With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, many companies shifted to a work culture wherein large groups of employees had to start working remotely. Needless to say, there was an emergence in the demand for more effective means of communication, because the tool of email could not keep up with the volume of communication required in the modern-day and age.

Therefore, companies began to seek smarter, innovative, and more effective ways to communicate, along with tools that can facilitate effective group-based communication. One of the most popular tools for group communication is Slack, which has over 12 million daily active users.

If you are thinking of starting to use a group communication tool like Slack or are already using it to manage your team’s daily tasks and operations in Slack, you need to know some tips & tricks to make you even more productive and get the maximum benefits out of this tool. 

Tip #1: Edit Slack Messages

One primary advantage with Slack is that it not only enables you to edit the messages that an individual sends, but it also comes with the feature of quick editing for messages. The former is especially useful in minimizing the number of text messages in a conversation, as each message can be amended with updates, thereby reducing the need for new messages.

This feature is easy to use and convenient and can help save a significant amount of time. In order to edit the last message sent, the individual has to press the Command + Up keys on your Magic Keyboard on Mac and Control + Up on other computers.

Once you are done editing your message, hit enter to update it immediately. This will let you quickly edit and update your last message without having to look for it manually.  

Tip #2: Disable Notifications

The fact that Slack has notifications makes it more appealing than emails, as there is no requirement to keep opening the app to check for updates on group-based projects. However, it is common knowledge that frequent notifications, both personal and professional, tend to distract individuals and make them less productive.   

Thankfully, there are certain effective strategies that can help you maintain your focus and prevent unwanted distractions caused by notifications. Firstly, you can opt for the web version of Slack as opposed to its desktop application. This will put an end to the red notifications and instead, you can check your messages whenever required.  

If you do prefer the Desktop app, you can disable notifications. This way, for example, if you are working on writing quality content, you can turn off the notifications to really focus and turn them back on when you are done. Another option is to make use of the Do Not Disturb feature which enables you to assign a time for the feature to stop functioning, after which you will receive notifications again.

Tip #3: Use Memos & Notes With Easy Access 

The majority of people tend to use notes to pen their ideas, drafts, passwords, and other information that may be necessary from time to time. However, it can consume a lot of time to navigate from one app to another- especially if the notes/memos app is not launched yet, and finding the right notes would require you to browse through many.   

This is not common knowledge, but it is possible to use and add notes in Slack itself. You can even “Star” the notes that are important and used most frequently, so you can find them easily and quickly. 

What you will choose to “Star” highly depends on what kind of info your team is sharing through Slack – it could be a list of tasks, comments, ideas for projects, passwords, or anything else that you might need quick access to.

Tip #4: Start Using Reminders

Slack comes with a helpful assistant called Slackbot that offers effective tips and tricks to optimize the benefits provided by Slack. One of those tips is to use Slackbot reminders. Moreover, you can also use Slackbot to devise a list of tasks and goals you must accomplish.

Also, you can create reminders for yourself and your co-workers, which is especially useful if you have teammates who never stick to deadlines. 

Tip #5: Search for Keywords

Do you often find yourself in a situation where you are certain that there was specific information mentioned in a conversation, but you cannot trace it back? Well, in Slack, it is easily solvable. 

To search a conversation by keyword, just hit the Command + F combination on a Mac and Control + F on any other computer. These combinations will open a search window where you can enter your keywords. 

The Bottomline:

Things change rapidly and for businesses and management teams this current operating scenario can pose a challenge. Some people may struggle with employee involvement and remote team management. And others would find the distributed team management shockingly easy to learn. These are the reasons why tools like slack help remote teams always in sync.

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