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69.5% of workers would be happier with stronger connections to their colleagues.
HR and L&D leaders lean on team-building activities, coffee chats, recognition programs, and professional mentoring programs to foster employee connections, especially in remote and hybrid work environments. There’s an arsenal of collaboration and communication tools that power these programs, like Slack, which has 20 million daily active users.
But, the standard Slack features are limited in their capacity to tackle challenges such as limited engagement, digital overload, and a lack of personal interaction. That is where apps and integrations like the Donut Slack app help fill in the gaps.
What is Donut for Slack?
Donut for Slack or Donut for Teams, often simply referred to as Donut, is a popular Slack integration designed to enhance team engagement and connectivity, particularly in remote or distributed teams. While Slack has all the collaboration and communication features necessary for work, Donut adds features that create personal connections among team members.
The Donut Slack integration randomly pairs team members for virtual coffee chats or meetups. This feature encourages spontaneous interactions and helps team members who might not work together daily to connect and build stronger relationships. Through these casual pairings and interactions, Donut aims to boost overall employee engagement, morale, and collaboration.
Why does Slack need Donut and similar apps?
While Slack excels as a communication and coordination tool, it relies on integrations for more nuanced aspects of team building and culture enhancement. It has limitations like:
- Limited spontaneous interaction – Slack is good for communication, but not for casual chats. Tools like the Slack Donut app add fun and randomness.
- Structured environment – Slack's channels and messages are structured. They're less suited for a natural, informal team culture.
- Engagement beyond work – Slack focuses on work. It doesn't naturally support social events or personal celebrations. Apps like Donut help with this.
- Recognition and rewards – Slack doesn't focus on recognition and rewards. Integrations like Lattice provide ways to celebrate team achievements in Slack channels.
- Team-building activities – Slack isn't built for team-building activities. Third-party apps add games and interactive features for better team unity.
What are the top 5 Donut alternatives?
Diverse team needs and preferences such as more advanced analytics, different types of team-building activities, or specific engagement metrics, often lead organizations to explore Donut for Slack alternatives that better match their specific requirements.
But that’s a rabbit hole. We did the digging for you and chose 5 Donut for Slack alternatives based on diverse feature sets, user experience, and pricing.
1. Coffee Chats by Together
Together for MS Teams is a mentoring-focused platform that seamlessly integrates with Slack, emphasizing employee development and learning. And its newest product release, Coffee Chats, is the perfect Donut alternative.
Coffee Chats matches employees across your organization at your chosen frequency, fostering spontaneous interactions and a collaborative workplace.
The use cases for Coffee Chats’ roulette-style matching are practically endless, but here are a few of our favorites:
- Ad-hoc “virtual coffee” connections
- Building community within your organization
- Pairing new hires with onboarding buddies
- Creating a sense of belonging for remote employees
- Cross-departmental job shadowing
- …and so much more!
The Together platform has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating on G2, and has won the No. 1 easy-to-use award for three years in a row. And its seamless integration with Slack makes it an ideal alternative to Donut.
2. HeyTaco
HeyTaco is a unique Slack integration for recognition and team building. It introduces a fun, taco-based reward system where team members can 'give' tacos to each other as tokens of appreciation for work well done or helpful collaboration.
This tool helps create a positive workplace culture by encouraging recognition and gratitude among team members. Its ease of use and the playful approach to appreciation are highly valued, as evidenced by strong user feedback and ratings on platforms like G2 (4.8 out of 5).
HeyTaco is particularly effective for teams looking to boost morale and foster a culture of acknowledgment in a light-hearted, inclusive way. The tool is priced at $3 per user per month. It is a good alternative for Slack users who want to enhance their team dynamics with a fun, rewarding system that highlights and celebrates everyday contributions.
3. CultureBot
CultureBot is a Slack integration designed for team building and employee wellness. It stands out for its interactive features like mood tracking, wellness tips, and custom challenges, which help create a positive work culture.
This tool suits teams seeking engaging, simple ways to connect employees and promote well-being. Users appreciate its interactive elements and ease of use, as reflected in its strong ratings on G2 (4.8 out of 5).
CultureBot's pricing structure is flexible, catering to various team sizes. Currently, it is priced at $199 per month for teams of up to 99 users. It's a good alternative to Donut, especially for teams that value daily interaction and wellness within the digital workspace.
4. Doozy
Doozy offers a unique spin on Slack integration by focusing on celebrating team events, setting up coffee chats, and running interactive trivia. Its simplicity and engaging features make it a hit among teams who enjoy shared experiences and celebrations.
Doozy has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating on G2. It has a free version for small teams and a paid version of $2.6 per user per month. The paid version integrates with Google Calendar and Microsoft Calendar, it also integrates with different HRIS platforms. Doozy is a good choice for teams looking for an all-in-one solution to celebrate milestones, facilitate casual interactions, and engage in team-building activities.
🥇 Shopping for software? Browse the top 10 mentoring platforms for companies ready to launch their mentoring programs
5. Twine
Twine for Slack is an innovative app designed to enhance team connectivity and engagement in the workplace. This app specializes in setting up video calls for teams, making it ideal for onboarding new hires or conducting regular team meetings.
Its simplicity lies in its ability to send out messages to teammates, prompting them to join video calls through the Twine Web service. This feature is particularly beneficial for remote teams or organizations that prioritize regular face-to-face interaction.
Twine stands out for its focus on facilitating personal connections through video, rather than text-based communication. The app does not have many reviews on G2 right now, but it does have a 5 star rating so far. The app has a free 14-day trial. It is a good alternative for Donut for teams seeking an effective, video-based solution for building stronger team bonds.
How mentoring helps build stronger connections between workers
Mentoring, as facilitated by Together for MS Teams, offers a deeper approach to building connections between workers compared to Slack Donut. Unlike Donut, which starts and ends with employee connections, the Together mentorship platform offers a robust line-up of employee engagement tools beyond virtual coffees, including 1:1 mentorship, group mentorship, learning events, and peer-to-peer learning.
Together enables employees to take a “choose-your-own-adventure” approach to peer connection and learning. Whether members of your team are looking for spontaneous, “virtual water cooler” type connections, or personalized, ongoing mentor-mentee relationships that focus on both personal and professional growth, Together's employee development toolkit has you covered.
For teams looking to leverage the power of mentorship in their Slack environment, Together for Teams is an ideal choice. It's not just about connecting team members, it's about growing them together. To explore the benefits of both coffee roulette connections and structured mentorship, and enhance your team's cohesion, consider implementing Together for Teams as part of your engagement strategy.
Want to see Together in action? Sign up for a demo today.
