give you invaluable insight into how your audience behaves.

The data collected here can help you to tweak your email communications and improve the next time around.

 See if your email provider offers this, or even consider working with analytics tools like merging email statistics with more detailed information about how users interact with your content.

That way, you can make better calls on what content to work with next and ultimately see more success with your email communications.

Final Thoughts

Writing the perfect email is like pulling together a puzzle. It can seem a little overwhelming at first, but all the pieces will work together. You just have to coordinate them by focusing on how your message will be perceived and then putting it together to mirror that can help.

Better yet, working on your wording, minding your tone, being strategic with your subject, and making sure it’s laid out (and dressed up with images) in the most visually pleasing way can work wonders.

Remember, you’re communicating so much via email these days – so your messaging needs to stand out. Your analytics will be the golden ticket here. Test, test, and test again.

And don’t be afraid to try new things. What works in email communication is constantly evolving, so it’s okay to think outside the box and take risks with what you do.

The post 9 Ways To Improve Your Email Communication appeared first on Fleep Blog.

In 2021, productivity is all about automation and integration. The tools that offer the broadest range of seamless integrations and the most effective automation rules increase your efficiency levels and enhance your value.

With this in mind, take a look at the top 10 productivity tools for 2021.

1. Gmail

Image Source

As one of the most widely used applications on the internet, it’s no surprise that Gmail is a productivity tool that everyone should be using in 2021.

In addition to secure and professional email management, Gmail offers a range of features that streamline workflows and increase efficiency.

Smart features and personalization ensure you can customize your Gmail account to suit our needs and access intuitive controls at any time. When you’re invited to an event via email, for example, Gmail automatically adds it to your Google Calendar.

Similarly, the Google app uses the information stored to provide you with valuable, time-saving reminders, such as Google Maps showing exact travel times and directions to upcoming appointments.

Helpful nudges even keep you up to date with correspondence and remind you when an email appears to require a reply or when to follow up if you have received a response.

While Gmail’s in-built features certainly go a long way to making your email communication effective, you can integrate several other tools to increase its functionality.

With Slack, Asana, and Google Drive add-ons, for example, it’s easy to combine your most-used tools into one centralized hub.

2. Hugo

Image Source

 To achieve maximum productivity levels, you need to be highly organized, and that’s one reason why Hugo is a must-have tool for 2021.

Instead of meetings resulting in potential actions, unconfirmed collaborations, and confusion, Hugo allows you to keep clear, concise notes in one location.

By connecting your meeting notes, calendars, tasks, and most-used apps, Hugo simplifies your virtual workspace and allows you to function with increased efficiency.

Multi-user note editing in real-time facilitates instant collaboration, even if your workforce is distributed across different locations.

Currently, you can integrate Hugo with more than 20 apps, including posting ‘next tasks’ to Asana, syncing agendas via Slack, and transporting Google video calls straight into the Hugo platform.

With connections to both Office 365 and Google Calendar, it’s easy to update your schedule as new events are organized.

3. Miro

Image Source

Designed for teamwork, Miro’s visual-based collaboration platform makes working with colleagues simple, straightforward, and highly productive.

When millions of employees are working remotely, Miro’s real-time collaborations, presentations, and video calling ensure seamless connectivity and enhanced productivity.

You can use whiteboards, flow charts and a range of other graphical features to compile and present data within the Miro framework, add comments in the same way as you would in Google Docs and even save time with an ‘omnifeed’ that shows comments across all boards.

The Miro Apps Marketplace offers more than 90 app integrations, which means you can connect Miro and its features to your most-used tools and platforms to create cohesive workflows.

4. Asana

Image Source

Known for its first-class integration, Asana is a task and workflow management platform that’s used by millions of people worldwide.

Asana incorporates a range of complex methodologies but successfully presents them in easy-to-use features.

Compared to similar tools, such as Trello or Wrike, the capabilities, simplicity, and enhanced integration ensure that Asana comes out on top. It is also ranked as one of the top project management tools by TechnologyAdvice.

With an interactive Slack plugin, you can turn Slack messages into Asana tasks, create new tasks and action existing tasks from within Slack, view Asana data in Slack, and much, much more.

Similar integrations ensure seamless connectivity with a wide range of apps, including Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Jira Server, and Zoom.

Android and iOS apps show you a daily digest of your Asana workstreams, so you manage your workload and stay productive when you’re on the go.

Furthermore, a Premium subscription enables you to begin external guests into your Asana workspace to view and collaborate on projects.

5. Google Workspace

Image Source

The perfect tool to use a centralized platform, Google Workspace incorporates a wide range of features, including Docs, Sheets, Data Studio, Forms, Calendar, and Google Meet.

As you might expect, you can use Google Workspace alongside Gmail and the Google App to streamline every aspect of your work management.

Virtual Data Rooms allow you to group and store documents according to custom parameters, which means you can share, collaborate and update information in real-time.

With upcoming changes to Google Meets, such as attendance tracking, ‘hand raising’ and recording, virtual meetings can be conducted in a fraction of the time, with better outcomes.

6. Zapier

Image Source

If integration is a critical element of today’s productivity tools, there’s no doubt that Zapier is a must-have piece of software. With more than 3,000 app integrations, Zapier can be used to increase the functionality of your favorite apps.

Designed to facilitate automation between apps, Zapier streamlines your working methodologies and saves you a significant amount of time.

When a new email is received from a particular subject, Zapier integrations facilitate automated task creation in Asana. They will even insert a new row in an existing Google Doc.

What’s more – when a new row is created in a Google Doc, it can be automatically added to other Google Docs in a different format or place, depending on the criteria you set out.

Similarly, when a Slack message contains the term ‘meeting’, you can set up an automation rule that sends the Slack message, along with the preceding five or 10 messages, to the meeting moderator or note-taker.

When used for lead nurturing, Zapier integrations identify prospects who have reached certain trigger points and executes custom actions, such as sending welcoming emails or newsletters.

Additionally, you can:

• Automatically create Basecamp To-Dos from incoming emails
• Create Jira Issues from Asana Tasks
• Add tasks, project events, and milestones from a range of data sources into a single, universal calendar

While Zapier is great, it can get pretty costly and complicated in some cases. If that’s the case, you can always consider a number of Zapier alternatives as well.

7. Toggl Track

 Image Source

If a lack of time seems to eat away at your productivity, Toggl Track can transform your working day. It’s an awesome free tool for small businesses, a leading time-tracking tool: it ensures you can track any type of work and get more done.

As well as using the platform to manage your own time, supervisors, managers, and business owners can manage teams via Toggle Track and improve efficiency organization-wide.

Automated time-tracking means you won’t have to action time management. Instead, you can rely on Toggle Track to:

• Pull data from open pages
• Implement popular time management techniques using the Pomodoro Timer
• Use automation rules to instantly add time-based information to Toggl Track from apps, such as Google Docs and Asana

8. Loom

Image Source

Effortlessly simple yet remarkably effective, Loom transforms communication and saves you time. Instead of sending text-based emails, Loom enables users to create and record video messages of your camera, screen, or both.

Delivering increased accuracy, speed, and engagement, Loom allows you to get your message across faster and with greater clarity.

With Loom, you can forget lengthy walls of text and embrace a new era of efficiency with video messaging instead. A desktop app, iOS app, and Chrome extension ensure you can use Loom across devices in the way that’s most convenient for you.

9. Markup Hero

Markup Hero is making a name for itself as the best in class screenshot and annotation productivity tool. It quickly allows you to take a (scrolling) screenshot and share unique links, while also letting you add always editable annotations. You can even upload images, PDFs, or captures websites directly and add annotations all from you web browser and on any device.

Features included:

• Screenshot – Screenshot Tab, Scrolling Screenshot Tab, Screenshot Desktop
• Uploader – Upload images, PDFs + Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Annotation Tools – Text, Arrow, Line, Rectangle, Oval, Blur, Pen, Highlighter
• Editing Tools – Colors, Font Size / Line Thickness, Move, Scale, Rotate, Undo / Redo, Delete
• Insert Images – Add images to any page to enhance your feedback or message
• Share Link – Copy and share a unique sharable link for your image, screenshot, PDF or markup

Moreover, the tool already has a host of useful integrations, including Google Drive, Slack, and even a Chrome Extension if you don’t want to use their desktop screenshot app. The team has even released an API that you can use to add annotations with your own app.

The tool is free to use and doesn’t even require you to sign up to give it a spin. They also offer a pro plan starting at $4/month if you need unlimited usage and access to all the advanced tools (including custom privacy settings)

10. Fleep

Image Source

Fleep is known for its instant messaging features, but, in reality, it’s far more than merely a messenger. It’s the connective tissue that brings all of your work team communication together.

The software supports rich text, tasks, pinned messages, file-sharing and integrations that save you time and make your work life easier.

One key feature that sets Fleep apart from other workplace messengers (and makes it a great Slack alternative) is Presence. These days, being online doesn’t mean you’re available. Fleep’s Presence features share key important information about everyone’s participation in the conversations.

Simply check anyone’s profile to see when they were last active in Fleep. You can also see who has read your messages with our Seen-by (Read) indicators. Additionally, you can see if someone’s busy writing a reply with the Writing indicator.

11. Avoma

Known for its ease of use (ranked no.1 on G2 Crowd) and its AI-powered technology, Avoma is a Conversation Management Platform that helps customer-facing teams capture important customer information, before, during, and after important meetings.

Avoma goes beyond the general set of conversation intelligence tools. It analyzes conversation insights, and intelligence to help reps shorten sales cycles and delight more customers.

With Avoma, you can automatically record all your meetings, get full transcripts and summarized notes, and actionable insights synced directly to your CRM. Review calls and meetings faster by searching directly within transcripts and using identified topics to find exactly what you’re looking for.

The platform integrates with all major CRMs, dialers, conferencing tools and calendars. Avoma also offers a pretty flexible pricing model that starts at $15.

Find the Best Productivity Tools for Your Teams

With so many programs out there claiming to increase productivity, you could spend weeks merely trying to gauge which one is right for you.

Fortunately, our handy roundup of the top 10 productivity tools for 2021 makes it easy to identify the most effective software for your needs.

Whether you’re working from home, managing a remote team, or operating on-site, using a combination of these top tools can help you evade productivity killers, increase efficiency and enhance your success.

The post Top 11 Productivity Tools For 2021 appeared first on Fleep Blog.