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I absolutely hate Slack. I imagine every organization is like this. - theres no way everyone can follow everything going on in multiple channels. This makes

I absolutely hate Slack. I imagine every organization is like this. - theres no way everyone can follow everything going on in multiple channels. This makes it almost bs. Theres way too much noise and is overwhelming - Theres too much lost information in channels and conversation threads etc. At least in email things are somewhat more permanent. As the channels go and more and more people are typing, so much context is lost, and unless you're following the thread you don't know whats going on and people just skip it most of the time. - On top of that slack threads are lost forever in time unless pinned. The conversation rarely gets translated in to wiki or email or whatever so decisions are sometimes made and forgotten. Overall I think these are solvable problems but requires a very opinionated way to work or creative solution ( a la google wave, yes it was an awesome tool ).

LocalPCGuy 4y ago
Just like with all the various conversations that would happen in an office, the first thing I'd tell you is that it's ok not to follow everything in every channel. Trust that people will @notify you if your attention is needed. Catch up on the channels you want to when it's convenient for you - I often do my Slack catch-up during times I need to take a coding break or have a blocker. As for information lossage and threads, get familiar with search. And also, when it's one of your messages, think about the words you may use to find something later and work them into your messages. Or for other messages, add a comment of your own with the keywords that should work to make things easier to find later. And if that becomes a trend for the team as a whole, everyone benefits. I think being opinionated about "how Slack is used" can be helpful, especially if the team buys in. Hope some of the above helps somewhat.
- angryasian 4y ago
  the problem with search, is that its assuming you know what you want to look for.. which always isn't the case.
  - bruce343434 4y ago
    Which isn’t always the case* since sometimes it is the case
backzerman 4y ago
Counterpoint (from someone who highly prefers in-person communication and video/voice calls to Slack): Slack’s search feature is fantastic, and something I wish I’d discovered the benefits of earlier during Covid. It’s better than email, since I can search public channels even when I’m not included in the thread of discussion. It’s better than a Wiki if, as I believe is common, people aren’t diligent about dumping what they learn in conversation onto a Wiki page.
- angryasian 4y ago
  search assumes you know what you're looking for. Its fine but I find it also hit or miss
- turdprincess 4y ago
  Searching slack is a superpower. You can solve problems you have zero domain knowledge in just by searching for past instances of that problem. As someone not particularly social, it’s an amazing way to get unblocked without relying on another human.
donmaq 4y ago
> - On top of that slack threads are lost forever in time unless pinned. The conversation rarely gets translated in to wiki or email or whatever so decisions are sometimes made and forgotten. I've literally been requesting a "export to wiki" feature from Slack, since 2016. After tracking really useful #dev chats, & then watching them disappear in the ether of subsequent non sequiturs & horrible slack search, I can only conclude Slack isn't interested? Add in the loss of content from deactivated users, & Slack becomes the place where useful convos go to die, surrounded by giphys & emoji
- AB1908 4y ago
  You can automate this with a script or with a middleware platform of your choice. I work at a place that does this and we export answered questions into a company knowledge base.
sublinear 4y ago
A worthwhile message does not get ignored, especially when you "@" mention exactly the right people who need to hear it and you keep it straightforward. Pinned messages are almost always propaganda by a product owner or similar. All the messages in between are usually useless reactionary bullshit that is neither actionable nor even informative.
- angryasian 4y ago
  Big companies, not all stakeholders are always known. sometimes they are notifying the wrong stakeholder. Its hit or miss I find.

LocalPCGuy 4y ago

Just like with all the various conversations that would happen in an office, the first thing I'd tell you is that it's ok not to follow everything in every channel. Trust that people will @notify you if your attention is needed. Catch up on the channels you want to when it's convenient for you - I often do my Slack catch-up during times I need to take a coding break or have a blocker. As for information lossage and threads, get familiar with search. And also, when it's one of your messages, think about the words you may use to find something later and work them into your messages. Or for other messages, add a comment of your own with the keywords that should work to make things easier to find later. And if that becomes a trend for the team as a whole, everyone benefits. I think being opinionated about "how Slack is used" can be helpful, especially if the team buys in. Hope some of the above helps somewhat.

angryasian 4y ago
the problem with search, is that its assuming you know what you want to look for.. which always isn't the case.
- bruce343434 4y ago
  Which isn’t always the case* since sometimes it is the case

backzerman 4y ago

Counterpoint (from someone who highly prefers in-person communication and video/voice calls to Slack): Slack’s search feature is fantastic, and something I wish I’d discovered the benefits of earlier during Covid. It’s better than email, since I can search public channels even when I’m not included in the thread of discussion. It’s better than a Wiki if, as I believe is common, people aren’t diligent about dumping what they learn in conversation onto a Wiki page.

angryasian 4y ago
search assumes you know what you're looking for. Its fine but I find it also hit or miss
turdprincess 4y ago
Searching slack is a superpower. You can solve problems you have zero domain knowledge in just by searching for past instances of that problem. As someone not particularly social, it’s an amazing way to get unblocked without relying on another human.

donmaq 4y ago

> - On top of that slack threads are lost forever in time unless pinned. The conversation rarely gets translated in to wiki or email or whatever so decisions are sometimes made and forgotten. I've literally been requesting a "export to wiki" feature from Slack, since 2016. After tracking really useful #dev chats, & then watching them disappear in the ether of subsequent non sequiturs & horrible slack search, I can only conclude Slack isn't interested? Add in the loss of content from deactivated users, & Slack becomes the place where useful convos go to die, surrounded by giphys & emoji

AB1908 4y ago
You can automate this with a script or with a middleware platform of your choice. I work at a place that does this and we export answered questions into a company knowledge base.

sublinear 4y ago

A worthwhile message does not get ignored, especially when you "@" mention exactly the right people who need to hear it and you keep it straightforward. Pinned messages are almost always propaganda by a product owner or similar. All the messages in between are usually useless reactionary bullshit that is neither actionable nor even informative.

angryasian 4y ago
Big companies, not all stakeholders are always known. sometimes they are notifying the wrong stakeholder. Its hit or miss I find.