Business communication: SLACK

With the ever-growing popularity of remote work, more and more businesses are turning to Slack as a way to stay connected and enjoy the numerous benefits of Slack for business. Slack is a messaging app for teams that makes communication simple and efficient. It’s one of the most popular apps among businesses, with over 12 million daily active users. Slack is used by companies of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Well, Slack is a communication tool that provides you with transparency, flexibility, collaboration, security, integration, and automation. All these things combined make Slack the ultimate communication tool for businesses and teams.

Slack is a cloud-based instant messaging and team collaboration tool. It is designed to help teams communicate more efficiently and effectively. Slack provides transparency by allowing users to see all the conversations and messages in one place. This makes it easy for team members to catch up on what has been discussed and follow the conversation without having to search through multiple channels or threads. Slack also offers flexibility by allowing users to customize their notifications so they only receive the information that is relevant to them. This ensures that team members are not bombarded with irrelevant notifications and can focus on the task at hand.

Slack is a cloud-based communication tool that provides transparency, flexibility, collaboration, security, integration, and automation. These features combined make Slack the ultimate communication tool for businesses and teams. Slack allows users to see all conversations and messages in one place, making it easy to catch up on what has been discussed. Users can also customize their notifications to ensure they only receive relevant information. It also integrates with a variety of other apps, making it a versatile and robust communication tool. You can use either the Slack desktop app or the mobile app. Both Slack apps have the same features, though the UI for each is slightly different.

SLACK FEATURES

Project-friendly structure

The first step in using Slack for project management is to set up your team. You can create a single team channel for your entire company to communicate in. Or, if your company employs a large number of people, create different teams for each segment of your group. In most cases, a single team will be enough.

Each team has a number of channels. These are the building blocks of Slack. In essence, they represent a stream of conversations that revolve around a predefined topic. Channels can be topical, project-based, location-based, integration-based, used by only a certain team, or limited to any other group you’d like.

Slack automatically creates #general and #random channels that can be used across teams. For company-wide project progress, channels like #management, #sales, #marketing, and #accounting might be useful.

You can also create private channels for small groups and one-on-one conversations as needed.

It’s more useful to keep most of the information flow in the public channels. This ensures transparency and creates a searchable archive of your conversations. Team members you’ve added in the team space can communicate in the common channels or start one-on-one conversations.

Group conversations let a small number of people communicate without their messages getting lost in the shuffle. They can be used repeatedly so team members can look back on what they talked about yesterday, last week, or last year. This also helps us set and follow communication etiquette. There are notification settings for that, too.

Integrate your other tools

There are some standard project management features that Slack just can’t replicate alone. If you’re a busy project manager and need the heavy lifting power of a more traditional app, Slack can still help you out with integrations.

Asana, Jira, Pivotal Tracker, Blossom, and Trello are just a few of the project management integrations for Slack. Bring in cards, tasks, conversations, and notifications from a variety of your apps to make Slack your central space for getting stuff done.

There are loads of other helpful integrations, too.

IFTTT automation lets you get reminders and automated actions. Tettra lets you create a wiki for your team right inside of Slack.

A lot of the apps you’re already using can be linked into Slack, too:

• Hubstaff
• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• GitHub
• MailChimp
• Intercom
• ZenDesk
• Salesforce
• Twitter
• InVision

Activating these integrations will turn your team into a full-fledged powerhouse.

On a less important – but far more fun – note, you can even integrate GIPHY into Slack. Check out these secret GIPHY Slack commands too. They’re a blast!

Easy, automated reminders

Reminders are one of my favorite Slack tricks. Keeping track of your daily to-do list is a simple concept for project managers — but it’s a lot easier said than done. Fortunately, Slackbot can help.

Just type “/remind” in a channel, tell Slackbot what you’d like to be reminded of, and it will ping you when the time comes.

You can change set team member to remind, the task, and the time. For example: “/remind me to send the newsletter in two hours.”

You can expand upon the reminder features in Slack through customization.
Tell it what your building Wi-Fi password is, where the nearest coffee shop is, or how to open that closet door that gets stuck. Then whenever anyone asks, Slackbot will answer. It’s pretty awesome.

Task list management

To-do lists usually encompass smaller priorities. If you have bigger tasks to keep track of, Slack delivers here, too.

Slack can integrate with tools like Wunderlist and Todoist. These integrations let you add items to your task list right from a Slack channel.

You can also use the To-Do bot to keep your entire task list inside of Slack. You can even create your own Slack to-do list without using an integration.

Adding a star to a message makes it easy to find again. Just hit the “Show Starred Items” button to see all of your messages that you’ve starred. Pins work similarly. Pinned messages and files are displayed in a prominent place in the channel so team members can easily refer to them.

Easy note-taking

Want to jot some notes for a project you’re working on? Need to set a reminder? Maybe you just need a place where you can type some things where they won’t get lost.

You can start a new Slack message chain with yourself. This way, your direct messages will be stored where you can easily find them later. Because they won’t get pushed down by new messages from your teammates, they’ll always be right where you left them.

Advantages of using Slack

1. Transparency:

When you use Slack, all your conversations are transparent. This means that everyone on your team can see what is being discussed and collaborate easily. This also helps to build trust within your team as everyone is aware of what is happening.

 2. Flexibility:

Slack is extremely flexible and can be used for a variety of purposes. You can use it for internal communication, customer support, or even just to keep in touch with your team. It's up to you how you use it!

3. Collaboration:

As we mentioned before, Slack is all about collaboration. With its easy-to-use interface and variety of features, you can easily collaborate with team members on projects, brainstorm ideas, or discuss the upcoming major event, etc.

 4. Security:

Slack is a secure platform that takes data security and privacy seriously. All your conversations are encrypted and stored securely on their servers. You can also set up two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your account.

 5. Integration:

Slack integrates with over 2,400 apps and services, which makes it extremely versatile and useful. You can integrate it with your CRM, project management tool, or even your social media accounts. This allows you to easily share information and collaborate with team members.

6. Automation:

Slack has a variety of features that allow you to automate your tasks. For example, you can set up routine meetings and tasks, or even create custom bot commands. This saves you time and makes it easier to manage your work. Now it's not that Slack is perfect, there are a few disadvantages to using Slack, let's have a look at it too.

 

 

A NEW FEATURE ON SLACK CALLED SLACK HUDDLE

What is a Slack Huddle?

Slack Huddles are lightweight audio calls that let you and members of your team talk to each other in real-time. The option to add video to these calls was added in fall 2022.

 The tech disruption of legacy business practices is growing faster with each new feature released by tech companies. The Huddle feature, for instance, seeks to mimic regular conversations in the physical workspace that aren’t necessarily centered around work-related topics (though they could be). They can literally be about anything but do usually have a core topic that serves as a centralized theme.

 In this sense, a Huddle is not a scheduled or planned meeting where everyone has to be present. They are spontaneous and informal and designed to do one thing: foster conversations.

 You can join any Huddle’s that are set up within your company, share your screen, enjoy real-time interaction, and leave when you want. Just like an office conversation.

 A Slack Huddle can take up to 50 members at a time. That’s reasonable because an amount above that is a crowd, with everyone talking over each other and no productivity in the end.

How to set up a Slack Huddle

Setting up a Slack Huddle is easy. But, you need to have a paid Slack account to use this feature. Once these conditions are met, you can set up a Slack Huddle by following these steps:

 When you open a channel or DM, you’ll find a headphone icon that you can toggle at the bottom of the sidebar on the left.

Click the headphone icon to toggle it on. You can also use Ctrl + Shift + H on Windows/Linux or Command + Shift + H on Mac to turn this on.

Other people in the channel or DM will see a change in the channel name. Don’t worry, there’s no intrusive notification every time someone starts a huddle. We’re already dealing with notification overload.

You can add people using the add people icon.

You can mute your microphone with the microphone icon, share your screen with the screen icon, or turn on live captions by clicking the three dots icon, and selecting Turn on captions.

How to join a Slack Huddle

You can also join a Huddle that is already active. Here’s how:

If a Huddle is active in a channel, you’ll see an antenna icon next to the channel name in the sidebar. Click on the channel.

Toggle on the headphones icon at the bottom of the sidebar, and you can now listen in on the office conversation.

Joining Slack Huddles from other organizations

The essence of Slack Huddles is to save you the stress of scheduling 30-minute meetings for a quick 2-3 minute conversation with multiple teammates. Plus, because of their informal nature, people can join and leave as they like, and there are no set agendas to follow. If having to schedule internal meetings is considered redundant in some cases, and time-consuming in others, you can only imagine how much more necessary Huddles are for external collaborations.

This comes in handy if you’re already using Slack Connect to collaborate with companies outside your own since you can also make use of Huddles there. Make sure you’re on a paid plan, Slack Connect is enabled, and that Slack Huddles is activated.  Any time a Huddle is started, you will be able to see the antenna icon by the name of the channel

Click on the channel and toggle on the headphones icon to join the conversation.

Accepting Slack Huddle invites

Huddles also have an add people icon that your team members can use to invite one another.

 If you’re on the receiving end of this invitation:

 You’ll hear a notification sound and see the invitation mini-window pop up at the bottom left of the screen in the sidebar. If you’re busy, you can decline by clicking Not Now.

If you want to listen in on the workspace conversation, click Join.

Once you’re in, you can share your screen by clicking the screen icon, and mute your microphone by clicking the microphone icon or using Command + Shift + Space on Mac or CTRL + Shift + Space on Windows/Linux.

Of course, you need to be on one of the Slack paid plans, and you need to have the feature available for you to access a Huddle invite.

 

Ways to use Slack to improve communication in your business

It's very evident that Slack can do a lot for businesses, but what exactly? Here are five ways that Slack can be used to improve communication within your business:

1. Create a channel for blog posts to discuss social promotion

If you want to get the most out of your blog posts, create a channel on Slack for social promotion. This way, everyone on your team can see when a new post is published and can help to promote it. This is a great way to get more eyes on your content and to make sure that it is being promoted effectively. Using Slack for this purpose will help to improve communication within your team and will make sure that everyone is on the same page.

 

‍

 2. Use Slack to brainstorm ideas

If you're looking for a way to brainstorm ideas with your team, Slack is the perfect tool. You can create a channel for brainstorming and invite everyone to contribute their ideas. This is a great way to get everyone's input on a project and to make sure that all ideas are being considered. Brainstorming is an important part of any project, and using Slack will help to make sure that it is done effectively.

3. Use Slack to share news and updates

If you want to keep your team up-to-date on what's going on in the company, use Slack to share news and updates. This is a great way to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that they are aware of important changes. When everyone is on the same page, it can help to improve communication and collaboratio

4. Integrate Slack with Google Drive

If you want to make sure that your team can access all of your company's files, integrate Slack with Google Drive. This way, all of your team's files will be stored in one place and can be accessed from anywhere. This is a great way to improve communication within your team and to make sure that everyone has the most up-to-date information.

5. Use Slack to stay organized

If you want to make sure that your team is organized and on track, use Slack to create channels for each project. This way, everyone will know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. This is a great way to improve communication within your team and to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

  

Why you should use Slack?

There are numerous reasons to use Slack. It is an instant messaging platform that allows users to easily communicate with colleagues, whether they’re in the next room or across the world. Slack is particularly well-suited for businesses because it offers a variety of features that can be customized to fit each company’s needs. For example, Slack integrates with a number of popular productivity tools, such as Google Drive and Trello, making it easy for employees to access all of their work in one place.

In addition, Slack offers robust security features, ensuring that only authorized users can access company information. Moreover, Slack’s search function makes it easy for employees to find old messages and files, saving time and frustration. The app integration and security features are top-notch, making it a great choice for remote teams. With Slack messaging, screen sharing, and the ability to download the Slack app to phones or tablets, employees will always be connected. With so many benefits, it’s no wonder that Slack is becoming the go-to communication tool for businesses of all sizes.