Group Communication Tool for Team

Hey,

Does anyone know of a good platform to host a private forum for teams? We are currently using slack and were looking for something else?

Thanks,
Jake

AH… this is an age-old question! I’ve found it very hard to find one tool that works for everything. A bit more background would be very helpful. So many questions! How large a team? What are you trying to accomplish with the tool? Why does Slack not meet your needs? What more are you looking for? I’ve looked at a lot of different communication tools, will try to offer my $0.02 once I know more.

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Came here to suggest slack :man_facepalming:

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What’s up with WhatsApp?

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I’ve had good luck moving a couple groups over to basecamp, but really like slack overall.

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Owned by Facebook. :-1:

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:man_shrugging:

It doesn’t get much better than slack…

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whatsapp

Slack

Or FB message group

Might checkout GroupMe.

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I like Basecamp but it is a little more of a project management tool… which honestly might help teammates be accountable for any tasks you’re supposed to do :slight_smile:

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Thank you all for your suggestions.

So our team is 10 people and this would be for group discussion and we would like to have an open portion so people can talk about the group ride. I’ve found that it’s hard to get the plan together - we are using group me - and then share it on Facebook - which isn’t my favorite.

Wickr?

So I still think WhatsApp is the best tool, because in my experience, you’ll get the best engagement using an app that people have on their phones / laptops already.

I’ve worked in offices where Slack was introduced as an official means of communication and was then withdrawn because people were just ignoring it and sticking to email or WhatsApp to talk to each other. So if it struggles to get traction even when people are paid to use it, it’s going to be even harder with just a bunch of cyclists.

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So you’re already using a group messaging method, and having trouble getting clarity on the group ride? I’m not sure if any of these other suggestions are going to help. I really like the Slack interface, but it may not solve your current problem. If the issue is getting the plan together, the issue may not be the tool but rather the leadership. I may not be understanding your specific issue, though. If you need to have two different channels, one for open discussion that only some people tend to participate in, and then a second channel for the final announcement (to move away from FB), you could either have two separate text strings going, or move to something like Slack. I far prefer Slack over FB messenger or WhatsApp because it’s really easy to join or leave a Slack channel at any time, and someone can always peek into the channel to see what’s happening without officially joining it. The threading capability is also terrific. So you could have two channels, one for open discussion, the other for the final announcement. But you may need to have someone be a better leader on the discussion to herd the cats, regardless of the tool.

Not sure if this is helpful, but the best I can offer without knowing more specifics of your challenges.

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I used an app called TeamSnap on a team one time. It’s had a lot of group sports functions that helped. Their mobile app wasn’t the best, but it got the job done.

Checkout Microsoft Teams

I’d suggest Discord. While mostly aimed at gamers and techies, it’s very powerful, has a lot of options, and is free/cheaper than slack for comparable plans (if you’re looking for a paid tier). Not surprisingly, it’s gaining a lot of use outside of the gaming/tech world.

My company uses slack, and it’s fine, but discord seems to offer more for less, without losing stability or quality.

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My team has used discord to talk with one another during zwift rides

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