A Broadcast Message Can Help Minimize Distractions and Better Inform Your Team
These days the workplace is changing. Not only is the traditional office environment transforming due to the growth of distributed teams and increased contributions from freelancers, but the internet and advances in technology are revolutionizing how teams communicate, as well. And with chat apps, social media, and smart phones ruling the day, distractions are certainly playing a role.
Despite these transformations, a constant remains: Your employees must have the tools at their disposal to be both optimally productive and better informed. And though a business instant messenger, coupled with these best practices, can help reduce some of the distractions of the modern workplace, you still need the features to keep your team(s) focused and in the know.
One such feature is Broadcast Message. Read on to find out what a broadcast message is, how to use it, and how it can help you minimize workplace distractions while keeping your team(s) better informed.
Table of Contents
What Is Broadcast Message?
Broadcast Message is a feature which allows a specific user to send messages and announcements to a larger group of users at once. The recipients, which can be hand selected by the sender from his/her contact list, receive the message as a standard instant message. What differentiates a broadcast message from a standard text or chat room message, though, is that recipients can’t respond to it. Afterwards, the message is recorded in the local chat history as well as in the history on the server.
How Do I Use It?
With Brosix Instant Messenger, there are a number of ways to to access Broadcast Message and using the feature couldn’t be easier.
By accessing the feature through your contact list, simply click the “Broadcast Message” icon and select the individual contacts whom you wish to inform. You can then add and remove users through the “Selected Participants” list. Once you click “OK,” the “Broadcast Message” window appears, and all that remains is to compose your message and press “Send.” Once your message has reached its intended recipients, you’ll see the status at the bottom of window change from “Sending” to “Sending Completed.”
You can also access Broadcast Message through a text chat or chat room window. In both windows, simply click the “Broadcast Message” icon and follow the same steps as you would accessing the feature through your contact list. For further flexibility, you can access the feature through the Menu by clicking “Actions” and “Broadcast Message,” and again following the previously mentioned steps. In all instances, recipients will not be able to respond to the broadcast message.
How Can It Help?
The benefit of Broadcast Message is multi-fold. For starters, you can be sure that your message will reach all necessary participants more quickly than an email and more efficiently than phone calls. What’s more, with a broadcast message, recipients are traditionally unable to respond – eliminating any ambiguity which could leave the recipient wondering about how or what to answer; and that’s a time-waster. Moreover, by choosing to send a broadcast message, you’ll save yourself the time of physically calling multiple individuals, or composing an email and then sifting through inevitable responses which weren’t necessary in the first place.
Broadcast messages can be used in any number of situations. Let’s say, for instance:
- It’s a colleague’s anniversary with the company and everyone’s meeting to celebrate after work
- Your latest product is finally ready for launch
- You’re going to be out of the office for an extended period of time and you need to let your team know
- The upcoming project proposal is due
In each of these events, by informing team members via a chat room, you provoke the possibility of a host of responses. And you’re no stranger to the game. One response or funny comment provokes another, and then another, and before you know it a harmless announcement has become on office-wide group chat. And that’s a distraction. But a broadcast message allows you to inform your team(s) simultaneously without any unnecessary replies or feedback. And by targeting specific individuals, you can avoid disrupting team members with news or information that doesn’t pertain to them. You could even use a broadcast message in the event of an emergency, notifying your team of an emergency situation and precautionary or necessary measures to take.
Importantly, though, the total control Brosix provides its users extends to the Broadcast Message feature, as well. By allowing administrators to handpick the individuals who have access to the feature, the likelihood of spam or other inappropriate or malicious messages is greatly reduced.
All of this means you can share company news, reminders, announcements, vital information, and much more; all while minimizing potential disruptions and keeping your team(s) better informed.
In Conclusion
A common argument against the use of instant messaging in the workplace is that it can be a distraction. And there’s no doubt that a barrage of messages is a major disruption to productivity. Especially if they don’t concern you or their ambiguity leaves you to wonder whether a response is necessary. The truth is, though, that other means of communication – email and the phone – can also distract and interrupt.
Nikola Baldikov is a Digital Marketing Manager at Brosix, specializing in SAAS marketing, SEO, and outreach strategies. Besides his passion for digital marketing, He is an avid fan of football and I love to dance. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter at @baldikovn
