Slack Etiquette: DOs and DON’Ts of Using Slack at Work

Understanding Slack Etiquette

Slack etiquette refers to the unwritten rules and best practices for communicating appropriately and effectively on Slack. As Slack has become a ubiquitous workplace communication tool, following proper etiquette helps maintain productivity, information sharing, and company culture.

With employees heavily relying on Slack for collaboration and chatting, it's crucial to avoid miscommunications and confusion by being mindful of how you communicate. Slack etiquette mainly comes down to being direct yet thoughtful, responsive, and professional with your messages and interactions.

Following Slack etiquette provides important benefits for companies and employees:

• Improves team communication and information sharing by keeping conversations streamlined, relevant, and searchable. This allows employees to stay up-to-date and find needed information easily.
• Increases productivity by cutting down on message overload and disruptions. Employees can focus on deep work knowing they won't miss important messages.
• Strengthens company culture by encouraging transparency, inclusiveness, and thoughtful exchange of ideas. Employees feel comfortable participating in discussions.
• Prevents miscommunications that waste time and cause confusion. With clear, direct communication, everyone is on the same page.
• Portrays professionalism that improves external impressions. Customers, clients, and partners will have positive interactions.
• Promotes focus during meetings by keeping side conversations contained to the relevant channels.

Overall, following Slack etiquette principles creates a more effective, pleasant, and professional communications environment for the entire company.

Be Direct with Messages

When using Slack at work, it's best to be direct and concise with your messages. This allows colleagues to understand your ask or point quickly without having to parse through lots of text.

For example, a direct Slack message would be:

"@john Could you review the draft presentation deck and provide feedback by EOD today?"

An indirect message might say:

"Hi @john, I hope you're having a good Tuesday so far! The team has been working hard on the presentation deck that we'll be using for the upcoming client meeting. We're hoping to finalize it today but wanted to check if you had time to review the latest draft and provide any feedback before we send it to the printers. There's no rush at all but if you could look at it before the end of the day, that would be amazing! No worries if you don't get to it - just let us know whenever you've had a chance to review. Thanks so much and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!"

The direct message gets the point across in a concise manner without unnecessary pleasantries or tangents. However, there are some situations where providing more context via a longer message may be warranted, such as:

• Providing background for someone who is new to the project
• Explaining a complex or nuanced issue that requires detail
• Describing a problem that needs troubleshooting

In general though, brevity and directness keeps Slack communication crisp and efficient, allowing colleagues to rapidly exchange information. The key is balancing concision with providing just enough detail and context when necessary.

Use Public Channels Thoughtfully

Public channels in Slack provide transparency and allow conversations to be searchable, which is great for workplace communication. However, not all conversations belong in a public forum. When deciding whether to have a discussion in a public or private channel, consider the following:

Pros of Public Channels:

• Increased transparency - anyone can see the conversation.
• Knowledge sharing - conversations are searchable and available to all team members.
• Sparks additional discussion - people may chime in on public conversations more readily.

Cons of Public Channels:

• Information overload - too many public conversations can be distracting.
• Limits sensitive topics - conversations involving confidential matters are better suited for private channels.
• Enables interruption - anyone can jump into a public conversation at any time.

Tips for Public Channel Use:

• Announcements and team discussions often work well in public channels.
• Move in-depth conversations to private channels to avoid distracting others.
• If many side conversations sprout in a public channel, summarize key points and move the details to a private discussion.
• Don't call out individuals publicly if it can be avoided. Take conversations involving specific people private.
• Be cautious sharing confidential information in public channels. When in doubt, go private.

The open nature of public channels promotes collaboration, but overuse can lead to distraction. Strike a balance between public discussions and private conversations to optimize team communication.

Acknowledge Messages Quickly

Responding to messages in a timely manner is an important aspect of Slack etiquette. When someone sends you a message, they are expecting a response within a reasonable timeframe. Ignoring messages or responding days later is rude and unprofessional.

Aim to acknowledge messages within the same day, if possible. For less urgent matters, responding within 24 hours is reasonable. If you will be unable to respond right away, set your Slack status to indicate when others can expect a reply. For example, you could set it to "In meetings all day - delayed responses."

For time sensitive or urgent messages, you should try to respond as soon as realistically possible. Even if you don't have a full answer, quickly acknowledge the message to indicate you have seen it and are working on it. This sets proper expectations with your colleagues.

The key is being considerate of others' time and not keeping them waiting on a response. Quick acknowledges show respect for your coworkers and facilitate better communication flow across teams.

Use Mentions Appropriately

@mentions are a great way to directly notify a coworker or team about something relevant to them in Slack. However, mentions should be used thoughtfully.

Only @mention coworkers when their input or awareness is truly needed. Refrain from mentioning people just to get their attention or draw them into a conversation they don't need to be part of. Mentions create notifications and disruptions, so use them sparingly.

If you're mentioning someone to delegate a task, clarify expectations upfront in your message. For example, "@john can you please review the draft press release by end of day today?" Make sure to give necessary context too.

Avoid spamming channels by mentioning entire teams or groups when only a few people need to be notified. Instead, only @mention those who really need to take action or respond.

If someone is @mentioning you excessively, politely ask them to cut back. If it continues, you can mute notifications from that person. Just know that muting means you'll miss all notifications from that coworker in that channel. Another option is to turn off all notifications from a channel if mentions become excessive.

Update Your Status

Keeping your Slack status current is an important Slack etiquette practice. It lets your coworkers know when you're available or busy so they can communicate accordingly.

• Set your status to "Away" or "Out of Office" if you'll be away from your computer for an extended time. This avoids the impression that you're ignoring messages.
• If you're heads-down focused, set your status to "Do Not Disturb" to indicate you shouldn't be interrupted except for emergencies.
• Consider enabling the automatic status based on calendar setting. This will automatically update your status based on your calendar appointments. For example, it can show as "In a meeting" during scheduled meetings.
• If you have Slack on your mobile, enable the auto-away status after 5 minutes of inactivity. This prevents showing as active when you've stepped away briefly.
• For ongoing focus time, you can schedule your status. For example, set it to "Focus Time" for a few hours when you need uninterrupted work.

Keeping your status accurate goes a long way in setting communication expectations with your team. It prevents teammates from disturbing you unnecessarily while also avoiding the impression that you're unavailable when you're actually online.

Avoid Shying Away from Meetings

Slack is designed for asynchronous communication, allowing teams to connect without real-time interaction. While this can improve productivity in many cases, there are times when turning a Slack discussion into a real-time meeting makes more sense.

Some examples where meetings can be productive include:

• Brainstorming sessions where rapid back-and-forth conversation can spark new ideas
• Addressing complex or sensitive topics that require nuanced discussion
• Making important decisions as a team in real-time
• Building personal connections between teammates through face-to-face interaction

Meetings also allow for more focused, uninterrupted conversation without the distractions of other Slack notifications and channels. Nonverbal cues like facial expressions and tone of voice can add helpful context missing in written Slack messages.

However, meetings should be used judiciously. Too many unnecessary meetings can decrease productivity and cause meeting fatigue. In general, reserve meetings for topics that clearly benefit from real-time discussion or brainstorming. For simple information sharing or logistics, asynchronous Slack communication often works better.

The key is striking the right balance between efficient async Slack communication and productive real-time meetings based on the needs of each conversation. Don't shy away from proposing a meeting when the topic calls for it. But also don't assume every conversation requires a meeting when Slack may suffice. Consider which mode of communication will be most effective for the task at hand.

Follow Up After Meetings

Following up after meetings is crucial for ensuring alignment, accountability, and action. Here are some tips for effective follow up on Slack:

• Post recaps and next steps in relevant channels - Summarize key discussion points, decisions, and action items right after the meeting while details are fresh. Tag people for any outstanding tasks or questions. You can use a tool like Glyph, an AI transcription platform that can automatically extract insights and generate notes for quick recaps.
• Suggest tagging people for action items - If specific people were assigned follow-ups in the meeting, @mention them in your recap to confirm responsibilities. This keeps everyone accountable.
• Set expectations for meeting follow up timeframes - Give a clear deadline for when you need responses on action items, decisions, or questions stemming from the meeting. For example: "Please provide feedback on the proposal by end of day Wednesday."

Setting clear expectations for follow up and posting recaps shows you are listening, values others' time, and helps keep teamwork flowing smoothly. Following up promptly also prevents things from falling through the cracks.

Learn How to Lead an Effective Meeting [Full Guide]

Limit Distractions and Multitasking

Multitasking and constant context switching can significantly reduce productivity and focus. Having multiple Slack channels and conversations open at once encourages distraction.

It's best to limit the number of active channels and conversations at any given time. Mute non-urgent channels when you need to concentrate deeply on a task. Let others know you are minimizing distractions for a period if needed.

Constantly switching between different Slack channels and fragmented conversations makes it challenging to maintain focus. This can result in shallow work and lack of progress on substantive projects requiring deep thinking.

Set aside time for focused individual work. Multitasking may feel productive, but research shows it reduces cognitive performance. Close unnecessary tabs and notifications to avoid distraction when doing intensive work.

Though Slack promotes connection, be mindful of how the constant conversations can fragment attention. Limit active conversations and mute non-essential channels to create space for individual focus as needed.

Maintain a Professional Tone

Communication in Slack lacks the tonal cues of in-person interactions, so it's important to maintain a friendly yet professional tone. Avoid using sarcasm or inside jokes, as messages can easily be misinterpreted. Be polite and respectful, even in heated debates or disagreements.

For example, instead of replying "whatever" if someone suggests an idea you dislike, politely explain your perspective. Say something like "I see where you're coming from, but I think [your alternative idea] might work better in this case because [reasons]."

If you need to provide critical feedback, do so constructively and focus on solutions. For example, "The report you created is a good start, but it's missing [key information]. In the future, please be sure to include [suggestions]."

Overall, compose messages in Slack as you would speak to colleagues respectfully in person. Maintaining a thoughtful, friendly tone will ensure your messages are received positively.

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