Build a Sustainable Culture
Across All Departments

Regardless of your role, Kona is there to build team morale.  

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Every Team That Tries Kona, Loves It

Whatever your departmental goals are, every team in an organization can use Kona to build culture, improve morale, and create a psychologically safe space.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who’s the best person to use Kona?

Kona is built for people-first teams that use Slack. Managers are often the first to introduce Kona to their teams, but we’ve seen plenty of teammates champion the app internally as well. 

We define “people-first” as anyone who prioritizes the people of their organization through their culture, processes, and leadership. People-first organizations prioritize wellbeing and empathy. We’re biased, but we think they’re the best people to work with:)

How does Kona integrate with my existing Slack workspace?

Kona is a Slack app, making it easy to add to your existing Slack workspace. If Kona does not yet exist in your organization’s Slack apps, a manager will need to click the install link and submit a request to their Slack admin. They may need to get the app approved through internal processes as well. Once Kona’s approved, anyone can use Kona with their teams.

Kona slots into an existing Slack channel and shares a daily check-in to the team. Settings and additional features are all available within the Kona app, which you can find in the app section of Slack’s sidebar. 

Should I add Kona to an existing channel?

You’ll have the chance to choose which channel Kona sends its check-ins. Managers have success adding Kona to both existing and new channels. The goal is to create a daily habit of checking in with teammates. Existing channels make it easy to check-in in one place. However, managers may opt to create a new “water cooler” channel to avoid crowding existing channels or if a team channel does not exist yet.

Are people honest with their Kona responses?

Unfortunately, it’s still radical to express your emotions at work. We’re taught that professionalism should be prioritized over authenticity and vulnerability. As a result, Kona responses reflect the culture and psychological safety in the team’s work environment. Open cultures will naturally have more honest responses! 

Based on our experience with 150+ remote teams, teammates are very honest and share bad days as frequently as good ones. You’d be surprised how many teammates are dying to have space to talk about their day, bond with coworkers, and flag issues they’re encountering. 

Why are responses non-anonymous?

This is on purpose. We believe anonymized reports block support more than they protect privacy. Managers are unable to act on the information and teammates often feel like their reporting goes nowhere. 

When responses are non-anonymous, teammates are able to share openly and receive support directly from teammates. This vulnerability also creates a trust-vulnerability feedback loop, improving the culture of the team. Serious benefits aside, it’s also fun to see how your teammates are doing and share how you’re feeling too!

What’s the largest team size you can have on Kona?

We technically don’t limit Kona teams by size in our app or in pricing. We advise leaders to keep their Kona teams less than 15 people. We’ve learned that larger groups often struggle to maintain the level of safety and vulnerability for honest responses. Dozens of Kona updates can also crowd a channel like no other!

Are there other questions Kona asks?

At the moment, Kona only asks a simple 🔴💛💚. This may expand in the future, but we’re looking to perfect our mood reporting and make a difference on burnout before diving into different reporting.

How can I view my health data?

All of Kona’s hearts roll-up to a powerful web dashboard. You can access this dashboard from the App homepage in Slack. 

Who can view health data? Are there permissions?

We have several permissions to preserve the psychological safety of Kona’s conversations and the privacy of our users. 

• Teammates can view their team’s hearts and check-ins in their Kona Slack channel.
• Managers can view their direct team’s hearts and check-ins, overall trends, and health history. 
Managers of managers can view the trends and graphs of teams underneath them, but they will not be able to view the detailed check-ins of a particular skip-level.
• Company-wide admins can view the trends and graphs of departments and teams, but they will not be able to view the history or detailed check-in of a particular person.

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