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Workforce 'Communications'

Use the new 'Communications' feature to keep employees engaged through announcement posts, direct 1-on-1 chats, and group chats.

Updated over a month ago

How it works

Communications is both an announcement board tool and a communication tool, allowing for:

  • management to broadcast important information to teams

  • direct 1-to-1 messages or group chats

  • employees and managers to start chats with each other (see permissions)

Communications can be accessed both in the desktop app and mobile app.


Groups vs Chats

Within Communications, there are Groups and Chats:

Groups are for sharing important announcements with specific locations or teams, allowing members to react, reply, and use advanced formatting to organise information.

Chats are casual and best for daily communication between individuals or small teams.

Send an announcement to a group

To send an announcement to a group:

  1. Log in to Workforce online at my.workforce.com

  2. Navigate to Communications on your navigation bar

  3. Select which locations or teams to broadcast an Announcement to

  4. Create a Group and give your group a name, or select and existing

  5. Create a New Post

  6. If you would not like staff to be able to respond to the announcement, deselect the 'allow replies' checkbox under 'Advanced settings'

  7. If you require acknowledgement of the announcement, select the 'require acknowledgement' option

  8. If you require emails to be sent for the announcement, select the 'Send email notifications' option

  9. If you would like to attach additional information in the form of an image or document, select the 'Add file' button.

  10. If you would like to create a Poll that employees can vote on, select 'Create Poll' and add the question and defined answers.

  11. Click Create

Depending on their notification settings, staff will receive a push notification on their device when an announcement is made.

Respond to an announcement

When an announcement is made with the 'Allow Replies' option enabled, all members of the communication room can send and read replies to the announcement. The number of replies will be displayed alongside the announcement.

To respond to an announcement, staff can follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to the Messages tab on the mobile app

  2. Select the specific communication group the announcement was sent in

  3. Click the Replies button in the bottom right corner of the message

  4. Enter your response and click the blue Send icon

Require acknowledgement of an announcement

If you require staff to confirm they've read an announcement, toggle the 'Require Acknowledgement' option under 'Advanced settings' when creating it.

Announcements which require an acknowledgement will display an orange prompt to staff. Once the announcement has been acknowledged, the post will update with a green confirmation.

Admins and Managers are able to track responses under the 'Communications' tab on both desktop and mobile.

Pin an announcement:

To pin/ unpin a post, Admins and Managers can select the menu on the top right-hand corner (three dots on the announcement) and select 'Pin/ Unpin.'

Once an announcement is pinned, a banner will display the pinned title to the top of the group's feed. To read the entire pinned announcement, click on the banner to expand the full announcement.

Archive a group

Admins can archive a communications group that is no longer necessary. Archiving a group removes visibility of its announcements and the group itself for both managers and employees.

To archive a communications group:

  1. Open the group you want to archive

  2. Click Archive (located at the top right of the group)

  3. A warning message will display. Click Confirm to archive the group.

Archived groups can be viewed by toggling from 'Active Groups' to 'Archived':

Admins can un-archive a group by clicking the 'archive' button again. Doing so will restore the group and any associated announcements.

View "read receipts":

Admins and Managers can view who has read an announcement by clicking on the 'eye' icon on the top right corner:


Permissions

Permissions outline the different abilities related to chat functionality and group communication within the platform.

Who Can Use Chat?

Communications permissions can be configured by navigating to Settings > Show advanced settings > Communications > View all Communication settings.

From here, you can configure the following options:

  • Enable Live Chat: Employees can use the chat feature to communicate in real time.

  • Disable Live Chat: Employees cannot use the chat feature, but admins and managers can still send announcements.

  • Configure Who Employees Can Start Chats With:

    • Employees can't start chats

    • Staff in their teams

    • Staff in their locations

    • Anyone

  • Configure Who Managers Can Start Chats With:

    • Employees can't start chats

    • Staff in their teams

    • Staff in their locations

    • Anyone

  • Push Notifications:

    • Employees can adjust notifications for chats on a per-chat basis.

    • Push notifications for announcements/posts are sent via email in real time.

    • Specify if staff on leave should receive notifications.

What Groups Can I post in?

Permissions per role can be configured by navigating to Settings > View all Permission Settings > Advanced Settings > Customise Access & Role.

'Groups' are controlled by the Announcement Room Permissions:


By default:

  • Admins can create, read, and send announcements to all employees.

  • Managers can create, read, and send announcements to all locations and teams they manage.

  • Employees can read announcements for the teams they are part of.

These settings restrict the ability of managers and employees to create chats and groups. They will only be able to create groups and chats within the scope defined in the communication settings.


FAQs and Troubleshooting

Where can I read and create an ‘Announcement’?

‘Announcements’ can be read on the web-app and latest mobile app (Android and iOS). Employees will be notified of a new ‘Announcement’ via a push notification on their mobile device.

The total number of unread announcements will display as a badge next to the relevant 'group'. Once the announcement has been read, the badge will be removed:

Can I edit a 'Communications' group?

Yes, users can make the following updates to 'Communications' groups:

  • To add/remove teams of an existing group (edit groups):

    • Add/remove teams to an existing group by selecting the '...' button > 'Edit Group Members' > select/unselect the desired locations/teams.

  • To edit the 'group' name

    • Update the name of the existing group by selecting the '...' button > 'Edit Group Name' and entering the new Group name in the field.

Can I insert URL's?

Yes, you can insert clickable URL's into the body of announcement as well as email addresses. Clicking on an email address will automatically open your email client (Outlook, Apple Mail etc) to send an email effortlessly.

Can I attach PDFs, images, documents etc?

Yes, you're able to add an attachment to any communications by clicking the "Attach a document" option. Documents greater than 5mb will not be able to be attached.

What is an 'Organisation-wide Announcement' Group?

An 'Organisation-wide' group is a default group which allows Admins to broadcast Announcements to all users within the organisation.

Can I archive the 'Organisation-wide' announcement group?

No, this default group cannot be archived.

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