Introducing new tech can present challenges, so when you’re deciding on an internal communication tool or app you need to find something frictionless to maximize adoption from all parties. 

Adoption of technology is vital when it comes to internal comms meetings and employee feedback. There are lots of ideas and approaches you can take to improve the adoption of a tool but the first step and the most important step, is to choose the right tool. To help you with this process, we’ve outlined three key areas that you need to bear in mind when assessing your technology options and deciding if its easily adoptable.

1. Reliability  

When your chosen internal comms technology is being showcased in a live environment such as a townhall meeting, you need to have confidence that your chosen tech solution is going to work as expected! It’s important that there are minimal barriers for both the person managing the technology and the users that will participate with the technology. This way you can have peace of mind that everything will run smoothly. Regardless of the reliability of the tool, we always advise testing the technology in a ‘rehearsal’ meeting environment, as this will help to uncover any issues in advance of the live meeting and more than anything, it will help to reinforce your confidence in the running of the tech. Look out for tools that offer a free trial or pilot so you can fully understand all the capabilities before committing and investigate what help and support resources are available.

2. Accessibility

Internal communication tools need to be accessible to be effective and for you to get the results you want and need. If the tool is complex (accessed by a long URL they need to remember or has bad user interface design as just 2 examples) then your employees will feel frustrated and it will present a barrier to adoption. 

Our customers love the Vevox web app as its simple, quick and easy to use, as well as great to look at! All participants need to do is access a web link to take part in live polls, Q&A and employee feedback surveys. Typically, our customers use a hyperlink to integrate the web app on their websites or in internal comms emails so users can access the Vevox meeting session easily and send in questions or ideas ahead of a meeting. For a really seamless integration you could choose to make use of Vevox’s customization options and use your corporate branding to make the app your own.

From the administrator’s point of view, engagement technology needs to be simple to run and manage. Dashlane (a password management software) has suggested that the average UK online user has no less than 118 accounts for different services and that the average number of "forgot password" emails in an inbox is 37!  A 'single sign on’ option can help to save users time to login to different services and to keep everything stored in one place. That’s why we offer our customers the ability to sign up and log in to Vevox with their Microsoft account. Even smaller considerations like this can help to make a difference to the accessibility of a product and to make your life easier!   

3. Compatibility

Most comms specialists need their internal comms tool to be flexible as well as compatible with existing tools or systems. In assessing compatibility, you might like to consider tools that involve different levels of integration into your existing platform or set up. Most importantly you need to keep your company and internal comms goals at the forefront of your mind when deciding what will be right for you. Bear in mind cost, ongoing contracts or maintenance if applicable and what additional time and effort might be needed is there is an update to your chosen tool. 

We know that many internal comms specialists use Microsoft PowerPoint in meetings and presentations, which is why we chose to develop our PowerPoint add-in. Other live-polling apps offer types of PowerPoint integration but what makes our different is that ours works natively within the Microsoft software and is accessed in the ribbon menu. This means it’s easier to use as the interface is familiar and its simpler than the alternatives as there are no overlays or complicated switching required when you’re presenting. Our customers love being able to run live polls and word clouds seamlessly in their PowerPoint presentations, which makes it appealing and user-friendly for anyone wanting to improve audience engagement in meetings or presentations.

Our add-in is available for free and is updated approximately once a year in the Microsoft Office Store and existing users of the add-in will get notified when an update is available. Establishing facts like this in your assessment and decision-making process can make all the difference as to whether tools on your list will work for you long term. 

Deciding on which internal communications tool to use for increasing employee engagement can seem daunting but with these tips you can assess your options methodically. Find out more about “How Vevox Compliments other technology” and if you have any questions then ask away at hello@vevox.com.