Slack Etiquette

Slack can be a blessing and a curse.

But if we all apply some slack etiquette we can make the best of the tool. Find here some useful information:

General Communication Guidelines

• Be respectful of others' time!

  • Clarify expectations when someone is available

  • Don´t expect immediate response.

• Be respectful of your own time!

  • Set expectations when you are available.

• Due to time difference a big amount of our communication is asynchronous. Please communicate as clear as possible to avoid room for misinterpretation.

• We live in different locations and often have very different perspectives. Please consider language and cultural differences before sending and interpreting a message.

Slack

Slack is a collaboration hub where all MOSTLIES can work together to get things done.

• Fill out your profile and add a photo

• Make sure each project has its own channel - this way only relevant team members will get notifications. We want to follow Slack’s standard prefixes to keep channel names consistent and descriptive.
  Here are some of our favourites:

• Create channels for specific topics (may or may not be work related) and add a channel description

• Mind the channel’s purpose - it defines the kind of information that should be shared in the channel

• Don’t bloat the channel - let’s keep it easy to find information and follow conversations within

• Write well formatted messages to make text easier to scan and help minimize follow-up questions and messages.

• Use threads - to help organize conversations and declutter a channel

• Use workflows

• Use audio and/or video clips

• Message someone before adding them to a new slack channel

• Consider an emoji reaction to replace a follow up message.

  • Emojis and gifs are an amazing way to supplement written communication and pass on the right intent. We can use emojis as a quicker way to visualise, give quick feedback and acknowledgement. Extra points for the usage of diverse and inclusive emojis.

  • Here’s some examples:
    ❗For important matters
    👀 When someone makes a request via a Slack message, responding with 👀 can help others understand that you "got this” / it has been seen!”.
    👍🏿When you agree with or understand something
    ✅ When a topic is solved or a conclusion was reached
    🥺 How can you say no to a request that ends with this emoji?

• Use the Do Not Disturb feature to reduce off-hours pings

• When you are the owner of a slack channel set response expectations at the channel level in the channel purpose section

• Acknowledge messages and requests - give a short answer that you will review it later and use the Reminder feature!

• Alternatively, you can use of the following features:

  • Mark unread

  • Add to saved items

  • Pin a message to a channel

• Discuss topics calmly and logically - that means no name calling, insults or foul language!

• There are some useful integrations eg. Gsuite, Leapsome….. - consider integrations to automate your workflows

• The @here command lets you grab the attention of team members in a channel who are currently active

• The @channel command notifies all members of a channel – active or not. Be careful using this command and keep in mind that some MOSTLIES are not in the same timezone as you are

• If you don’t want to receive any notifications from a channel you can mute it

• Don’t expect to always receive an answer immediately – be sure to check on a members status (“in a meeting”, “home office”, “on vacation”)

• Know when to ditch Slack - use phone/video calls or other ways of synchronous communication to “real time” challenges

• In the left menu at the bottom, you can invite new members to Slack; within a channel simply use /invite @someone [#channel]

• For more useful shortcuts and commands check the Slack page “Use shortcuts to take actions in Slack“

• Channels can be open to everyone or closed to certain members

• If you discuss something of interest to more than one person, use a channel over a PM so that if you add additional people later to a conversation, they can follow up on everything that’s been discussed so far in the channel

• You can create temporary channels which can be easly opened and archived. Name them as #tmp-YOUR TOPIC and invite relevant members

• Don’t forget to join popular channels such as #greenteam, #mostly-workout etc. 

• Use inclusive language (of course not only in Slack) - we have a slackbot that reminds us that there are different words than “guys” to approach a group of people

Most importantly: Don’t let Slack ruin your productivity!

At MOSTLY AI we want to stimulate public discussion and encourage constructive discussion – this also includes giving constructive feedback that always intends to improve an idea or process. Generate a constructive conflict and don’t avoid critical issues, since we all want to improve!
But keep in mind – negative feedback should never be personal!

Asynchronous vs. Synchronous communication

Slack can be used either synchronously or asynchronously.

Know when to use which

Open