Slack Etiquette

Slack is a weapon of mass distraction. Here I am talking about the communication platform, not the slang. Slack allows us to very easily disturb a lot of people and waste a lot of people's time, especially with the cost of context switches. To minimize this waste we have compiled a few concrete guidelines for how to behave on Slack.

1. Follow the flowchart above.
2. When posting a link always include at least one sentence about what the link contains, and why you think it is relevant to the people in the channel. Links to messages or channels are exempt from this rule.
3. If there are more than 3 people in a channel always reply in threads.
4. Have specific channels, luckily following the flow chart automatically fixes this.
5. Use reactions. Reactions are a super convenient way to do voting. But also instead of reply messages:
• agree = +1,
• thank you = pray,
• appreciate it = heart,
• interesting = eyes,
• get well soon = apple,
• should have been a thread = thread,
• yes/no = heavy_check_mark/x, and
• you can easily add custom ones, ie. we have icons for every customer
6. You should spend at least one second per person who is in the channel you are posting in on the message.
7. Messages in public channels should be readable by anyone, eg. by being in English.
8. Put automation in separate channels.
9. Don't use @here, @channel, or @everyone unless your post is both urgent and important.
10. If you outgrow a channel leave it.
11. State explicitly in the description of a channel "how" mandatory it is, eg. "read at least once a week", or "optional"
12. Use links to messages when referring to them, and never re-post something, just post a link.
13. Have a "411 channel" where people can ask "which channel is relevant for ..." if you don't know where to post something, or whether you should join more channels.

As an example, my organization has possibly hundreds of channels, we have 4 channels just for the office I am in:

• #location-must-read for important messages for everyone, "read at least once a week".
• #location for stuff that is relevant if you are in the office, like arranging lunch.
• #location-radio for random stuff like sharing a link you mentioned to someone from the office.
• #location-robot for scheduled posts, so they are easy to find and don't clutter in the 'human channels'.

When you are new to something: explore.

• when your organization is new to Slack, make a bunch of channels, and see what sticks, delete what doesn't.
• when you are new to Slack, join channels quickly until you find the ones that fit you, leave the ones that don't.

The only thing to do now is: Start Slacking on!