Below, we\u2019ll introduce you to 10 hidden gems that you should know about, explain how they work, and explore how they can be integrated with your existing tech stack. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While remote work comes with plenty of benefits, it also has its downsides \u2014 and one that frequently comes up is that it can make it harder for colleagues to build close relationships<\/a> at work. This trend is worrisome, since closer relationships at work<\/a> can lead to increased productivity, employee engagement, innovation, and knowledge-sharing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, while it\u2019s harder to cultivate close relationships remotely, it\u2019s not impossible \u2014 and the tools below can make the task much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donut<\/a> automates the process of building cross-departmental connections throughout an organization. The tool, which integrates with both Slack and Zoom, prompts team members to connect one-on-one directly within Slack, provides icebreaker topics for Zoom calls, and gets teams chatting by sharing water cooler discussion topics each week in Slack.<\/p>\n\n\n Coworker Coffee<\/a> connects employees for one-on-one coffee chats each week \u2014 whether in-person or virtually \u2014 using an automated scheduling assistant. It also allows employees to build customized profile pages that include their favorite hobbies and what projects they\u2019re currently working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s similar to Donut, but doesn\u2019t require Slack or Zoom (virtual calls take place over Skype).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Banter<\/a> helps keep fun, lighthearted group conversations flowing on Slack. Rather than connecting employees one-on-one, Banter shares daily icebreaker topics in a designated Slack channel, and users can participate as frequently (or infrequently!) as they wish. If anyone has a good prompt idea, they can also share it to be used as a future conversation starter by Banter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sparkly<\/a> is a Slack app that connects colleagues over their shared interests. The bot works by asking employees to share a few of their interests, then uses that data to match them with other employees with similar interests. Those colleagues can then spark up a conversation via DM or connect on a call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you think of the factors that drive employees to deliver great work, you might think it\u2019s the promise of a promotion or a raise. However, according to a 2023 survey, the number one driver of great work<\/a> for most employees is employee recognition. In fact, close to 40% of employees ranked it as their most important driver of great work \u2014 while only 7% of employees said their top motivator was a raise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how can you make sure employees are receiving the kudos they deserve at work? Encourage it with the employee recognition tools below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tellinga<\/a> is an online tool you can use to make unique and meaningful thank you cards for employees. The platform will take the photos and stories that you feed it, and turn them into hand-drawn postcards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disco<\/a> is a culture platform that is integrated into Slack and Microsoft Teams workflows. It lets employees give one another personalized kudos, nominate coworkers for values-driven work, and vote in weekly employee engagement polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowledge management tools make it easier for your teams to track, access, and share information company-wide \u2014 helping streamline internal communication<\/a> and saving the average employee up to five hours a week<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GoLinks<\/a> is a team link shortener that lets employees find, share, and access resources using memorable short links (for instance, the short link \u201cgo\/deals\u201d might redirect to an unwieldy Salesforce URL). Employees can also browse through the company\u2019s library of intuitive short links in the GoLinks dashboard, or use GoLinks\u2019 ChatGPT-powered integration in Slack to find resources in seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result? Enterprise teams are able to save over 1,000 hours each month<\/a>, boost productivity, and break down information silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MeetGeek<\/a> is an AI-powered \u201cmeeting assistant\u201d that will automatically join and record company meetings, then transcribe, summarize, and share recaps and key insights with attendees. MeetGeek also stores all past meetings (with their associated transcripts) in a single, searchable location, ensuring that the insights generated during meetings are never truly lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lucidspark<\/a> is a virtual whiteboard that makes it easier for hybrid and remote teams to collaborate in real time. Employees can kickstart their brainstorms with either a blank slate or one of Lucidspark\u2019s many easy-to-use templates. Lucidspark integrates with commonly used collaboration tools like Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft, and Atlassian, making it easy for employees to share the results of their Lucidspark brainstorms wherever they work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Workshop<\/a> is an internal email platform that makes it easy to create branded and personalized internal emails. HR teams can use Workshop to share company news and updates, sync and segment employee lists, and measure the effectiveness of their internal communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Workshop also integrates with commonly used internal communication solutions like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more \u2014 making it easy to cross-post company updates to the channels your teams use the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best internal comms tools are intuitive, easy to use, and align with the ways your employees are already working, communicating, and sharing information. To make sure your teams actually adopt the internal communication platforms you introduce, you\u2019ll want to trial them and ensure they\u2019re easy to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get started today with a free trial of GoLinks<\/a>: over 5,000 companies, including Freshbooks, GitHub, OpenAi, and Brex, use us to simplify their communication and knowledge sharing company-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"5](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/08083423\/5-Ways-to-Improve-banner-1-2-1024x176.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRelationship-Building Internal Comms Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Donut<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Internal](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26091334\/donut-1024x680.png\")
Coworker Coffee<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Banter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Internal](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26091428\/banter-1024x431.png\")
Sparkly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Internal](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26091500\/sparkly-1024x274.png\")
Employee Recognition Internal Comms Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tellinga<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Disco<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Knowledge Management Internal Communication Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Time](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20135303\/TimeManagementHacks-Banner-Image-1-1024x176.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGoLinks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Internal](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26091542\/golinks-1024x705.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMeetGeek<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Internal](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26092017\/meetgeek-1-1024x547.png\")
Lucidspark<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Lucidspark\"](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26092024\/lucidspark-1024x651.png\")
Workshop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Workshop](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/26092039\/workshop-1024x651.png\")
Streamline internal communication, no matter where you work from<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.golinks.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/25102826\/golinks_blog_footer_cta_2x_2x-1.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"