Slack
My virtual collaboration team has decided to use Slack as our main tool for communication and planning.
Purpose of Slack
On a basic level, Slack is a messaging app or website for teams. It is used in workplaces and colleges to enable teams to communicate with one another, and share documents, while they work on a task or project. This communication can take the form of a forum-like discussion with the whole group or a one-on-one chat between individuals.
Key Features
Everything you need in Slack is accessible in the purple menu bar located on the left-hand side of the screen.
- Search bar: To find a certain channel, application, or team member.
- Channels: Set up to discuss different topics. Channels appear as a chat thread. When setting up a channel, the user can invite the whole team to the channel or just those who need to be involved in that topic.
- Direct Messaging: To contact team members individually or to discuss tasks that do not involve the rest of the team.
- Slackbot: If a user has a query about Slack, they can ask the slackbot and it responds instantly with a solution.
- Applications: Applications such as Skype, Google Drive, or Trello can be added to the team’s Slack account to enrich communication and co-operation (See image below)
My Personal Experience
I am a part of a team of nine people, living across three time zones, who, for the most part, have never met each other before. Yet, with the help of Slack, we have been able to volunteer for roles, agree on frequency of communication, decide on the technologies to be used in the project, and hold meetings. All of this was achieved without meeting face-to-face, without spending a penny, and without arousing too much confusion or frustration.
The team have set up a number of channels to discuss different items. For example, one channel is called meeting times. This channel is only used to discuss times that suit to meet and to post the times of future meetings. This is useful because team members can access the meeting times easily and important details do not get lost in long streams of conversation.
Two team members are taking on the role of researchers. They have set up a channel to discuss and share their findings. They will be the main users of this channel. However, the rest of the team can access it to keep up to date with their progress and to stay informed.
We have also availed of the option to add the Google Drive App to our team account. This allows us to upload documents as they are updated, thus keeping everyone abreast of the team’s progress.
Potential Benefits
I think the strength of Slack is being able to set up different channels for different topics of conversation. Most of us can relate to being part of a large chat group, on Whatsapp or Facebook, where the important points of information, e.g. times and dates, get lost among the chatter of participants. The channels feature enables participants to stay on the topic of a particular channel, while still having fun and casual conversation in another channel. It means that it is not all work and no play.
Additionally, I have found Slack to be very intuitive. I had not used it before this experience and I did not follow instructions or watch a YouTube tutorial in order to familiarise myself with the app. I simply joined the group and learned as I went. The interface is self-explanatory with a simple, user-friendly layout.
Potential Challenges
As with all text-based communications, messages or comments can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. As participants cannot hear the tone of voice being used in the comments, it is a challenge to ascertain how people are feeling, or know when people are being serious or light-hearted. So far we have not experienced this challenge but the team are striving to be as clear as possible in our writing. It has been a positive challenge that will, I’m sure, allow our writing skills to flourish.
Slack does not allow teams to screen share, which would be a very useful feature when working on a joint document.
Overall, I will use Slack again for collaboration projects and I would definitely recommend it to others.
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