Efficient Team Collaboration — Tailoring Channel Notifications in Spike

When it comes to team collaboration, communication is key—and the ability to seamlessly share ideas, plans, and projects while balancing real-time chat, asynchronous email communication, and collaborative document sharing is a hot topic for businesses and individuals alike. However, with email overload a real issue and team chat apps easily hijacked by unnecessary information, avoiding the always-on mindset can become a job in itself. After all, if your collaboration tools constantly bombard your teams with alerts and notifications, how can your staff stay focused and be creative?

Well, Spike Teamspace might just have the answer you’re looking for—giving you the tools you need to boost team efficiency, reduce distractions, and provide a centralized space for everyone to come together. Here, we look at how Spike Teamspace can be your go-to digital workspace and how you can tailor channel notifications to keep everyone updated with what’s happening without overloading inboxes or to-do lists.

Spike Teamspace — Centralized Collaboration & Communication

Spike Teamspace is made for streamlined collaboration, giving your staff everything they need to work together seamlessly. This means email, team chat, collaborative docs, and video meetings are all just a click away, combined into one unified feed that minimizes app switching and reduces siloed information. In addition, tasks, to-dos, and shared calendars can help everyone organize their time more efficiently and stay on the same page—however complicated your projects or plans get.

However, Spike channels are where things really come together, allowing you and your teams to set up, manage, and customize your workspace and stay connected. Here, we explore channels in more depth and give you step-by-step instructions on how to customize yours.

Understanding Channels in Spike Teamspace

Channels are the backbone of a team chat app and your collaborative workspace, allowing you to organize topics, projects, and conversations into easily managed…well, channels! They differ from Spike Groups in that they are made specifically for in-house use, bringing together team members from inside your company instead of Groups that can be extended outside to clients and partners.

Channels include everyone who needs to be part of the conversation, and your entire team is automatically added to any channel you create. This makes setting up a team space for in-house communication and collaboration super quick and simple. In addition, it gives everyone access to past messages and documents even if they join the conversation at a later date.

By default, notifications are muted until the user chooses to receive alerts, helping individuals reduce inbox clutter and improve focus. In addition, users can customize notifications from specific individuals, threads, channels, or groups, allowing for easy identification of important projects and time-sensitive requests.

Setting Up Channels

Setting up a channel is quick and easy with Spike Teamspace, and you can do it in the office from your desktop or while on the move using your smartphone. Below, we look at how to set up channels on each in more detail:

Mobile

On mobile, you can easily create a channel in just a few simple steps: 

1. Click on the [icon] to open the composer, then choose ‘# Create Channel.’
2. Alternatively, click the [icon] and select ‘Create Channel.’
3. Inside the ‘Create Channel’ window, input the channel’s name and description.
4. Tap the circle to update the channel’s picture.
5. When ready, click the blue send button to publish the channel.

Desktop

Desktop is just as easy: 

1. Click on the [icon] to open the composer, then choose ‘# Create Channel.’
2. Alternatively, click the [icon] and select “Create Channel”.
3. In the ‘Create Channel’ window, input the channel’s name and description.
4. Click the circle to change the channel’s picture.
5. When ready, click the blue send button to publish the channel.

Customizing Channel Notifications

When customizing your channel notifications, your smartphone allows easy alert editing so you know exactly who is trying to contact you and when.

Mobile

To unmute your channel:

1. From within the channel, tap on the three dots located in the top right corner.
2. Choose ‘Enable Notifications’.

To choose a custom alert:

1. Select the channel you want to customize.
2. Tap on the header (the name of the channel).
3. Tap on notifications and choose your alert sound.

Desktop

1. To unmute a channel from your unified feed, hover over the desired channel, click on the three dots, and then choose ‘Unmute.’
2. Alternatively, when inside the channel, click on the three dots in the top right corner and then select ‘Unmute.’
3. To turn notifications off, follow these steps and click ‘Mute.’

Pro Tips for Managing Channel Notifications

While setting up your channels and customizing notifications is the ideal way to bring focus to team collaboration, there are other ways you can enhance your notification management to ensure you and your team strike the right balance between staying informed and avoiding notification overload. Check out our pro tips below.

Wrap-Up

With Spike Teamspace as your centralized digital workspace, you can boost team collaboration and build effective communication channels that skip distractions, minimize information silos, and keep everyone focused on the job at hand. In turn, this can reduce inbox overload and time-consuming email management, ultimately ensuring team members are less stressed.

Additionally, using channels alongside Spikea groups, you and your team have complete control over both internal and external collaborations, allowing innovation and creativity to blossom regardless of who you’re working with—even when they’re not part of the Spike ecosystem. Combined with tasks, to-dos, shared calendars, and Spike’s Magic AI, you’ll have everything you need to push your projects forward while simultaneously reducing staff burnout.

For more information on channels and notifications, explore our resources below.

• https://www.spikenow.com/help/channels/
• https://www.spikenow.com/help/email-notifications
• https://www.spikenow.com/blog/team-collaboration