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Rules to Better Slack - 4 Rules

  1. Communication - Do you know the best chat tools for your employees?

    There are many tools used to communicate and collaborate online. The most efficient platforms for chats and calls are:

    We think Viva Engage could soon be decommissioned to reduce confusion.

    In China:

    use wechat for work
    Figure: Bad example - Jim uses WeChat for work and asks Luke to come to the Big Chat room

  2. Do you add your Email groups as Channels?

    When adopting a new technology it can sometimes help to include a familiar paradigm. This helps users see how their understanding of the old technology applies to the new one.

    Companies should have Email Groups for the main offices, and one for the rest of the world. To help figuring out what channels to be posting to and what content is appropriate, recreate these groups as Slack channels.

    slack 1
    Figure: Our Main Office Email Groups

    slack 2
    Figure: Our Main Office Email Groups recreated as Slack Channels

  3. Do you know the best way to see if someone is in the office?

    You should create an #in-and-out channel on Slack and use the employees' MAC Addresses to identify who entered and left the office.

    shout
    Figure: Bad Example – Scream out “Where is Marlon?”

    Slack in out
    Figure: Good Example – Using in/out functionality with Slack and Ubiquity Access Point

    Although there is one bug with the solution:

    Figure: Ubiquity Access Point Bug

  4. Do you turn off audio notifications on the iOS app?

    One of the main strengths of Slack is that, unlike SMS, Skype, and to some extent email, it is a pull based system, meaning that you only go to it in your own time to look at topics you’re interested in, rather than having the information pushed to you with attention grabbing notifications. For this reason, it’s important that you turn off the sounds on the iOS app, and potentially all notifications all together.

    slack ios 1
    Figure: Bad Example: The noises will grab your attention and interrupt your daily work

    slack ios 2
    Figure: Good Example: although you’re still getting notifications, hopefully it’s only when you’re taking a break to look at your phone anyway

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