This article provides concrete examples of how to use Personio Conversations for different use cases. You can use these examples as inspiration on how to successfully apply Conversations in your company.
There are many ways in which to handle a request in Conversations and this article outlines just one typical workflow for each use case. By understanding the different features that are available—such as forms, saved replies, outreach, and so on—you can give structure and transparency to your resolution process and increase efficiency.
Note
Requests are submitted by employees using the channel or channels that you have chosen to integrate with Conversations. You can integrate Slack or Microsoft Teams with Conversations, while email is enabled by default.
Example 1: Software Access Request
Team: Office IT or similar
Use case: Employee Zack McKinnon needs access to a new expenses software that his department just started using. Alexis Baker is a member of the Office IT team and is responsible for administering access.
Workflow:
- Zack submits his request for software access to the Office IT team using the channel that his company is using for Conversations.
- The Office IT team receives the request in Conversations. As the entire Office IT team has access to the request inbox, anyone in the team can assign the request to Alexis. To organize the task, Alexis can set the status and priority of the request, assign a category, and add a due date.
Tip
It can be helpful to assign a category to requests, for example, "Software Access”. This allows you and your team to filter your requests by category and will provide you with greater insights regarding analytics. Learn how to add a category to a team here. - There are several features that Alexis can use to respond to this type of request. The table below shows some of the features that would typically be used for a software access request.
- After Alexis has gathered the necessary information from Zack and received approval to grant software access (if needed), then Alexis can communicate this with Zack by replying to the request. Alexis can adjust the status of the request as required.
- Zack receives Alexis’ reply in the original thread, based on the communication channel he used to send the request in the first instance. If the request has been resolved, then Zack can also provide a satisfaction rating.
Features
| Feature | Description | Example | Benefits |
| Forms | Forms allow you to reply to common requests with a predefined set of questions. | A “Software Access” form might include the name of the software required, the reason for software access, and the level of access required. | - A quick and efficient way to gather data (form answers can be downloaded as a CSV). - Reduction of time-consuming back and forth conversations. |
| Saved replies | Saved replies allow you to write answers to common questions and save them as templates that can be used again. | Alexis might use a saved reply to let Zack know how to access the software and any predefined steps he needs to take. | - Saves you time in answering requests where the information is the same every time. - Can be personalized. |
| Approvals | You can tag an internal or external approver within a request. They can then accept or reject the approval. | Having to seek approval before proceeding with a request is a common requirement when software licenses, budgets and access rights are involved. | - Simplifies the approval process. - Allows for easier collaboration and transparency. |
Example 2: Payroll Error Request
Team: Finance
Use case: When employee Max Meyer receives his payslip for the month of August, he notices that he has not received payment for three hours of overtime that he worked during the month. Erika Schmitt is a member of the Finance team and is responsible for resolving payroll errors.
Workflow:
- Max submits his request about the payroll error to the Finance team, using the channel that his company is using for Conversations.
- The Finance team receives the request in Conversations and Erika assigns it to herself. To organize the task, she can set the status and priority of the request, assign a category, and add a due date.
- There are several features that Erika can use to respond to this type of request. In this example, Erika uses a customized "Payroll Error" form as an efficient way to collect the necessary information from Max. The table below shows some additional features that might be used for a payroll request.
- After Erika has resolved the issue, then she can communicate this with Max by replying to the request. Erika can also adjust the status of the request as required.
- Max receives Erika’s reply in the original thread, based on the communication channel he used to send the request in the first instance. If the request has been resolved, then Max can also provide a satisfaction rating.
Features
| Feature | Description | Example | Benefits |
| Forms | Forms allow you to reply to common requests with a predefined set of questions. | The Finance team might have a form with standardized questions about common payroll errors. | - A quick and efficient way to gather data (form answers can be downloaded as a CSV). - Reduction of time consuming back and forth conversations. |
| Internal note | Internal notes can be used to send private notes to other experts within the team. The notes are not visible to the requester. | Erika might send a note to another expert on the Finance team to cross-reference the payroll error. | Sending internal notes allows for seamless collaboration between experts. |
| Approval | You can tag an internal or external approver within a request. They can then accept or reject the approval. | After she has investigated this issue, Erika might require an approval from her supervisor to pay Max’s overtime. | - Simplifies the approval process. - Allows for easier collaboration and transparency. |
Example 3: Company Event Request
Team: Workplace or similar
Use case: The company wants to organize a one-day summer event for all employees. There will be workshops, team-building activities, and a catered lunch. The Workplace team is responsible for organizing the event, in particular Karsten Becker, who is the workplace manager. However, additional input is needed from colleagues across other teams, such as Erika Schmitt from Finance and Julian Schneider from HR.
Workflow
The Projects functionality is particularly useful in this instance, as it allows a team to group related requests into one project. This is useful for tasks that involve many requests as it allows the team to track the progress of the project as a whole.
Tip
You can create a temporary Slack channel (called, for example, "Summer Event Requests") and link it to Conversations. As a result, experts can easily convert queries that are sent within this channel into requests and assign them to the relevant project.
- When creating a project using the Projects functionality, it must be assigned to one team—this is usually the team with the most ownership over the project. In this example, there are two ways we could approach this:
Option 1:
As the Workplace team has the most ownership over this company event, workplace manager Karsten could create the project and assign it to this team.Note
Experts in the owner team can access the project view and see all requests in the project, including who is working on the request and the status. However, they can only see the content of requests that are assigned to their own team. This prevents them from viewing requests assigned to other teams.Option 2:
Alternatively, Karsten could create a temporary cross-collaborative team, for example, "Summer Event team", for the purpose of this event and add all experts who are involved in the event to it, like Erika from the Finance team and Julian from the HR team. - Experts with access to the project can add existing requests to it and also create new requests within the project. The table below shows some of the features that would typically be used within an example like this.
- Karsten can keep track of the project in the following ways:
- At the top of the project page, he can see how many requests are added to the project and how many of those are already resolved.
- He can set the status of the project to Closed once all tasks have been resolved and the project is concluded.
Features
| Feature | Description | Example | Benefits |
| Outreach | The Outreach functionality can be used to send an email to a large group of people. | Karsten might send an email to all employees with important information about getting to the event. | - A quick and efficient way to contact a large group of recipients. - Replies are converted to requests. |
| External collaboration | This functionality can be used to involve an external stakeholder in a request. | Julian might want to contact a freelance facilitator about running a team-building workshop. | - Allows you to keep all communications regarding a request in one place. - Allows for easier collaboration and transparency. |
| SLAs | You can set up service-level agreement (SLA) rules to define service goals for your team. | Karsten might set up goals for the first response time and request resolution time. | - Allows you to keep track of your team's performance. - Allows you to maintain a high standard of support. |
| Analytics | Analytics provides you with in-depth insights regarding your team’s requests. | The members of the team can filter the data by time period and category to get a detailed overview of team and individual performance during the summer event project. | - Keep track of requests. - Improve your reporting capabilities with regard to key performance indicators (KPIs). |
You can learn more about Personio Conversations in the article Overview of Personio Conversations.