Let’s face it. Staying connected in the workplace is a struggle. Email is slowly falling by the wayside as more and more millennials enter the workforce having been raised on instant forms of communication. It’s bulky and cumbersome and often times too easy to ignore. And with more and more remote/work-at-home employees, staying connected across your company be challenging. As we grow at Kinetix, we’re not immune to this problem and wanted a solution to bring us closer together as a team so we could spend less time in our inboxes and more time working collaboratively and getting things done. We had tried other instant messaging tools before but nothing solved our challenges.
Enter Slack. Slack is a real-time messaging and collaboration tool for teams. Growing in popularity over the last few months, many companies are turning to the platform to try and streamline their internal communications while simultaneously reducing their dependence on email. After looking at a few different products, Kinetix landed on Slack and we began our initial pilot and roll-out. After getting through implementation and training, Kinetix employees have become seasoned vets on the platform and are working more closely and efficiently with their teammates.
After going through the transition, we learned a few things and have a few tips and tricks to share should you choose to do the same for your company. Let’s quickly run through some of the key points to remember when rolling out Slack for your team.
Channels
The ability to create both public company-wide and private department/team based channels is one of the essential features of Slack and really separates it from the other messaging apps out there. At Kinetix, we created a company-wide formal channel for business announcements and updates and a company-wide casual channel to have a more informal conversation complete with memes, sports news, and water-cooler talk. We also created department specific channels so teams could stay connected and work more efficiently without having to trade emails all day long.
Apps & Integrations
Another key feature is the ability to add applications and integrations that work within the Slack environment. Programs like Google Drive, Trello, Kyber, and Appear In all integrate with the platform and enable users to share and work collaboratively in Slack. Slack even uses / commands to bring up actions that allow users to access their integrations quickly and easily.
File Sharing & Task Management
Slack allows its users to easily share files with others via a file upload system or simple drag and drop. Files are housed within the platform and easily accessible when you need to call them up at a later time. It’s also a great platform for quickly creating and storing a task list or notes. Slack allows users to star important messages and keeps them stored in a sidebar page for easy access.
These are just a few of the many features and tricks that make Slack a great tool for teams looking to work more closely and efficiently. If you want to declutter your inbox and increase productivity and communication among your employees, check out Slack.