Getting Started with Shoutouts

Monday July 24, 2023-11 min read

Introduction

Let’s get started

To open Shoutouts, go to the People section of the main navigation bar and select Shoutouts from the dropdown.

When you first open Shoutouts, you will see a pane view showing a list of all the public Shoutouts in your organization.

Note: If this is your organization’s first time using Shoutouts, this pane will be blank.

At the top of the screen in Shoutouts, you’ll see three main tabs.

Here’s an overview of what’s available in each of the tabs.

1. Shoutouts – This tab contains all the Shoutouts that have been published. Details about published Shoutouts are displayed here in an easy-to-read list view.
2. Contacts – This tab contains all the available contacts. While in the tab, you can see who has received or given Shoutouts, and how many points each contact has received.
3. Insights – This tab provides you with visuals used to analyze Shoutouts data. Insights use customizable SQL queries to gain valuable information about who has given or received Shoutouts.

How to add a Shoutout

To add a shoutout, click + at the top of the main screen.

A popup will appear where you can add details about the Shoutout.

Shoutout type – You can categorize Shoutouts by the type you select. In Appward, Types are a helpful way of categorizing your information to make it easier to sort, find and get Insights from your data. As an example, Types can be used within Shoutouts to distinguish between Work Ethic, Culture or Team Work.

Note: If your organization has not created any Shoutouts Types, the Select a type picker window will be empty.

To add your own types, press + at the top of Select a type.

After that, a screen will appear, and it will present you with various options to create a type.

It’s important to give your type a name that best describes the accomplishment you will be acknowledging.

You can then associate a fully customizable forecolor/backcolor with the Name label , or use one of the default options available.

Default Colors

Customized Colors

To customize your own label, select the icon present under Backcolor or Forecolor to bring up the color picker. The color picker is used in many applications in the Appward environment. It provides you with a visual tool that helps you select colors with a visual display, RGB or HEX values.

Type Image

Throughout Appward, types are often associated with a Type Image. Type Images provide you with a visual representation of the Type and give you the power to display them within popups and screens in your apps. Images can be selected from your computer, the Appward cloud, or from pexels.com directly.

Update

Once your Type options have been selected, you can save them by pressing Update.

Giving a Shoutout– Now that you’ve learned how to add Types to your app, let’s add a Shoutout. The creator of the Shoutout selects who is giving the Shoutout. As the creator, you can select yourself or your colleagues as the people responsible for giving the Shoutout.

Note: If you are the creator of the Shoutout, the field will default to you. However, if you are creating a Shoutout on behalf of someone else, you can change that in Who is giving the shoutout.

Awards – In Appward, you can create awards and define them by a name and description. For example, you can create an award named “Team Work Award” that congratulates an employee who excels in a team environment. Awards are optional, but if you wish to associate one with your Shoutout, you can do so by selecting the checkbox with your choice.

Select award – You can categorize awards as Cultural, Employee, Leadership, Milestone, or Teamwork. Select the award within Select the Award. Each award can have a unique point value, which helps motivate your colleagues with a gamified point system.

Members – There may be times you want to let others know about your Shoutout to a colleague, such as their manager or co-workers. To do this, you can add them in Select members, which will add them to the Notifications list.

Shoutout recipient – When acknowledging a colleague’s success, it’s obviously important to identify them. You can add one or more people to receive your Shoutout in Who will be receiving the shoutout. Recipients will also receive notifications, letting them know their efforts were acknowledged.

Shoutout message – Under the caption, Enter the Shoutout message, you can write your message describing the recipient’s accomplishments or overall behavior that you want to acknowledge. This field comes with an HTML editor, which is present in many of the apps throughout Appward.

HTML Editor – The HTML Editor provides you with a powerful text editor where you can format text, add media, undo/redo, and insert code blocks.

Privacy – If you make your Shoutout Private, then only you and members with access can view the Shoutout. You can make a Shoutout private to make your acknowledgement more personal. Checking Yes indicates that only you and selected members can view the Shoutout. Checking No indicates that the Shoutout is public and can be viewed by everyone in your organization.

Select members with access – Giving members access provides them with the ability to view private Shoutouts. You can select the members who should have access to the Shoutout in Select Members with Access.

Publish/Draft – With the Publish and Save as Draft buttons, you can either save your created Shoutout as a draft or publish it. Saving a Shoutout as a draft keeps your Shoutout private and viewable by only you until it is ready to be shown. Once you set it to Publish, Appward will send notifications to those who’ve been given access.

Viewing Shoutouts by Contact

Contacts – As a manager, you may want to see the Shoutouts sent and received by an individual in your group. This tab shows a list of the employees in your organization along with their associated Shoutouts.

Note: If your organization does not currently have any contacts, this will be empty.

Select an employee to open a flyout that lists the Shoutouts they have sent and received, as well as any awards and points they earned. You can view this information by clicking anywhere on the contacts row.

Shoutouts Received and Shoutouts given each have their own tabs for detailing information about published Shoutouts. If a Shoutout was set to private, it will not be visible to you unless you are included in the list of select members with access. Having a detailed record for each of your colleague’s Shoutouts helps with learning about their individual contributions and success within the organization.

Viewing Insights

Insights – With Insights, you can analyze and use data to make informed decisions and improve performance within your organization. Insights are present in many applications in the Appward ecosystem. In Shoutouts, you can use Insights to create visualizations that track who has given/received Shoutouts, award points, type of Shoutout and Shoutout description. For more on Insights, check out the Getting Started with Insights guide.

Note: If your organization has not created any insights for this application, this tab will be empty when you first click on it.

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