The Benefits of a Community Software Platform for Your Organization
You know how important it is to maintain your software, so you spend a lot of time planning and implementing software updates. You’re careful to make sure you have the latest version of the software you use.
But what about the software you use for your workplace community?
The community software you use for your workplace may be outdated and lack the latest features. And it may be difficult to find new versions of the software.
Perhaps you’re still relying on a basic intranet and finding that your employees or tenants are disengaged.
That’s where District Technologies comes in. We’ve developed a mobile-first SaaS Community Software Platform for workplaces that helps to attract, engage and retain employees and tenants.
We take care of the technical side to ensure you always have the most up to date, reliable and innovative software available while making it intuitive to use for both the client and the end-users.
In this piece, we break down exactly what a community software platform is and what features you can benefit from to enhance your workplace community experience and build a culture that employees love.
What is Community Software Platform?
An online community provides a platform for individuals to connect around a set of common goals and activities. It provides them with the tools to connect and collaborate.
Community software is a type of technology that supports community life. In the sense of a workplace community software platform, this means connecting workplace teams, building a sense of workplace culture and driving engagement and retention.
A white label community software allows you to put your stamp on the platform by personalising it to fit with your company branding. Each company and their employees are unique, and therefore every workplace community platform software will need to be customised to each company’s needs. In addition to that, personalising the platform to fit with your unique company branding will help to keep consistency across your channels and allow you to reinforce your brand message.
Many community software tools will have the capability to integrate with your existing software, as well as integrate with any third-party smart building technologies that you may require to suit the needs of your business.
Community software platforms for hybrid working teams
Workplace community platform apps are becoming increasingly important in facilitating the rapid shift to hybrid working. In 2020, the number of people working from home increased rapidly due to the impact of coronavirus. Although lockdowns have lifted, what has remained is increased flexibility and remote working. Almost all large companies are keeping a hybrid working strategy in place post lockdown and by 2025 it’s estimated that 70% of the entire workforce will work from home at least five days per month.
Hybrid working is a way of working that gives employees a choice of where to work, either in the office or at home. It’s grown in popularity due to the increased work-life balance it provides as well as the increased productivity. Employees can select the workplace environment suitable for that day’s task where they feel they will be most productive.
Although there are many benefits to hybrid working, there are also some risks to be aware of. Companies that have not implemented the right workplace tools could find themselves with disconnected and disengaged employees. This is why community software platforms for the workplace are becoming increasingly important.
Hybrid working environments rely on technology to connect, collaborate and communicate hybrid working teams. Digital workplace transformation is imperative to business success as we move into the future of work.
The Relevance Of Online Community Software Platform For Organizations
Building a sense of community in the workplace is fundamental to attracting and retaining tenants and employees. Workplace communities that have a strong sense of culture and community are much better equipped to attract and retain them.
As you probably know all too well, replacing an employee or tenant is costly. It’s far more cost-effective to focus on retainment. This is exactly why community software platforms were born
An online community platform is highly relevant to organizations because each organization has a unique workplace community.
Employees and tenants that feel disconnected from their workplace community are far more likely to be disengaged and lack loyalty. Building a sense of community in the workplace by implementing a community app can reduce turnover and engage remote and distributed teams.
With a community app, users can browse and book events, keep up to date with the latest company news, book meeting rooms and coworking spaces and even use it as a digital key to access the office.
Tapping into engagement analytics, companies can provide better experiences for their workforce by making data-driven decisions and improvements to their engagement strategy.
Key Features Of A Community Software Platform
Content and communications
A fundamental part of building a community in the workplace is communication and that’s why it’s one of the key features of our community software platform. If your workplace community is hearing from you regularly and given informative, relevant information, they are more likely to feel part of your organisation and understand your values. Clear, consistent and relevant communication lay the foundation for an engaging workplace experience. District’s workplace community platform highlights the most recent news and resources on the homepage and lets your team send out engaging push notifications to users. There’s also a place where they can access resources and guides.
Events
Community platform software like District Technologies lets you publish events in-app that users can join. Holding regular events can be a great way to build community among fellow employees or tenants. The app can be used to promote social events such as a summer party or a pub quiz, team-building exercises such as an escape room, training workshops and even fitness sessions such as yoga. The events can all be managed through the platform. You’ll be able to see the number of attendees, have a waiting list if required and take bookings and payments. Your workplace community will easily be able to join events and leave an event feedback rating after. What’s great about events via a community app is that they can also be virtual, meaning that you can engage with your community that are working remotely. With the shift to hybrid working, virtual events have risen in popularity as it’s a great way to connect distributed teams.
Community search, directory and profiles
A community app connects employees and tenants and is key to building a sense of community. This is especially fundamental in a hybrid working environment where teams are distributed. With District’s community platform software, users can create their profile in the app and add relevant information and skills about themselves. This lets fellow users discover more about their community members and help to break down the barriers to human connection that hybrid working can create.
Profiles are accessible through the community directory and people can search for fellow users based on skill, job title and name. This makes it simple to find and connect with the people you need.
Employee rewards and recognition
A community software platform can also be used to provide rewards and perks. This is a great way to add value to your community and drive lasting loyalty. District’s online community software allows you to set up perks and discounts in the app that can be viewed and redeemed. You can make it truly unique by partnering with local shops, cafes and restaurants for unmissable deals.
Tools and services
The next aspect of a community software platform is tools and services that facilitate a seamless workday. From smart building tools such as mobile door access to desk or meeting room bookings – community-building software makes accessing the tools that you need for work as simple as it can be. It also includes access to any amenities on-site such as restaurants or cafes allowing users to browse, book, pay and collect their items. Tools and services also extend to those that are working remotely, giving them access to resources and guides from anywhere as well as a virtual concierge service.
What Kind Of Experience Do You Want To Create?
With our white label community platform, you can build a unique customer experience for your workplace community. You can customize the platform to fit with your company branding, allowing you to reinforce your brand.
This is an important step to building a workplace community as each company is unique, and therefore each community platform app needs to reflect that. Personalising the platform to fit with your company branding will also help to keep consistency across all of your channels.
Integrations made simple
With our white label community platform, you can build a unique customer experience for your workplace community. You can customize the platform to fit with your company branding, allowing you to reinforce your brand.
This is an important step to building a workplace community as each company is unique, and therefore each community platform app needs to reflect that. Personalising the platform to fit with your company branding will also help to keep consistency across all of your channels.
Choose your package
At District, we offer two packages to suit your budget and requirements. Depending on the level of personalisation and branding that you require, you can go with our Plug & Play package or our Fully Branded package.
- Plug & Play package
With District’s Plug & Play package you can launch a community software platform on a budget while still benefiting from all of our core functionalities. You can also add basic personalisations to the community app including adding your company logo and header image to the homepage of the app. This lets you unlock the benefits without large costs making it an affordable option for small businesses.
- Fully Branded package
The Fully Branded package by District Technologies allows you to fully take advantage of the customisable features, truly making the app your own. You have your very own app in the App Stores and can customise fonts, colours and imagery in line with your company brand guidelines. This allows you to reinforce your company’s values and core message which is extremely important in hybrid working environments when many new staff members may be onboarded while working remotely. This lets you build a connection with employees even when they’re remote. A strong brand gives the employer credibility and the ability to differentiate themselves from the crowd, so it’s incredibly important to keep consistent branding across all of your internal communications as well as externally.
Ask for feedback from your community
Once your platform is live and you have tested out an array of different content and events, you can then truly enhance the experience by analysing engagement data and asking for feedback by launching an in-app survey. You can create a poll asking your community their opinion on the platform or you can ask for feedback on a previous event. This data is truly valuable, as you can constantly iterate and improve your community experience based on their feedback.
Tools and support for our Community Software Platform
We give you the tools and support you need to start your community platform software and you’ll be assigned a dedicated customer success manager who is there to ensure your platform is a success. Whatever you need, our team is here to support you and we help you through onboarding as well as ongoing support. We also have a handy knowledge base that has a clear breakdown of all of the platform’s functionalities with step by step instructions on how to use it. As your satisfaction is our top priority, we work closely with you to understand the needs of your workplace community and offer our expertise and advice so that you can get the very best out of the platform.
The platform has been designed for non-technical people, it’s user friendly and has an intuitive user experience whether you’re an admin user or end-user.