Usually, at ‘Productivity Land’ our decorum is to review software solutions, SaaS products, and anything that helps to get things done fast. We normally skim through multiple products to weed out the best software with value-driven solutions for the user community.
As a result, you get our weekly recommendations concerning the best available project management tools in the industry.
Over the years, it has become a weekly/ monthly ritual to do detailed reviews. After all, “productivity” is the bane of progress – and anything that helps to drive results for diversified user groups pretty much makes its way to our bucket list under the doables section.
But then again, we haven’t reviewed anything like ‘Givitas.’ What’s that, you ask? It’s a solution designed around the idea of a simple principle; the principle of giving and taking. You get more by giving back to the community – and doing so over a state-of-the-art hybrid interface that connects literally thousands of thought leaders together, Givitas communities reportedly morph into living, breathing think tanks!
To add to the effect, a lot of questions pop up because Givitas isn’t the sort of product that we have reviewed before at Productivity Land. Off the top of my head, here are a few questions that we stumbled over while reviewing this amazing product:
- How does Givitas work?
- Where do all the people come from?
- What kind of a “program” is it, and more importantly – is Givitas a typical software tool with all the tidbits of dedicated features, etc.?
- Which one is the appropriate definition for crazy – i.e. Dating Paula Abdul or talking to cats?
In this exclusive Givitas (*Give and Take) product review, you will find answers to all of the aforementioned questions, including the fourth one too!
Read on…
Givitas – Give More to Get More:
So, as it was mentioned earlier, the program cartwheels around the spirit of giving and receiving.
To that effect, Givitas begs for users to look at things in a different way – i.e. don’t treat this tool as a software product. Instead, rely on it to help and empower others around you. In a way, Givitas connects thousands of people together where they can actively collaborate to ask questions and get answers.
Instinctively, when we hear the word “give” – and that too at a workplace, we interpret the behavior as doing favors. As a result, we are often skeptical, grouchy and treat them as a burden that can be passed unto someone else.
I mean, the last time, a coworker approached me and asked, “Steve, do you have time for something?”
All I could muster was, “Well, it depends on what you’re about to ask.” I know, it sounds selfish and it IS selfish, but that’s how people work in Corpo. Over the years, it becomes a habit and the next time when someone asks you for something, you know that you’re in for a “ride.”
That’s the kind of behavior that Givitas aims to interrupt.
You end up giving; it could be free advice to a coworker, or some other professional from another part of the globe, but within the same industry as yours – and you end up receiving genuine praise or professional advice in return.
It is sort of based around the philosophy of ‘Kindness begets kindness,’ which is an interesting thing because psychologists have proven that human beings resonate to kindness and someone else’s sadness. We are programmed to love and give, so whenever we see someone in trouble, at least something always tugs at our heart to help that person.
That’s what Givitas banks on, and that’s what it’s all about.
It is a knowledge-based platform that’s purposed around the spirit of either asking professionals for help, advice, etc., or doing the same for someone.
Givitas, especially comes in useful when you don’t know anyone in your immediate work family, and you need urgent assistance, advice or direction concerning something.
Where Does the Tech Gimmickry Come In?
Now, we move on to the brass tacks.
How does Givitas work and all the technical stuff there is worth finding out?
If we have to sum it up, we’d say Givitas performs like a robust purpose-built online forum/ community for professionals within different sectors of the industry.
Getting started with Givitas is easy. You can head over to their official website(*https://giveandtakeinc.com/Givitas ) and to sign up for a free account.
As a new user, you basically have two options.
- You can join the Givitas group for people who ‘Give’
- You can join a group specifically made to ‘Receive’
Both categories are technologically driven – i.e. you are met with an intuitive cloud-based interface where you can collaborate with other professionals. The interesting thing is that as much as Givitas can be used by any organization within your workplace setting, you can go global too! The “outreach” effect depends on whom you wish to collaborate with.
Regardless of what kind of group you end up joining, Givitas will offer you a repository of questions and answers that you can engage yourself with. You become part of a network for professionals, but with a rather kinder, gentler, and sophisticated approach to a couple of things.
In a nutshell, here’s the takeaway:
- Givitas organizes users into Receiver and Giver group. Members are from colleges, professional institutes, different organizations sprawled across workplaces, stakeholders etc.
- Givitas maintains a repository of detailed information where people can actively collaborate on daily basis.
- It takes just about 5 minutes to engage in a healthy, productive and meaningful conversation with people networked through Givitas.
- Regardless of your gender, age or status, everyone is treated equally with a sense of honing in on the spirit of kindness, collaboration and productivity at the end of the day.
But, wait, there’s more.
Givitas users have access to a special analytics page where they can see how they performed over any given time period. The analytics and metrics usage benefits everyone who wishes to see how their responses are reacted to. This, in turn, helps these users to churn out better and useful advice to drive more people online.
What’s the ‘Givitas’ Ideology Based On?
Ever heard of Adam Grant or read any of his books before?
Wharton’s award-winning, and highest-rated professor highlights the human psychology and stigmas associated with it, in his Bestseller: Give and Take . If you haven’t read that book before, you can check it out at Amazon.
The book sheds insight on why some people “rise to the top of the success ladder, while others sink to the bottom.” It’s an interesting intake on workplace psychology and how people, who help others, are more likely to be productive, satisfied, and kinder.
These traits are valued when it comes to leadership level position because it takes a lot more for a professional to grow, rather than achieving milestones and clocking in the hours!
Since ‘Give and Take’ received a warm welcome from the online community, Wayne Baker, and Cheryl Baker joined hands with Adam Grant to convert the essence of the book into something with a more practical hands-on approach.
As a result, Givitas was incepted. It’s a scalable, measurable online knowledge base that connects users to increase their efficiency, engagement, and retention through active collaboration.
Is It True that Givitas is Better than Slack and MS Teams?
In a way, yes.
However, it is all about your perspective. If you are looking to use Givitas as a mere communication tool with your coworkers, then you’re better off with Slack and Microsoft Teams.
On the contrary, Givitas focuses on value-driven collaboration where you can not only “talk” to people online, but while doing so, you partake in the asynchronous knowledge collaboration activity. As a result, unlike Slack and MS Teams, you partake in communicating with geographically disparate individuals and Teams that are made of people just like you.
Value and Design Proposition:
Givitas helps teams collaborate and share knowledge with two main benefits:
- Efficiency: we make it fast and easy to collaborate and share knowledge, requiring less than 5 minutes a day. An average request saves 6 hours of work.
- Asynchronous knowledge collaboration: We allow geographically disparate teams to communicate asynchronously so people aren’t constantly interrupted (like Slack or Yammer). An average request on Givitas saves 6 hours of time.
- Culture: We are purpose-built to foster generosity, trust, gratitude, and community.
- Analytics: We provide metrics and analytics to help organizations better understand the collaboration and knowledge sharing that is taking place.
What makes Givitas unique is its approach to value-driven results.
- Purpose built only for asking for and offering help, not updates, posting, boasting, ranting, and raving
- Only takes 5 minutes a day (as opposed to Slack or Yammer, which require hours). The program doesn’t intend to replace Slack or Teams or Yammer—Givitas compliments and integrates with them
- Asynchronous: because we do daily digests, anyone in any time zone can participate and add value
- Built on the work of two respected/famous organizational psychologists 1) Adam Grant (bestselling author, podcaster, Ted Talker), who has dedicated his career to studying how generosity transforms organizations and individual careers.2) Wayne Baker (author of ‘All You Have to Do is Ask’) who has studied asking for help for decades
- Givitas also offers analytics on social networks, relationships, network maps, time saved, inclusion, and engagement
- Boosts productivity AND culture: not many productivity apps save time/money AND make people like each other and like their jobs and coworkers more. Usually you have to choose.
Givitas Integrations:
According to the Givitas dev team, the platform is a purpose-built knowledge base where communication is more of a by-product of healthy collaboration with professionals.
To that end, Givitas does not replace your Slack or MS Teams experience. Instead, the focus is on driving value from your conversations with anyone across the Givitas workplace family. And yes, you can use it in your company too – i.e. if the organization fosters the same culture and values that Givitas actively promotes.
Other than that, it’s a refreshing tool with a minimalistic visual interface where groups of people are determined to help each other. You can make a request, or respond to someone else’s request by simply choosing to do so.
It’s a productive platform where leadership skills, personal development, and healthy online interaction bears results that aren’t possible to derive in a conventional workplace environment – or setting for that matter.
Go ahead and give it a shot and let us know about your experience with Givitas in the comments section below.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Good luck and stay productive!
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