Messaging for Admins & Managers

Updated September 24, 2024 15:36

Being able to communicate quickly and effectively with your workforce is critical. At 7shifts, we've centralized communication to help you keep everyone on the same page, no matter where they are. All of these tools are available on the web and the mobile app. Messaging allows a conversation with your team, with every Location, Department, and Role having their very own messaging group. Every Employee who is assigned to the group can post comments, reply, and upload attachments.

SKIP AHEAD TO:

Chat by Location/Department/Role
Chat by Scheduled Shift
Chat with Individuals or Custom Groups
Chat Actions

Prerequisites:

⚠️ To ensure that the correct users receive your message, Admins must have Assignments and Locations/Departments/Roles set up in the Account.

Chat by Location/Department/Role

Chat in a group chat that includes users from a specific Location, Department, or Role.

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Tap the chat bubble in the bottom navigation bar > tap + > New Channel Message.
You'll notice you've been assigned to certain groups based on the Locations, Departments, and Roles you've been assigned to. Tap on the group you'd like to message.

Click on the chat bubble at the top right:
You'll notice you'll have two tabs:

Recents tab: shows you all recent conversations.

All Messages tab: each Location, Department, and Role in your account has its Messaging group. For example, if you only want to communicate something to your Servers, you can post it under the Server group. You can include attachments and staff can post their messages or reply to others.

Chat by Scheduled Shifts

Message your team that is (or, isn't) scheduled for today, tomorrow, or a specific day.

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Tap the chat bubble in the bottom navigation bar > tap + > New Chat > select a Location/Department/Role :

Pro Tip!

If an Admin is set to Appear as an employee in their Account, and is NOT scheduled, they will be included in any 'Not Scheduled' Roster Talk chats/announcements.
You can mix and match your chat groups by adding multiple "schedules" options, other group types, or specific employees.
Employees scheduled 'Today' include anyone who has a published shift assigned within the Hours of Operations for the Location.
Only employees with published shifts will be included in the chat/announcement; unpublished shifts will not be recognized in the Roster Talk targets
'Today' is considered a shift that falls within any Hours of Operation for the present day at the Location. Click Here for info on how to set or change your Hours of Operation.

Click on the chat bubble at the top right > select the New message icon:

Message your team that is (or, isn't) scheduled for today, or tomorrow, or select More options for a specific day:

Pro Tip!

If an Admin is set to 'Appear as employee' in their Account, and is NOT scheduled, they will be included in any 'Not Scheduled' Roster Talk chats/announcements.
You can mix and match your chat groups by adding multiple "schedules" options, other group types, or specific employees.
Employees scheduled 'Today' include anyone who has a published shift assigned within the Hours of Operations for the Location.
Only employees with published shifts will be included in the chat/announcement; unpublished shifts will not be recognized in the Roster Talk targets
'Today' is considered a shift that falls within any Hours of Operation for the present day at the Location. Click Here for info on how to set or change your Hours of Operation.

Chat with Individual or Custom Groups

To send a message to a specific person, or manually add different users into a group chat.

⚠️ Individual chats will only have the option to mute or archive the chat.

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Tap the chat bubble in the bottom navigation bar > + icon in the top right corner > select New Direct Message.
You can create a custom group chat by adding more than one person. Select one or more people to add to the chat.

Simply tap on the Employee(s) or type their name in the 'To' field > tap Next
To customize the chat settings, tap on the participant names at the top of the screen:
Chat Settings allow you to:
- Re-name the group chat
- Mute the notifications
- Add people to the chat
- Archive the chat - archiving a chat will remove it from your Recents list. It will come back when someone in the chat sends a new message.
- Leave the chat

Tap the + icon in the top right corner.
Select New Direct Message to start a brand new chat.
Search or choose user(s) from the list.
Tap Go.
Or, choose an existing chat from your Recents/All Messages tabs.
To customize a group chat's settings, click on an existing chat.
Click on the More options icon .
- Re-name the group chat
- Mute the notifications
- Add/remove people from the chat
- Archive the chat - archiving a chat will remove it from your Recents list. It will come back when someone in the chat sends a new message.
- Leave the chat

Chat Actions

Effectively convey your message by starting a conversation and choosing from a range of actions:

How to send a message

Begin typing your message in the textbox, and click the paper plane icon

to send it. Screenshot_2023-05-12_at_3.26.52_PM.png

Pro Tip! As you write your message, you can enter a new line by pressing Shift + Return (Mac), or Shift + Enter (Windows) on your keyboard.

How to send an emoji, GIF, or an attachment

At the bottom of your message box, you will see three icons:

To send an emoji or a GIF, click on the or , and use the search bar to type in a keyword related to the emoji/GIF you would like to send:

To attach a file, click on the paperclip icon and attach multiple files (up to 100mb):

How to send Reactions

To add a reaction, hover over a message, click on the 'Add reaction' icon, and select an icon from the preset menu.

If someone has added a reaction, you can tap on it to add the same one yourself.

You're able to view all the users who reacted to a message by hovering over a message and clicking on See All:
Screen_Shot_2022-11-11_at_11.50.49_AM.png

To remove your reaction, click on the reaction again, and it will disappear from the message.

How to comment in a Thread

Comment on a message to start a thread:

Hover over the message > click on the Threads icon

> begin typing your response > and click the paper plane icon

to send it:

To continue a thread, click on 'x' comments:

From within a thread, you can react

, delete

, or add another comment

As you write your message, you can enter a new line by pressing Shift + Return (Mac), or Shift + Enter (Windows) on your keyboard.
Depending on the user's notification settings, all participants within a thread will receive an email or SMS notification once a comment has been added.

How to Delete a message

Messages that are deleted will be replaced with: "This message was deleted."

To delete a message, hover over a message, click on the More Options icon

, select 'Delete', and click on 'Delete' again to confirm this change:

⚠️It is only possible to delete a message from a user-level type below you (i.e: an Admin can delete the message of a Manager, not vice versa).

How to Archive a chat

When you archive a chat, it will remove it from your view.

Open the chat > click on the More options icon > select Archive Chat.

If you wish to unarchive a chat, you can start a chat with the same users to retrieve the same conversation.

Announcements for Admins & Managers
Notifications for Admins & Managers
Message Your Manager on Duty

Looking for a way to communicate with your Management team? We also offer the Manager Log Book, which is a secure communication tool that can only be accessed by Admins, Managers, and Assistant Managers.

SKIP AHEAD TO:

Prerequisites:

Chat by Location/Department/Role

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Chat by Scheduled Shifts

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Chat with Individual or Custom Groups

Use the tabs to change your viewing preferences through the mobile or web app:

Chat Actions

Effectively convey your message by starting a conversation and choosing from a range of actions:

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