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Data Silos: Why They Are Problematic and How to Fix Them

Information silos are collections of information held by a specific group that may not be accessible by other groups or individuals in the same team. Siloed data often occurs from one “segment” of a business to the next, as HR, administration, finance, and marketing teams all collect and use various pieces of data to complete their day-to-day tasks. While siloed data might not seem problematic at first, isolated data frequently leads to barriers in information sharing and collaboration in the wider business landscape. Consistent data silos damage data integrity and make it harder for your business to succeed. ✶ Share information among teams effortlessly with Unleash Defining Data Integrity: What Is Healthy Data? Information silos refer to segments of data inaccessible from one department to the next in an organization, leading to a lack of efficiency and transparency in a team. Siloed data is the opposite of “healthy” data. Companies can define healthy data as information that is accessible and easily understood across the business landscape. How Do Data Silos Occur? Information silos and siloed data issues can occur for a range of reasons. Usually, these problems emerge over time, mirroring fragmented organizational structures. Some of the most common causes of data silos include: Issues with technology Data can’t easily pass between departments in an organization if the technology used for collecting and storing data is fragmented. Integrations between high-quality applications and software solutions are essential to healthy data. Organizational change Growth or changes in the structure of an organization can often lead to problems with the management of data. There may be too many departments or team members for business leaders to keep track of the flow of data effectively. Issues with company culture Poor company culture can lead to gaps between different members of staff in a team. Sometimes, this can cause groups like marketing or sales to keep data to themselves, rather than sharing their insights with the rest of the group. ✶ Software solutions like Unleash make integrations between apps easy How Is Data Quality Affected by Data Silos? One of the major issues caused by data silos is a problem with data quality. Data is among the most valuable assets any business has, making it easier for teams to make informed and confident decisions. With data, you can understand your partners and customers and improve your chances of long-term business success. Working with data silos means you’ll have fragmented pieces of information which might not provide a complete view of your business environment. If your data isn’t in sync, you may even see conflicting insights when cross-checking information from various sources. Can Data Silos Destroy Businesses? If you’re new to dealing with data, you might wonder, “why are data silos problematic?” As mentioned above, a lack of access to consistent and accurate data is one of the most common issues associated with siloed information. However, other problems can also emerge, such as: Incomplete views of the business If you can’t consolidate your data into a comprehensive overview of all business operations, then you can’t gain a complete view of the business. Trying to manage a business with isolated data is like trying to put a puzzle back together without knowing what it should look like. Cultural issues When data silos are evident in business, teams often end up working independently, using their own data and failing to collaborate with their colleagues. This can lead to everyone in a business working with different strategies and a misaligned approach to business operations. Cultures of transparency and trust are difficult to maintain with data silos. Poor business performance Data silos make it difficult to track customer journeys and maintain a strong view of your company’s operations. This means you don’t have the insights required to optimize your company or your teams. It could also mean you end up giving your customers a less-than-perfect experience. How Can You Fix the Problem of Data Silos? Information silos often happen when companies have various sources of information isolated from one another. This means many business leaders often assume the answer to data silos is simply importing and exporting databases from one environment to another. However, the reality is that the constantly changing nature of data requires a more focused central approach to eliminating data silos. In order to do this, companies should do the following: Use integration software Using integration software and APIs to connect disparate systems in a workforce is one of the best ways to reduce data silos. Software solutions such as Unleash sync all your resources into one place, making searching for information easy. Leverage all-in-one environments Leveraging all-in-one cloud environments where you can connect multiple tools in one space can reduce the need for integrations. This also minimizes the risk of data silos by keeping information flowing in one space. Create a collaborative culture Commit to helping your team members bond and collaborate more consistently so that they’re constantly sharing information and insights. A culture with a strong focus on knowledge sharing will reduce data silos. How to Avoid Data Silos in the Future As businesses continue to become increasingly reliant on data in a digital world, healthy data is essential to improving a company’s chances of long-term success. Organizations must provide decision makers with 360-degree views of healthy data to achieve their goals. Eliminating data silos may be the key to success for many businesses.

Information Silos: Why They Are Bad and How to Fix Them preview image

Productivity Slack Search Sucks: Here’s Why (And 5 Tips to Help You Find What You Need)How long do you spend searching for files? How much time do you spend specifically searching for files in Slack? Slack can be an excellent application for communication and collaboration, but locating specific files or messages within the application will test your patience. Slack users can rely on a few best practices to make searching the platform easier, but the app itself offers limited functionality. Users should ultimately abandon Slack search in favor of Unleash, which is simpler and easier to use. Unleash searches every folder and application simultaneously, reducing frustration and boosting efficiency. Slack Search Is Complicated and Clunky Although Slack is an excellent communication tool, its search functionality leaves much to be desired. It is exceedingly difficult to use, lacks an intuitive design, and has a steep learning curve. Moreover, limiting search to a single application can slow down the process of locating important information. Slack search frequently returns irrelevant results, forcing you to sift through dozens of posts to find what you seek. To help you narrow your results, Slack touts its search modifiers. It’s a nice idea, but in reality, that means users have to memorize their modifiers or look them up each time they want to use them. Slack is also only one of many applications you use, so its search will only be useful if the information you seek is within the app. If you're looking for a document or message sent via email or another app, no Slack modifier will help you find it. In actuality, it becomes increasingly impractical to search each application your organization employs individually. As of 2021, enterprises utilized between 100 and 288 SaaS applications. Even if your employees only utilize a dozen applications, they likely spend significant time locating files and messages. When employees use a communication app such as Slack alongside project management apps, email, and document management tools, it is inevitable that they will forget which app contains the information they are seeking. And if you're searching Slack but what you're looking for occurred in an email conversation, Slack cannot assist you in locating it. Spend Less Time Searching Slack With These 5 Tips Although Slack's search functionality is difficult to use, there are a few things you can do to simplify the process. Aside from memorizing its modifiers for faster-advanced search or employing a different search tool, the best way to improve your experience with Slack is to avoid using its general search in the first place. Use its other features to organize threads, messages, and channels of importance. 1. Save Messages or Threads You Want to Revisit Save essential messages or threads for future reference and avoid sifting through Slack search results in the future. To accomplish this, hover over the message or thread you wish to save and click the ribbon icon on the desktop app. In the left sidebar of the desktop application, you can access previously-saved content. or If it is missing, you can find it by clicking "More." Long-press the message and select "Add to saved items" to save it. To locate saved messages on a mobile device, tap "You" in the lower-right corner of the display and then "Saved items." ✶ Want to make Slack search actually work? Learn how you can make your employees' lives easier 2. Set Reminders on Threads or Messages Request that Slack remind you of important threads or messages at your convenience. Using the desktop application, hover over the message or thread you wish to recall. When a bar appears, click the three dots to the right. Click the second option, "Remind me about this," from the drop-down menu that appears. Then simply choose a time. Slackbot will notify you via message when your reminder is due. Long-press the message you wish to be reminded of and select "Remind me" to set a reminder in the mobile app. ✶ Keep searches easy by fixing your Jira Slack integration. 3. Use Bookmarks and Pin Important Messages Using bookmarks, you can place important links at the top of a channel, allowing anyone to quickly access them. To add a bookmark to a channel in the desktop app, navigate to the channel and then click "+ Add a bookmark" at the top of the page. Unfortunately, the mobile app does not support adding bookmarks. Important messages can also be pinned to the top of the page, so they are always the first thing you see when you visit the channel. Go to the three dots in the upper-left corner of the message you wish to pin in the desktop app. Select "Pin to channel" To pin a message to the top of a channel on a mobile device, press and hold the message and tap "Pin to conversation." 4. Create Custom Sections This feature is exclusive to paid Slack users but worth the price. Custom sections allow you to completely customize how your Slack channels are organized. This allows you to organize channels according to your preferences. For instance, you could group the social channels at work that are unrelated to work in one area and create a separate section for the channels you need to perform your job every day. To create custom sections, open the desktop application and hover over "Channels" in the sidebar on the left. There will be three dots to the right. Click the dots, followed by "Create sidebar section" 5. Leave Channels You Don’t Use Since Slack can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate, one way to manage it is to reduce the number of channels you're in. This doesn’t help much when it comes to actually searching since leaving a channel doesn’t remove it from your searches. However, it can reduce the number of channels you must manually scan when Slack search is not cooperating. To leave a channel on the desktop app, go to the left sidebar, right-click the channel you want to leave, and click on “Leave channel.” To leave a channel in the mobile app, open the channel, tap on the ⓘ symbol, and scroll down to the last option, “Leave.” ✶ Learn about: Federated Search and its benefits Use a Multi-Platform Search Tool to Reduce Slack Frustration Unleash eliminates Slack search issues with a centralized search tool that can also search cloud storage drives, email, code depositories, folders, tickets, and meeting invitations. Features Guaranteed to Reduce Frustration With Slack Centralized tool: Unleash organizes all apps and folders without having to use multiple apps.Simultaneous search: You can search for files in slack, your email, and other apps.Filter function: Use various criteria such as app or app type (email apps, drives, etc.) to recall a file that was attached to an email.Favorites feature: Access any file or message quickly from the left sidebar.Calendar view: This allows you to join remote meetings with a single click.In-house search: The app launches the site or app where your files are located without having to exit it.Launch apps: You can launch your files with the correct app from unleash once you have located them. With an application such as Unleash, what else could you want? This centralized hub will increase your workplace productivity and guarantee your success. ✶ Searching for missing information? Find out how to Slack search deactivated accounts. Let Unleash Show You What the Future of Productivity Looks Like Unleash will locate any file on your computer or in one of your many cloud applications. While many applications (such as Slack) include search tools within their apps, it is no longer practical to use each application's search feature to locate files. Modern employees must be able to search for everything simultaneously.

Productivity 4 Easy Slack Search Commands to Enhance Productivity Although Slack is one of the more popular applications in workplace communication due to its convenience, many users are only familiar with its basic features. However, the search function in Slack is a big time saver that allows you to go through massive amounts of files and conversations in shared channels. In this article, we bring you four options to use if you want to stay productive while searching on Slack. ✶ Slack search sucks: see why and how to improve it Keyboard Shortcuts to Start Your Search There are a few Slack shortcuts that can be used to improve both your team's sales productivity and collaboration in general. For instance, just by typing in the slash (/) on your keyboard, you’ll be able to see all the commands you can use to join a channel, start a Zoom call, or find a GIF. Here are some of the most useful slash (/) commands in Slack: /invite [@username] [#channel]: To invite someone to a specific channel/who: To show the members of a channel/mute: To put all messages in a channel on mute/status: To set your status/collapse: To consolidate all in-line channel files, GIFs, and photos/expand: To expand all in-line channel GIFs, images, and files/open: To open or join another channel/shortcuts: To show all keyboard shortcuts ✶ Maintain productivity by fixing your Jira Slack integration. Start a Search on Workspace If you can't remember which channel something was posted in, a workspace search will search within all channels and return results. The keyboard shortcuts below will help you search the Slack desktop app quickly: For Mac: Command + GFor Windows or Linux: Control + G Search Within a Channel or Direct Message On the other hand, if you do remember the location of a specific post, you can do a particular channel or direct message search using the following shortcuts: For Mac: Command + FFor Windows or Linux: Control + F ✶ Want secure team communication? Find out if Slack messages are end-to-end encrypted Search Filters If your search returned a high volume of results, Slack's filters can help you narrow it down. However, Slack filters are most effective when you know a few details, such as the people involved, the channel where the discussion took place, the date when the item was first shared, or the type of material (e.g., picture, spreadsheet, PDF, or email)—all these can help refine your search. After performing a search, you’ll find the appropriate filters below. To only see results from a specific person or group, use the “people filter" and combine it with the “date filter” by choosing the date you remember the message being posted to get more targeted results. Assuming the details you enter are correct, combining filters can be very effective. Under "More filters," you can also leave out bots, apps, and workflows to prevent updates from other apps from showing up. Modifiers Apart from being a suitable option for cross-platform messaging integration, Slack also offers useful search modifiers. You can add search modifiers to a basic keyword search to narrow down the results. This feature works the same way as filters, except you need to place it in the search bar next to your keyword or variable. Here are several modifiers you can try to refine your search: in: You can add in:#channel name to filter results within a specific channel or in:@name filters to filter your results to only direct messages with a specific user. For example, typing “Internet users infographic in:#team-marketing” will help you find an infographic about internet users posted on your #team-marketing channel.from: Using from:@name will limit the results to conversations with a specific individual while excluding your own messages in those conversations. As an example, typing “employee group photo from:@Lisa” will show only conversations mentioning an employee group photo from Lisa.is:thread: Adding is:thread shows only the results found inside threads. For instance, typing in “business review is:thread" will show results related to “business review” within threads.with: You can add with:@name to search threads and direct messages (DMs) with a specific person. For example, typing “attendance report with:@Hans” will show results from threads and DMs with Hans. ✶ Find out how you can Slack search deactivated accounts Special Characters Finally, you can find exactly what you're looking for by including special characters in your search queries. Here are some examples: Quotation marks: Add quotation marks to your search to get results with specific words or phrases. For example, typing "employee ID photos" will return the results containing that phrase.Asterisk: Adding an asterisk (*) to an incomplete word will return results that begin with those letters. For instance, typing “int*” will give you results like “interval” and "internet."Dash: If you want to exclude certain words from the results, add a dash before them. As an example, if you type "internet users-infographic," you'll get results for "internet users" without the word "infographic." ✶ Looking to embed Slack into websites? See 3 easy ways to do so Unleash Your Productivity With Improved Slack Search Although it may seem complicated for first-time users, Slack delivers in several ways, one of which is by making search simple. For this reason, Slack can work great as your intranet, especially if you use the four search methods above. Using these will optimize your work, prevent data silos, and enhance your team's productivity by offering information at your fingertips whenever needed.

Project management Notion Software for Content Management: Advantages and Disadvantages [2023]Notion is a fantastic online content management solution. It can be used to edit text, maintain a blog, store ideas, organize content, and compose articles all in one place. This makes it useful for anybody with content management needs, from solo entrepreneurs to well-established companies. Here, we'll explore Notion's advantages and disadvantages for content management. ✶ Using Notion to improve workflow: see 5 essential automations to set up Notion for Content Management Content management requires keeping track of a piece of content as it goes through its many iterations from inception to completion. Enterprises and small businesses with a lot of content to handle may find content management a daunting task. However, Notion facilitates streamlined workflow procedures and improved collaboration as content moves through its lifecycle. Here are a few of Notion’s features that support this: Project and Task Management Notion can work as an all-in-one project management tool where teams assign, track and update multiple projects and recurring tasks all in one place. Moreover, Notion project management makes it convenient to improve document management and organize file attachments, task lists, and schedules so that they're easily searchable. Notion also contains features that help with task management. To stay on track with the rest of the team, members can view any project note along with related task assignments and the most recent updates, initiate conversations, write comments, and tag other users to get or give feedback. You can also improve the rate at which tasks are completed by using Notion shortcuts. Note-Tracking and Document Management Notion uses a Kanban board to provide an overview of the many stages of each deliverable. Content can be organized into the following main categories: To Do, In Progress, Edit, Published, and Archive. Users can further break down each deliverable into various stages by clicking on its card. It also allows users to invite other members to collaborate or assign and track specific tasks and set deadlines. Additionally, users can quickly toggle between their own projects and team-wide assignments with filters and custom keywords. Research, Writing, and Editing Notion makes writing and editing easy, as the platform feels very intuitive and minimizes any frustration regarding proper formatting, indentation, image position, and lists. There are also available blogging and writing templates that help keep all writing consistent. What's more, ideas, the fuel for each piece of content, can be safely stored on the platform. If a user has a great idea, they can quickly store it in Notion to come back to it later and build upon it. ✶ Notion search sucks: see why that is and how to improve it Advantages Notion’s user-friendly interface and comprehensive content management features make it an ideal option for writers and other content creators. Here are some of Notion’s key strengths: Easy to use: Users can jump immediately into their tasks after getting used to the platform. In case you need any help, you can count on many available tutorials and responsive technical support.Multifunctional: The fact that it's a multifunctional app with features beyond note-taking is a major selling point. As a result, users won't waste time keeping several tabs open or switching between programs to produce and manage content.Clutter-free interface: Users can easily organize tasks, projects, and workflows thanks to Notion’s clean and intuitive interface. This also minimizes distractions and helps keep the user focused on their deliverables.Cross-compatible: Notion is compatible with several devices. As long as a user has one device connected to Notion, be it a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, they can access their work or share content from anywhere. You can get Notion in a web app, a Mac or Windows desktop app, or an iOS or Android mobile app. ✶ Having problems with syncing Notion across devices? Here's how to fix it Disadvantages Although Notion is a wonderful note-taking and content-management tool, it's not without its faults. Some of these include: Minor learning curve: For users with no experience in using Notion or similar tools, getting accustomed to its interface and navigation might take some time, as finding pages and dashboards can be confusing to first-time users.Setup can take time: While Notion's workflow and content management benefits are worth the effort, setting it up properly for team use might take some time. In comparison, this can be easily provided by other dedicated project management tools.Text formatting issues: There are a few common formatting bugs that irk users. For example, the app may respond inconsistently when users try to edit or highlight text or add sections to a page. Streamline Your Content Management With Notion As a comprehensive content management tool, Notion makes it easy to find and manage your content, collaborate with others on teams, and organize and share ideas. Even though there are a few drawbacks to consider, the overall advantages make it a fantastic choice for many users, as it's intuitive, simple to use, and works well across multiple devices. As such, it may be the perfect solution for your content management needs in 2023.

Productivity Notion Not Syncing Across Devices? 4 Ways to Fix It Notion is a cloud-based service that syncs across devices, so the same workspace you use at home can be edited on your mobile phone. This is because all files on Notion are stored on servers that can be accessed using different versions of Notion, like the web, Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS. By constantly using Notion's servers to back up your Workspaces, any changes you make on one device will be available across all your other devices within seconds. For example, if you start writing a document on your MacBook, you can immediately open and pick up where you left off using your iPhone or iPad, and continue editing on your MacBook later. You don't have to do anything special to ensure Notion is backing everything up—each change should be automatically saved as you make it. However, on the rare occasion that Notion fails to sync across your devices, there are a few quick and easy fixes you can do to remedy the problem. Here are four ways to fix Notion when it's not syncing across devices. ✶ This is why Notion search sucks and how you can improve it 1. Reset Your Notion App The first thing you should do is reset your Notion app to clear out any cached data and allow the app to start fresh and quickly resync with your other devices. To reset Notion on the web or desktop, simply follow Notion's resetting instructions for your specific device and software: Chrome To open the Developer Tools, use cmd + option + i on a Mac or ctrl + shift + i for Windows.Then, right-click the refresh button located on top.Select "Empty Cache and Hard Reload."On the left-hand side of your screen, select "Application" and then expand "Cookies."Right-click the Notion link and click "Clear." Safari To access Safari's Preferences, open the Safari app and select "Preferences" in the drop-down menu.Select "Privacy," then "Manage Website Data."Search for "Notion," and then click "Remove All." Firefox Look to the left of the URL and select the padlock icon.Select "Clear Cookies and Site Data."Select "Remove." ✶ Find out how to enhance productivity by using Notion shortcuts. On Mac From the Notion menu in your system menu bar, select "Reset App" and "Clear Local Data." On Windows app Close your Windows app, then go to File Explorer.Type C:\\\\Users\\<USERNAME>\\AppData\\Roaming.Delete the folder labeled "Notion." ✶ See the pros, cons, and much more about Notion project management. 2. Reset Your Browser Cache If resetting the app didn't work, try clearing your browser cache. Different factors can prevent Notion from syncing, and outdated or corrupted data in your browser's cache is one of them. To clear out your browser cache, follow the instructions for your specific device and browser type. On Chrome, for example, you can reset your cache by clicking More > More tools > Clear browsing data. Then, select your desired time range and check "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files." Finally, click "Clear data." 3. Force a Resync Another way to fix Notion when it's not syncing across devices is to force a resync. This can be done by syncing on a page or across multiple pages. On Multiple Pages To sync on multiple pages, copy and paste one or multiple blocks from one page to another, then select Paste and sync.Next, select the content you want to sync by dragging across blocks, then hit copy (cmd/ctrl+C).To paste, simply go to another page and press (cmd/ctrl + V).After you select Paste and sync, your content will be updated on all pages.Content synced across pages will have a red ring. If you edit the content, it will update on all other devices in real-time.You can sync your content in multiple places by clicking "Copy and sync" and then pasting it into your intended destination. On the Same Page You can also turn already-existing content in your workspace into a synced block, and then duplicate it by pasting it elsewhere on the page. To select the existing blocks, click and drag your cursor across them.To sync selected blocks, click the ⋮⋮ block handle to the left of your selection and select Turn into → Synced block.Click "Copy and sync," then paste the code into the same page. 4. Delete and Reinstall the Notion App If you're still having problems with your Notion app, you may need to delete and reinstall it on your device. This can help clear out any corrupted data causing the syncing issue. Simply uninstall the app from your device, download it again, and log in. Your data is synced with your account, so there's no need to worry about losing it. ✶ Notion can significantly improve your workflow: see 5 best automations to set up Effortlessly Sync Notion Across Devices While there are several potential causes for Notion not syncing, there are also a number of possible solutions. If you're having trouble with your Notion app, try following the instructions above to fix the issue quickly. If it still doesn’t work, feel free to chat with an agent via Notion’s support team, accessible on the Notion website > Contact Support.

Project management Using Notion for Project Management: Pros, Cons, & More Notion is an all-in-one workspace that allows users to organize their thoughts and create plans. While popular as an efficient note-taking tool that can contribute to your knowledge management, Notion is now also recognized for its value as a project management app. In addition to using Notion as part of your knowledge management strategy, here's an overview of how to use it as a project management tool and how well it performs. ✶ Knowledge management vs. content management: learn the key differences How to Use Notion for Project Management Notion is equipped with a vast array of project management tools for teams to stay on track. For instance, you can easily collaborate with your team from every device and work together on assignments in real-time. With Notion, you can: Create roadmapsWrite to-do and task listsBuild Kanban boardsCreate a databaseCreate and store documentsBuild project plans What's impressive about Notion is that it offers these functionalities as tools, in contrast to Google Workspace, which is a collection of several apps. You can use Notion's tools wherever you are on the app and access them through page menus. ✶ Is your Notion not syncing across devices? See the ways to fix it Project Management Tools in Notion Below is an overview of Notion's project management features and how to put them to use to make the most out of Notion for improving employee productivity. Wikis Wikis are online collaborative document repositories that can be accessed by all project collaborators. It's where you can store the project's brief, contracts, policies, and content, among other things that need to be shared with other team members. To use this tool, start by creating a workspace page for whatever purpose you need by clicking the (+) icon in your sidebar next to WORKSPACE. Typing slash (/) will show you your different content options. Populate your workspace with subpages that contain information related to your purpose, including your project brief, mechanics, prizes, participants, and other useful data. To organize your workspace, use columns to group related pages. Project Pages In Notion, a page is essentially a document that's customizable, so you can add whatever you like—text, images, checklists, tasks, or even a Kanban board. To create a new page, just click “+ New Page” on the bottom left of your sidebar menu. From there, you can select a page type you want, be it an empty table, list, board, or calendar. Kanban Board Kanban boards are an effective project management tool that can show you what tasks your team has, what tasks have been assigned to a team member, and their current status. When a team member is done with a task, they can easily drag the card from the to-do column to the completed column. Roadmaps Roadmaps are great for visualizing a project plan and allowing everyone to see what steps, resources, and people are involved. Notion lets you build roadmaps and sync the projects or tasks you have in your databases. Moreover, you can easily create a roadmap using the available templates or make your own. To start building your roadmap, create a new database and populate it with all the necessary properties you need, such as projects, deadlines, tasks, and more. If you need to add multiple tasks, create a template to save time. Once done, you can share your roadmap with the rest of the team by providing them with workspace access. Customize Views Notion allows you the flexibility of viewing your to-dos in either a traditional to-do list format or a visual timeline. Additionally, you can view it as a table for a more structured approach, as a gallery for a visual overview, or as a calendar for easy scheduling and planning. ✶ Want to use Notion for content management? See the pros and cons Pros of Using Notion for Project Management There are multiple benefits to using Notion for project management, including the following: Cost efficient – Notion is an all-in-one workspace that eliminates the need for companies to acquire and use separate CRM, onboarding, and project management tools.User-friendly – Once you master Notion's many features, producing pages and content should be easier than on other platforms.Time-saving – Notion has many time-saving features that make it simple to create content, take notes, organize projects, automate workflows, or assign tasks. As users don't need to switch between apps, they can quickly update content from their workspace. Additionally, the many templates available and Notion shortcuts make it easy to get started right away.Portable – Notion is compatible with many devices. Its various features are accessible to users through its web, desktops, or mobile app. Cons of Using Notion for Project Management Despite its multiple advantages, there are also some drawbacks to using Notion for project management: Overwhelming – Notion makes use of blocks for everything and figuring out how to use these and Notion’s many features and templates can be overwhelming at first. Users will need to sit down and learn how to use the interface before they can maximize its features. This is particularly true when it comes to Notion search. No goal tracking – Large projects are often broken down into phases or important milestones so that project managers can keep track of what's been accomplished and what's pending. However, there's no way to set benchmarks or monitor your progress toward targets, as all you have to work with are checklists.No reporting tool – Without a built-in reporting tool, you’ll need a third-party reporting app to track your team's performance.Lack of communication features – While everyone can edit and comment on the same pages, there isn't really a way to talk to other team members on the platform. ✶ Notion search sucks: see why and how to improve it Supercharge Your Project Management With Unleash Notion is an excellent tool for improving collaboration, document management, and tracking projects. However, although it's a great project management tool for individuals and small companies, it may not be the best fit for enterprises—these can benefit from optimizing their Notion project management with a powerful tool like Unleash. This will work best for your company if your team requires a more robust solution.

Productivity Notion Search Sucks: Here's Why and 3 Things You Can Do to Improve It Enterprise search platforms are the single most significant tool for organizations to enhance productivity. Notion is one of the most popular project management software solutions out there, and while it takes care of some big, hairy problems, searching for files/docs within the platform is an absolute nightmare. One of the biggest problems is that Notion’s search engine lacks the ability to conduct refined global searches within databases from the main search area. For best results, your team should be able to search Notion holistically rather than piecemeal to find the exact results they need. Find out why Notion's search function is not working for you and the steps you can take to fix it. Notion Search Is Basic and Lacks Internal Search Integrations For a tool that is intended to boost efficiency and production, the current native search capabilities have a number of significant shortcomings, according to users. A lot of times it's not working properly, and when it does, it's just too slow. Notion's Quick Find has the following drawbacks: Lack of integration: Since there is no integration between quick find and databases, searching for specific data in a database table is practically nonexistent without navigating to the exact database you need. Having multiple databases means having to manually configure a new search every single time.Over-reliance on keywords: Keyword searches are not dependable, as they may fail to return relevant content that doesn’t mention the search keyword directly. When search results are inaccurate, researchers run the risk of missing vital information and presenting poor data.No global search option: Notion’s Quick Find doesn’t cover subpages. Due to the lack of a global search option, exact titles, pages, authors, and dates cannot be located due to the narrow search range. Trying to search all pages in Notion proves to be a difficult task without further software integrations.Disappointing sorting options: After a keyword search has been conducted, results can be sorted according to preference. The available sorting options are very basic and can be found in most search engines nowadays. Notion’s Filter option continues to disappoint. It has two areas and they come with the following options: Quick Filters (created by me; edited last week; on the current page)More Filters (in page; created by; created; last edited) If an organization uses Notion extensively to create documentation and databases, these basic search features won't suffice. Organizations want to be able to search all of their attachments, and they also want to be able to refine search results, which is difficult to achieve with Notion. Without a common policy and improved search tools, duplicate documents and pages are a concern. ✶ Learn about federated search and its benefits Notion Search Not Working? Here's How to Improve It 1. Use a Centralized Search Bar A centralized search bar where you can conduct your search and apply filters saves time and allows for easier navigation. While Notion’s search option, Quick Find, is the central search area, it’s not integrated with a database search. If you need to search for specific data located in a database or several databases, you will have to navigate to each database to conduct your search manually on the page. ✶ Discover the pros and cons of Notion project management. You can avoid Notion’s multiple-step search path by using a third-party integration like Unleash to establish a central search hub. You may use the Explore Bar to input a search query to locate information in Notion and other linked applications. If you want to search specifically within Notion, you can locate Notion listed in the apps section of the menu just below the Explore Bar. The search box will provide that app or account results when you select a specific app. Within the related accounts, you can see the many types of resources accessible for that app and account. In the main search bar for Notion, you can search all your pages, tables, lists, databases, and other documentation. 2. Create Custom Filters to Speed Up Your Search The quickest way to find what you are looking for is by creating custom filters. Filters are created in the main search bar using a pathway starting with the name of the app followed by the type of information and action you want to perform. For example, if you want to filter by various accounts and labels, use ;Account Name → ;Assigned To / ;Created By / ;Shared To. These additional layers of customized filters aid in further narrowing searches by delivering exact results and enhancing the ease and efficacy of your search. When you use filters, your search parameters remain unchanged. ✶ Take your search to another level with these Notion shortcuts. 3. Take Advantage of Unleash’s Drag-And-Drop Functionality Using search to find a document or page to add a file or information is made easier if you can add it simultaneously to the file/document. Every resource in Unleash that has a file or attachment may be “Dragged & Dropped” onto your computer screen or directly into Notion. You can move a resource by left-clicking on it and dragging it to the desired position without releasing the button. To drop the resource into place, let go of the mouse button. Unleash Takes Your Notion Search From Basic to Holistic Notion search sucks, but it should not keep your team from using it to create databases and documentation vital to your organization. Using an enterprise search tool like Unleash can reduce your team’s time and effort when searching for information. With Unleash, you can get precisely what you’re looking for in one search with relevant results in seconds. Download Unleash today to enhance your Notion search and see how it can change your team’s workflow.

Productivity How Better Search Improves Sales Productivity In The Team Forrester's sales activity studies have consistently shown that "finding content and information is a significant productivity obstacle for sales teams." Sales reps have built their lives around the excitement and the energy of the office environment. In a viral blink of an eye, the world took a hiatus, everyone went remote, and sales leaders and teams had to develop new ways to be productive outside of their natural working environment. By transitioning from a world of paper files to a world of digital tools, each carrying out a different function in their everyday task, sales reps struggled to fully find all the information they needed to understand and close a prospect. Before sending that first email to launch a sales cycle, sales reps would have had to switch between a plethora of tools first. However, you can get rid of this barrier and compress your sales cycle with fast searching across your company. You can improve your sales team's productivity by making it easier for them to access all the content on these tools to cut down the process of diving deep into a lot of apps to find information. Eliminate Content Silos With a Unified Access Point One of the blockers hindering the sales team's productivity is the inability to easily access important information and content that their marketing counterparts create. 81% of sales leaders mentioned "content search and utilization" as the top area for improving productivity. Only 46% of sales reps believe that they have enough data and insight on a prospect's intent. Data silos frustrate employees by creating multiple bottlenecks. Sales reps often struggle with putting in their very best because they don't know the information available to them and how to find it in the company's shared database. It's even worse when another department, like product or marketing, creates and stores the content. Adopting an enterprise search tool makes it easy for sales reps to access data and other forms of content. It serves as a single, searchable home for all your content assets. It's not enough to organize content by factors such as sales stage, industry, persona, or segment. Having a single point of access to all prospect and customer data can heavily contribute to the productivity of your sales team. With one click, they should be able to access all the information they need on accounts, leads, product updates, etc. When it becomes easier for sales reps to find relevant content and data to use in their everyday activities, they can stop spending time on repetitive tasks, like constantly scrolling through the company's database. Instead, they can spend that time focusing on creating pitches, drafting follow-up messages, and building winning sales strategies. Get a 360-View of Prospects and Clients According to HubSpot's Sales Enablement Report, prospects' buying habits have changed in a post-pandemic world, and sales reps now have to close deals virtually instead of in person. Transitioning to a remote operation model came with incorporating even more tools to understand the prospect and their behaviors. In fact, 72% of salespeople say they need to have at least three screens with multiple tabs open to get that 360-view of their prospects and leads. With businesses already using many apps to document prospect information and behavior, sales reps have to know the exact location of every piece of information if they want to get to it quickly. Before picking up the phone to make that sales call, they need to conduct an appropriate amount of research, and searching for this information can take more time than expected. With a better search tool, they can quickly type in one keyword, e.g., the prospect's name, and get all the necessary information. For example, a B2B sales rep can type in the name of the company they're trying to close and get a full view of them and how they've interacted with the brand. Quickly Find Answers to Urgent Questions Marketing, customer success, product, and sales teams work cross-functionally to convert prospects to retained customers. In most cases, the prospect doesn't interact with the sales team until much later in the buying funnel, after having multiple interactions with the brand. When a sales rep is on the phone with a prospect, it is important that they have all the information relating to that prospect in front of them to make the call go smoothly. The rep can get questions that only the product team can answer on a sales call, but the prospect wants an immediate answer. If the sales rep can't immediately do a quick search and get answers to a prospect's questions, it reduces the confidence in the product, and the company can lose that lead. With efficient and effective contextual search, sales reps can instantly find answers to urgent questions. Contextual search helps sales reps search for data without having to remember the exact title of a document to locate it. For example, a sales rep wrote a prospecting email template in one of their monthly reports. With contextual search, they don't have to remember the exact report; they can easily search for some words in the template to find it. Unleash Your Sales Productivity One productivity problem facing sales teams stands out above the rest: fast, easy access to all the resources and data they need. Thankfully, this is a situation you can solve with a better company-wide search tool! With a one-click intranet search tool like Unleash, your sales team can change how they approach the information they need. Instead of navigating many tools and apps to find different bits of information, they can easily download one tool and search their entire tech stack at once. Unleash provides a Google-like search solution that enables everyone in the organization to find every piece of information in one spot. It connects with more than 30 apps and quickly brings you the data and content you need. Learn more about how Unleash can significantly improve your sales team's productivity problems.

Productivity Why Your GitHub Search Isn't Working & How to Troubleshoot It With the rise of work-from-home culture and digital nomads, an increasing number of individuals are turning to online coding courses to achieve their ideal career (and lifestyle). GitHub is a leader in the online coding community because it offers one of the most robust digital development platforms available online. However, as with all good things, nothing is without flaws. If you're experiencing problems with GitHub's search function, here are some common causes and solutions. Reasons Why GitHub Search Might Not Be Working Here are some common reasons why your GitHub search function may not be functioning properly, ranging from blank results to server timeouts and error messages galore. Server Timeout Request If there are no search results or if the search function appears frozen, this may be due to the server request timing out. Given that GitHub strives to keep its search function quick for its users, it limits the amount of time each search query can run before timing out. This is done in order to conserve bandwidth on the site. If you received a server timeout error, search results may be incomplete because your query was terminated before it could collect all possible search results. Improper Search Query If your search results do not include return documents or programs that you are certain are available, or if you receive an error message while searching, it is likely that your search query was entered incorrectly or that the syntax associated with your search has inherent issues. How to Resolve GitHub Search Issues Resolving Server Timeouts 1. Check Your Internet Connection Ensure that your internet connection is up and running, as a slow connection could result in timeout issues given the search time limit if it is not. To check your connection status, use other GitHub functions or open a new browser window to ensure that other websites load properly. 2. Review the Status of GitHub’s Servers There is a possibility that the error is caused by GitHub's servers, possibly due to a botched hotfix or another significant update. To ensure that GitHub is up and running, check its server status page. This page will inform you of any real-time incidents, along with the status of their operations, pull requests, pages, and other functions. In addition to being an excellent tech support resource, you can also use it to learn about the most recent updates to GitHub's technology. Resolving Search Query Issues 1. Ensure Your Character Length Is Appropriate A search string cannot exceed 256 characters (approximately 64 words) per GitHub policy. If you are unable to search for a particular string of code, it may be because your query is too long to be processed. 2. Watch Your Operators It is also important to note that GitHub does not support searches with more than five operators (specifically, AND, NOT, and OR). If your search query contains five or more operators of that type, no results will be returned. 3. Read Up on Additional Limitations for Searches While this is quite technical and may not be immediately applicable as a first step, it is essential to review GitHub’s search documentation to make sure you're entering your search query correctly. to ensure that your search query is entered correctly. This is of particular importance when searching for code, as there may be additional restrictions on what constitutes a valid search query, most likely when searching for advanced code strings. In the long run, reading about these more technical aspects will make you a more proficient GitHub user. GitHub Search Troubleshoot Success If you're experiencing search issues on GitHub, be sure to follow the steps above to resolve the problem. If, for whatever reason, these solutions do not provide relief, check out GitHub's excellent support resources so you can continue coding and pursuing your goals.

Productivity 6 Helpful Notion Search Shortcuts Everyone Should Know Over 500 tech companies have benefited from Notion's all-in-one workspace, which includes tools for project management, content management, to-do lists, bookmarking, and more. However, there’s one area where Notion comes up short—search. As businesses amass mountains of information daily, many employees are left to squander hours searching fruitlessly for information or documents they need. This makes enterprise search all the more critical. Although Notion search can be difficult to understand and use at first, we bring you a few key shortcuts to help you navigate it more easily. 1. Using Notion Search The easiest way to start searching is to click Search from the left-hand menu. If you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, you can open Search using the following: For Mac: Command + PFor Windows: CTRL + P If your cursor isn't positioned on a block, you can open Search using Command + K (for Mac) or CTRL + K (for Windows). Once you open Search, your most recent searches and last visited pages will be displayed, which is helpful if you regularly return to the same topic or need to double-check something. If that's not what you need, just enter your keywords in the search window using either relevant phrases or even a whole sentence. The best way to start checking is to stay on the results page and open each result as a new tab by holding Command/CTRL as you click on it. If there are too many search results and you can’t find what you need, you may have to narrow down your search by sorting or using filters. ✶ Is your Notion not syncing across devices? Here's how to fix it 2. Sort Your Search When your search yields results, you can sort them using the dropdown menu in the upper-left corner. When you run a search, the results will be arranged by "Best Matches," putting the results Notion deems most relevant at the top. However, searching for the most recent or oldest results is often easier. The dropdown menu offers the following choices for sorting your search: Best Matches (Default): This sorting option ranks the results in order of significance. Page titles appear before page contents, and newly modified pages appear higher on the list.Last Edited: Newest First: This displays content in your workspace that you or another user last edited.Last Edited: Oldest First: This displays the content in your workspace edited the longest time ago by you or another user.Created: Newest First: This displays content that was recently created.Created: Oldest First: This displays content that was created first. ✶ Using Notion? Streamline workflows with these automations 3. Filter Your Search Filters are an alternative way to improve your search results. You should see the option to filter search results beneath the input area, and using a combination of filters will help focus your search even more. Here are the available filters and what they can do: Only search titles: When you use this filter, you'll only see results if your search word matches the title of a page. Page content won't be taken into account.Teamspace: This filter allows you to refine your search depending on which workspaces you have access to. It’s available only for teams that are on Plus, Business, or Enterprise Plans.Created by: This search filter only returns material that a specific user created. It will also include any subpages residing inside the pages you choose.Date: If you use this filter, your search will return only the results from a specific time frame.In page: Using this filter will help you find a specific page (or pages). Subpages contained within your chosen pages will also be included, but all other pages will be excluded. 4. Recent Searches The last items you searched for will be saved under Recent Searches. Moreover, if your search yields more than one result, you can store them under Recent Searches in the search box to go back to them later. To delete your recent search history, click Clear in the upper-right corner of Recent Searches. 5. Recent Pages Like Recent Searches, you can also see the last pages you visited under Recent Pages when the search window opens. To delete your history of recently visited pages, just click Clear in the search window's upper-right corner. 6. Database Search If you type a keyword into the database search field, your database will show the results containing that keyword in the page title or property values. However, it won't contain the page's contents. Database Search and Workspace Search You may wonder what the difference between a database search and a workspace search is. The Database search option looks for property values like Status = In Progress or the names of database entries added as relation columns, while the Workspace search option doesn't. On the other hand, Workspace search will search the content included within database pages, whereas Database search won't. ✶ Find out whether Notion project management is right for you. Enhance Your Notion Experience With Unleash Searching through your company's various documents can take up time and affect your company's document management. If you're looking to supercharge your document management using Notion as your search tool, using the shortcuts outlined above will make your searches more efficient and get more done in less time. And for a truly enhanced search experience and maximized productivity, using an enterprise search tool like Unleash is your best bet.