Logos for Google Alerts, Feedly, and NuzzelHow do you learn the latest about employee engagement? I used to spend hours searching the web for employee engagement information, articles, infographics, etc.  Now, I use my time more wisely. I employ technology to help identify relevant information so that I can spend my time learning from it.

For those of you who want to stay up-to-date with the latest in employee engagement, let me share how I use Google Alerts, Feedly, and Nuzzel to pull gather this information.

 

Google Alerts

What is a Google Alert?

“By creating a Google Alert, you can get email notifications any time Google finds new results on a topic that interests you.”1

How Do I Create a Google Alert?2

Hint: If you choose to receive a daily alert, create it early in the day. Google seems to use the time of creation as the trigger for when they send your daily alert.

  1. Visit Google Alerts: https://www.google.com/alerts
  2. In the search box that says, “Create an alert about…,” type in employee engagement. Google will offer you an “Alert preview” shows some of the content you can expect to receive.
  3. Before you enter your email address, click “Show options”
  4. Choose “How often:” As it happens, At most once a day, or At most once a week. I opt to receive this alert daily.
  5. Choose “Your Sources.” I leave my setting at automatic so that I receive any content Google identifies.  You have the option to limit the searches to just the news, blogs, web, books, etc. or any combination.
  6. Select your “Language.” I receive my results in English.
  7. Determine the “Region” on which you want to focus. I selected any region, however, you can receive alerts specific to any country.
  8. The last drop down, let you decide “How many” results you receive. While I could receive “All results,” I set my alert to “Only the best results.”
  9. Enter the “Email” at which you want to have Google send the results of the alert you just created.
  10. Click “Create Alert.”

How Do I use Google Alerts?
When I have free time, I open my daily Google Alert and then selectively read the articles that most interest me.  I capture the articles I like and share them on this blog and on Twitter.

 

 

Feedly

What is Feedly?

“Feedly (stylized as feedly) is a news aggregator application for various web browsers and mobile devices running iOS and Android, also available as a cloud-based service. It compiles news feeds from a variety of online sources for the user to customize and share with others.”3

How Do I Set Up Feedly?

  1. Visit Feedly: https://feedly.com/i/welcome
  2. Before you can use Feedly, you’ll need to create an account. Click
  3. Feedly offers the option to create a Feedly login or to login using many popular programs like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Windows, Evernote, etc. I created a Feedly login.
  4. You will be prompted to “Discover and Follow.” Type employee engagement into the search bar and hit enter. You’ll notice that Feedly will offer suggestions as you type.  Ignore them for now.
  5. Begin to explore the sources that are displayed. For instance, Gallup is one of the sources that displays in my employee engagement search. Click on that source to see all of the content it offers. Feedly provides you with the number of people currently following that course and a general expectation of how often the source publishes content. For Gallup, it was 250 Followers / 1 story per week.
  6. After perusing the content, you can decide if you want to follow that source by clicking the “Follow” button in the top right of your screen.
  7. If this is the first source you are following, click on “New Collection.” I called my collection, employee engagement. Click “Create.” If you previously created a collection, you can click on it to add that source to it. When you follow a source, the button will change to “Following.”
  8. You can unfollow a source by clicking the “Following” button again. A menu will appear on the right-hand side of your screen. To unfollow, click the green checkmark.
  9. You can use the search bar to find a specific company (source) as well.
  10. Your sources will be displayed under the associated collection. You can have multiple collections.

How Do I Use Feedly?

I log in to Feedly at least once a week.  I have the option of selecting any collection and being able to see all of the content associated with it. That content is displayed with the most recent articles being at the top.  You can also select a specific source and see a date delineated list of their content beginning with the most recent.

 

 

Nuzzel

What is Nuzzel?

“ [Nuzzel] creates a news feed based on what your friends are reading and sharing in other social media and what their friends are sharing. The result is amazingly interesting: You get a feed of headlines that feel much closer and more relevant to what you’re interested in, because they’re being tweeted or shared by friends, family, and coworkers.”4 You can use that content to create a newsletter that can be shared.

Nuzzel is a cross between Google Alerts (emailed lists of content) and Feedly (what content is being generated by individuals and companies).

How Do I Set Up Nuzzel?

  1. Visit Nuzzel: http://nuzzel.com/
  2. Nuzzel (has two options for logging in: Twitter and Facebook. It uses these sites to determine the top articles those you follow on Twitter are sharing, commenting on, or favoriting.
  3. You will be asked to authorize the login app you selected so that Nuzzel can access your information, i.e., email address, those following, etc.
  4. Nuzzel will provide you with “News from Your Friends.” You can use the tabs to see, “News from Friends of Friends,” “News You May Have Missed,” or “Recently Read Stories.”
  5. To narrow the content, use the “Search Nuzzel” If you type employee engagement, Nuzzel will provide you with the tops employee engagement articles beginning with the most recent.
  6. Under “Settings,” you can make your Nuzzel feed private, set up a daily email digest, and connect to external services such as Slack, Instapaper, Pocket, and Buffer.

How Do I Use Nuzzel?

I have Nuzzel send me a daily digest of content. This provides me with the top articles my network is reading. Note: Some suggest that you create a separate Twitter account that follows only those in your topic area, i.e., employee engagement. This allows you to avoid receiving content outside of the topic area.  Nuzzel also allows me to directly follow the feeds of specific people, companies, or other Nuzzel feeds.

 

 

What are your thoughts on these 3 ways of learning the latest about employee engagement? What other ways can you share with fellow Agents?

 

 

1 “How Google Alerts Work.” Google Support. Google, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
2 “Create an Alert.” Google Support. Google, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
3 “Feedly.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
4 Edwards, Jim. “I Gave up Reading the News Because This Amazing New App Just Does It for Me.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 08 June 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

 

 

Let’s Engage!

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.

Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.

Photo of Gregory F SimpsonYou can follow me @agtinengagement.
Email me at g…@a…t.com.
Connect via LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/GregoryFSimpson.
Learn more about me at gregoryfsimpson.com.

 

P.S.  First contact? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement community. Explore and join fellow employee engagement operatives in targeting a known thief – alias: Disengagement. Together we can bring this thief to justice and make the world a better place for all companies and their employees.

Other recent Agent in Engagement data/reports by Agent Gregory F Simpson: