Threads and 5 ways to use them in business communication

Reading a group chat with overlapping topics can be a challenge. It's like listening to a grand orchestra where each instrument plays a distinct tune instead of harmonizing. The result is a beautiful melody lost in the chaos—much like overlapping group discussions where users overlook a critical message in the flood of information. 


But when the conductor orchestrates each instrument's moment, ensuring their time in the spotlight, it creates sync and harmony. Similarly, threads within Zoho Cliq turn the chaotic buzz of group chats into structured conversations. 

What are threads?

Threads in Zoho Cliq can be used to organize related messages around specific topics. Let's say you're a designer sharing a draft in your team's channel for feedback. The channel is bustling with diverse topics, and feedback on your design gets scattered throughout, making it a chore to keep track. With threads, comments on your design draft become neatly aligned right below your initial message, retaining context and focus. Instead of sifting through a chain of unrelated messages, threads ensure each discussion holds its coherence, even in channels brimming with different discussions.

5 ways to use threads in business communication

1. Communicating effectively with topic categorization

In a world where employees spend nearly 28% of their week on messaging, the importance of threads is undeniable. Threads enhance efficiency by categorizing topics and reducing confusion. They simplify conversations by organizing each subject in a channel into distinct chat-like segments. This reduces reading time and allows users to concentrate on other critical tasks, eliminating the challenge of reading through jumbled messages to find context.

2. Improving clarity in updates and announcements

Have you ever missed a critical announcement in a flood of messages? Threads come to the rescue. You can create separate threads for every announcement so they remain accessible to users and also ensure that they don't get sidetracked.  

3. Enhancing and streamlining task assignments

Consider a marketing team mapping out their strategies before a release. Instead of creating groups or channels for every event and campaign, they use threads. This approach streamlines the assignment and monitoring of tasks from the initial design phase to the final rollout. Every stage is neatly tucked into its thread, providing structured feedback and ensuring the team stays in sync without the extra clutter.

4. Optimizing project management

Every stage in project management, be it a user story or a milestone, requires focus. Threads ensure that by offering dedicated spaces for every discussion. From developers to testers and product owners, all their changes and decisions are captured in threads, optimizing resources and keeping the project on track.

5. Boosting collaboration in routine meetings 

Let's say John, the marketing manager, is preparing for his monthly team meeting. As he assigns tasks during the meeting, from campaign design to crafting releases, each gets its own thread. Beyond just textual feedback, John can even schedule follow-up meetings or make instant calls to those engaging in a specific thread, ensuring more focused discussions without disturbing others in the main channel. The result? No more post-meeting email avalanches, just a clear threaded record of each session's outcomes, ensuring the entire team stays in sync. What's more interesting is the AI summary feature that Zoho Cliq offers, all your lengthy unread threads are summarized into a bite-sized message to get the context from. 

Using threads in Zoho Cliq

  • Message menu will be displayed when you hover over a message. Select the Reply in Thread option to create a thread.
  • The person who sends the head message, users who are tagged in them, and the users who reply in the thread first become default followers of the thread.
  • You can add users as followers to a thread
  • Any channel user can follow threads in that channel. Users also have an option to auto-follow all the threads in a channel.
  • Zoho Cliq provides multiple ways to view and receive notifications for threads to help users organize threads better.

To put it briefly

A conversation without threads can feel like a boardroom meeting where everyone speaks at once. But threads in Zoho Cliq can act as the meeting facilitator, directing each conversation and ensuring every point is heard. They categorize discussions, ensure clarity in communication, and boost efficient task management. In a nutshell, threads are the backbone that supports structured and productive digital business communication.

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