How a Consulting Firm Improved Its Team Communication And Increased Accountability

Introduction

Led by Managing Director Jonathan Flade, OJ Solutions is an IT and business consulting firm in Manchester, England, dedicated to providing clear, effective strategies for its clients. 

To deliver on that promise, their own operations must be a model of efficiency and professionalism. As the team grew, it became clear they needed a communication system that reflected their core values of simplicity and straightforwardness.

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The Challenge: When Personal Apps Create Business Problems

As OJ Solutions grew, its reliance on informal, personal chat apps created significant problems that undermined the team's efficiency and professionalism. 

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The core issue was a complete lack of separation between work and personal life, which created several critical pain points:

• No Work-Life Boundaries: Using personal apps meant important work messages were lost between family chats and notifications. This made it impossible for the team to ever fully disconnect from work.
• Lost Accountability and Information: Critical announcements and tasks sent through messy group chats were easily missed or ignored. With no built-in task management, it was difficult to hold the team accountable for seeing and acting on important information.
• Major Security Risks: When employees left the company, they took entire conversation histories and sensitive files with them on their personal phones. This created a major security and intellectual property risk, as the company had no control over its own data.
• Failed Attempts with Other Tools: The team had tried other work chat apps before, but they never stuck. As Jonathan noted, they were either too expensive or were too complicated for the team to gully adopt.

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"My biggest issue before with other channels, such as WhatsApp, was not being able to separate between the business and the personal side of things."

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The Solution: Why Zenzap?

OJ Solutions chose Zenzap because it offered the perfect blend of simplicity, structure, and security. 

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Zenzap was so straightforward and easy to use that the team handled the switch "quite easily," with a simple onboarding process that didn't require lengthy training. This allowed the team to "cut out the nonsense" and focus entirely on work-related communication.

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"I would describe Zenzap as probably the best business communication tool. It's straightforward, it's easy to use, and it's just very, very easy to manage."

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Key Features in Action

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Work-Life Separation Controls

The ability to schedule messages was a game-changer. Jonathan, who often works at all hours, can now write a message late at night and schedule it to arrive at the start of the next workday, allowing his team to protect their personal time.

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"Rather than disturbing my whole team with messages at midnight, or 3am... I can set a scheduled message, and they would receive that when they wake up."

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Organized and Secure Chats

With Zenzap, all the team’s communication is organized into separate groups and chats. Conversations are encrypted, and all data, files, and intellectual property remain securely within the company's control, even after an employee leaves.

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Centralized Task Management

Zenzap gives managers the ability to easily turn messages into tasks and assign them to specific people. This gives leadership a clear view of progress and helps them quickly identify any blockers.

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One App for All Team Communication

By consolidating all work-related communication and day-to-day task management into Zenzap, everyone knows exactly where to find information, ensuring nothing falls between the cracks.

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The Impact: Focused, Secure, and Accountable

The switch to Zenzap had an immediate and fundamental impact on how OJ Solutions operates. By adopting a dedicated work chat app, the company culture became more focused, professional, and efficient. The "fluff" was gone, replaced by clarity and purpose.

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The transformation was clear across the business:

• A Renewed Focus on Business: By creating a dedicated and separate space for business, communication can finally be direct and purposeful, free from the noise of personal notifications and family chats.

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"If you have a specific tool for work, your mind is not thinking, 'what am I going to have for tea?' or 'I need to reply to my mum's message.’”

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• A Culture of Accountability: With a single source of truth for all communications, the team can be better held accountable. Important messages are seen by everyone, and tasks can be easily tracked.

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"There's no case of 'Oh, I didn't see it' or 'I didn't get it.' We know it's there and everyone's got easy access."

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• Security and Peace of Mind: Management no longer has to worry about sensitive company data being stored on personal phones. Zenzap provides a secure, centralized environment that protects the company's assets.

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"From a business perspective, what it means is when staff do leave the organization, the communication stays there. The IPs or any kind of key documents that have been shared stay within the application...which means it's a lot safer."

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Conclusion

OJ Solutions’ problem was that its communication methods had not kept pace with its professional needs, leading to a messy, insecure, and distracting work environment. Zenzap provided the simple, powerful, and secure solution they needed to fix it. 

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By moving to a dedicated work chat app, the team gained work-life balance, improved accountability, and protected their valuable company data.