5 Specific Ways Businesses Use SMS within Their Teams

How often do you use texting in your personal life?

Probably daily – or even multiple times per day – right?

One report says that 2 trillion text messages are sent yearly in the US alone, which would average out to about 5.48 billion texts per day.

But think about how often you use texting within your workplace. I’m guessing it’s not too often.

So if texting is something that everybody does, and if we all know that workplace communication is important, it makes sense that we should take advantage of texting to bring a communication boost to our workplaces.

To help spark some ideas, here are 5 specific ways businesses use SMS within their teams…

Shift Requests

How can you cover a last-minute shift need?

One answer: SMS. Just shoot out a quick text message letting people know about the opening and asking if someone can fill it.

“
Attention team! We need someone to cover night shift on Wednesday. $50 bonus if you’re not normally on the night rotation. Reply YES asap if interested.

Safety Alerts

If there’s a safety alert your team needs to be aware of, SMS can be an effective tool to communicate that information quickly.

This is especially helpful for industries with potentially dangerous situations such as construction, manufacturing, and transportation.

“
Construction team: stop all work immediately due to an impending lightning storm. Follow safety protocols and ask your foreman if you have any questions.

HR Updates

Sometimes you may need to get an HR notice out quickly and you’re not sure if people will see their memos or check their email.

That’s where SMS can come in handy as a supplement to help make sure your message is seen.

“
Payroll must be submitted by 5pm tonight in order for your direct deposit to be processed in a timely manner. Please see Angie if you run into any issues.

Employee Recognition

Recognizing employees helps make people feel like they’re an important part of the team and boosts morale.

Some businesses like to use SMS to give a shout-out to employees on their birthdays or work anniversaries. You could also use SMS to acknowledge outstanding accomplishments.

“
Happy birthday to Alyson Attanasio! We appreciate all your hard work and dedication and hope you have a wonderful day!

Meeting Reminders

One trouble with meetings is just… remembering.

Though most of us have digital calendars these days, it still can be difficult to remember everything going on.

Text messages can help with that.

“
Just a reminder about the mandatory team meeting at 2pm today. Come prepared with your ideas for Q2.

Are You Using SMS to Its Full Potential for Your Team?

The potential for SMS is almost limitless but too often untapped.

So we’ll sign off with a few questions to consider…

Could you use SMS for any of the above purposes?

Can you think of other ways SMS might be useful for your own team?

Are you using SMS to its full potential for your team?

If you don’t have a business texting platform yet, get a free trial today to see how it works.