In today’s work environment, breaks at the water cooler are a thing of the past. Most companies are using instant messaging platforms for internal communication between employees, and Texas Creative is one of those companies. We use Slack to communicate with our fellow employees throughout the workday. As a Traffic Manager, I’ve come to learn that there are both pros and cons to using this platform.
Pros:
- You can create “channels” within the company. For example, you can have Slack channels for each client that includes all the co-workers who are involved with that client project. Here are some examples of fun channels between Texas Creative employees:
- Channels can be public, private, shared or multi-workspace. You can learn more about the difference in these channels here.
- It makes it easy to share and collaborate with someone in real-time. This is great for when you need an immediate response about a deadline.
- It’s easy to share something funny or off-topic with co-workers.
- Your data within the platform is always protected thanks to great security.
- You can download it straight to your desktop and it has a fully functioning mobile app as well.
Cons:
- Your conversations get deleted after 14 days, so if you are sent something important within a channel, make sure you make a note of it.
- There is minimum file storage. When files are sent through Slack instead of email, it can be frustrating because you only get as much storage as you choose to pay for as a company, so Slack slowly deletes files over time.
- It can be a distraction. If you’re not careful, you can easily get sucked into every discussion.
- Getting Slack notifications throughout the day. It has numerous ways to notify you when you have a new message(s), which creates that stimulus to see what is going on.
Overall, Slack is a magnificent tool for team communication and should be used as a supplement to email for the modern workplace. Traditional emailing is efficient for sharing important documents with fellow employees, and clients of course, but it’s not meant for conversations. As I mentioned before, Slack is perfect for that quick response conversation.
If you’re familiar with this platform, what are your thoughts on it? Do you think Slack can be the new email? Let us know in the comments below!