Many businesses are worried about depending too much on Facebook, a constantly changing platform with an ever-changing privacy policy.
In the long run, it is definitely better for companies to build their own work community using another solution that adapts to their needs. Switching to an alternative of Facebook Groups is a good way to secure the longevity of one’s employee group.
What is Facebook Groups and Facebook Workplace
Facebook Groups and Facebook Workplace are the top platform for work teams. Facebook Groups is free to use, and Facebook Workplace is pretty affordable for small teams.
Both Facebook Groups and Workplace allow users to create and join groups, and to communicate with other group members through features such as group chat and the ability to post updates and comments.
Both Facebook Groups and Facebook Workplace have a News Feed feature, which allows users to see updates and activity from the groups they belong to. They also allow users to share and upload various types of content, such as photos, videos, and documents, so that group members can collaborate and share information with one another.
The main differenece between these two is that Facebook Groups is geared towards personal use and communities, while Facebook Workplace is designed for professional use and team communication within organizations. But many professional companies still use the free option of Facebook Groups.
Why you should use a Facebook Groups alternative?
Creating a Facebook group might seem like a good idea for teamwork management, but the platform itself can be a source of too many distractions for work. From notifications to ads, Facebook constantly sends messages to your team during the same time they are supposed to get things done.
By using an alternative platform with no ads, you can create a good space for communication and team engagement. Community managers know that the success of their team is based on sending clear messages, having people replying quickly, and keeping everyone engaged with their work.
Need more reasons to upgrade from Facebook groups to an actual team management solution? Here are some:
A decreasing number of users
Young workers (and even some older ones!) are abandoning Facebook in favor of other social networks. A clunky and always crowded newsfeed, privacy issues, and fake news are some of the reasons why they are stopping using the app.
When you are managing projects, you want to onboard people quickly and make them feel part of the team as soon as possible. This might not be easy if they only login to Facebook occasionally.
Limited targeting.
The Facebook algorithm allows groups to have a minimal reach to individual users, even limiting posts to appear only under the groups newsfeed. This means that managers will find it harder to make sure that a certain task description or urgent message is read by the team quickly.
A custom task management solution is a better way to send messages to team mates by combining different methods to target messages: from segmenting who is the audience (because Marketing is not the same as HR, for example) to choosing to notify recipients directly in their phones (less emails, yay!).
No customization
Although you can open a Facebook Group in seconds, you will find it impossible to personalize it according to what your team needs. You cannot even do something as basic as personalizing your domain or how your group messages are organized.
Creating subgroups is equally impossible, so it will be harder for the right person to find and reply to the right message. Although you can tag people, there is no way in which they can see in a single screen all the messages in which their input is needed (a headache for busy supervisors).
Lack of admin control
While using Facebook groups, you will need to abide by their constantly changing rules. In addition, tracking a particular workflow is not possible so managers cannot improve the work processes of their teams. Admins can’t also see an overview of active group issues, so they have to follow up every single publication to be sure of what is happening.
Although you can have several admins, there is no way to create custom roles. Every user can see and read what is posted in the group, limiting what kind of tasks and discussions could be held. Some group members might share personal information or have private conversations that are visible to the entire group. This can lead to privacy breaches or identity theft.
Privacy is not guaranteed
Facebook does not allow you to own the data of your own group, group messages and group member activities. If you need to know how much John participated in your discussions, or how much extra work he picked up in a month, you will have to go through a month-worth of group posts. Multiply this by the number of team members, and you can see how Facebook Groups makes impossible to measure and improve performance.
Facebook Groups can’t limit user access to the files stored in the group or tie a message to the file itself. This means that anyone can read anything you upload to the group (which is a big NO for privacy) while also not allowing qualified employees to find which message is tied to every file.
You’re playing by someone else’s rules
Facebook has community standards that outline what is and is not allowed on the platform. Groups that violate these standards, may be closed or have their members banned. As the standards are worded in a slightly vague way, it’s not entirely guaranteed that your group is able to abide by these laws – especially when you have more people than just a few close colleagues.
Top alternatives to Facebook Groups and Facebook Workplace
When looking for Facebook alternatives, we searched for solutions where the companies can own their data and can create roles that delimit which person can see and work with certain tasks. The ability to segment workers and target tasks are top priorities for managers looking to build more effective digital teams.
Let’s explore in deeper detail some of the top alternatives to Facebook Groups and how they can make your team’s work easier while keeping your information both safe and accessible.
The following list was based on the following principles.
- Managers are able to engage their team members via team messages and task assignments.
- Onboarding is easy.
- Community administrators have visibility over what is being done on the platform.
Those are just five of the many factors influencing community owners to search for alternatives to Facebook groups. A platform where community managers can engage, retain, and monetize the communities.
Zelos Team Management
Zelos Team Management is a great alternative to Facebook Groups if you’re coordinating a team on the go. It is built to engage users via instant task delivery and pickup, with easy onboarding and reporting. Administrators can quickly see which person is on a task, while workers are always notified when they can help with getting things done, or there is new information specifically relevant for them.
Zelos is used by many branded communities and work teams—including restaurants, volunteer organizations, and field service companies.
In addition to being as friendly to use as Facebook, Zelos can be customized to your team needs and branding. The experience is available on both mobile and desktop. Zelos teams can be small or have hundreds of collaborators, easily organized through a simple database and groups. Improve your team efficiency with Zelos, one of the best alternatives for Facebook Groups.
Discord
Discord is an open-source software where managers can build forums and chat rooms. By being open-source, it is constantly releasing new integrations, plugins and features. Although it is free to use, Discord needs to be installed in a dedicated hosting environment and be technically maintained from time to time.
Discord cannot be embedded into other sites, and it looks like an older forum. Since it was created for conversational purposes, managers will have to dedicate a lot of time for upkeep, message moderation, and task tracking.
Tribe
Another option to Facebook Groups is Tribe, which is based on the best of Facebook’s social components. Managers can build any kind of community on Tribe including support groups, private work teams and niche networks.
Tribe is mobile-responsive and has useful widgets that can be customized. It also has a powerful API that allows it to integrate it with other tools.
Slack
Slack is a chat app that is available both for desktops and mobile devices. Many work teams use Slack, which is free to use up to 10,000 messages and offers 5GB of free file storage.
Slack is easy to use and managers can organize groups via channels. In addition, Slack can be integrated with a variety of third-party applications, is cloud-based, and secure. The cons of using Slack is that it cannot be customized, has limited admin tools and is not easy to follow up tasks over time since it favors real-time messaging.
Connecteam
Connecteam is the industry-leading team management tool with many alternatives. It allows managers to communicate with every single employee and simplify day-to-day management. Some of its features include checklists, forms, and job dispatches. Employees can communicate directly and use the app anywhere at any time.
Some limitations include the lack of integration with some third-party applications such as calendars and lack of admin tools while on mobile.
Switching away from Facebook Groups and Workplace
Team managers considering an alternative to Facebook need to know that it will take time and constant use to successfully move to a new platform. It is important to schedule a daily routine that keeps the app organized and generates team engagement through task pickup, and team collaboration.
Facebook is a great social network and advertising platform. But it should be considered as entertainment and not as a work community builder or team management tool. By starting and promoting your own collaborative team, you can ensure to keep the focus on achieving team goals.
The tools we mentioned above can be tried for free and also offer paid features that boost what can be done on each app. It is never too early to start a personalized work community that keeps things professional, while also storing data safely and being easy to use while in the office or on the go.