Slack is like a bad email client. It takes the onus off the message author and instead places it on everyone else. It's not your job to make sure I'm CC'd when necessary, it's now my job to wade through dozens of channels to make sure I'm always up to date.
Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
11–20 of 131 posts
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#12I mean slack isn't even that good. It's a shame it got so entrenched. I wish Discord makes a business productivity push
I've been telling my friends for months that if I were to create a startup I would use discord over slack, and my argument is always predicated around the fact that if you want to have a voice conversation with someone and share your screen the flow for it is easily 5x better than the slack calls.
They laugh at me, but I think its a viable use case
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#13Slack is a big setback for the labor movement . It undermines any distinction between work and leisure
Uninstall it from your phone? Turn off notifications? Make a work profile on your android and get off it once your shift ends? I use Slack daily and I've never brought it home with me.
Slack has a feature to turn off notifications outside of working hours (or whatever hours you choose). That's what I use.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#14Yeah, I think of Slack as the virtual version of the open office. Anybody can bother you at any time.
In the real world, if we ever return to it, I like having physical team rooms, the sort of thing you have naturally when it's an early-stage startup in a single space. When everybody knows each other and is focused on the same goal, it's not hard to work out good communication and space-use norms. But scaling that up into large open-plan offices can quickly turn maddening. It's the tragedy of the audio commons, and anybody can walk up and tap you on the shoulder.
For me Slack is the same problem, but worse in that it removes some of they physical signals and feedback mechanisms that work in an open-plan office.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#15Slack is a big setback for the labor movement . It undermines any distinction between work and leisure
Is it possible that in your work experience, the distinction between work and leisure was already being undermined?
As others have said, Slack often amplifies toxic workplace culture, just like any effective tool tends to be a "force multiplier" in the hands of its users.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#16I don't super understand these articles. Before slack we had Lync, and then skype, and now it's slack.
It doesn't replace email, it replaced those other communication apps.
I am aware that Slack has a crusade against email but the article or that business example didn't ask why not both? There's a need for real-time communication and there's a need for email too.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#17I have used Slack for two years now and don’t see any problems with it. 35 people at my company.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#18Here's what this conversation always boils down to: Slack is a tool, just like one of probably dozens you use in your day-to-day work. It doesn't set or enforce any guidelines for how it should be used. If left unchecked it has a tendency to amplify the worst parts of your company's culture. If you make an effort to moderate it, it can be a huge asset to productivity. Speaking of the example in the article, there is…
> there is absolutely no reason clients should have direct message channels with your company's employees and expect to get a response 24/7.
Uhh... except in Investment Banking. I suppose when your client is paying so much, they rightfully expect a 24/7 hotline.
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#19Yeah, I think of Slack as the virtual version of the open office. Anybody can bother you at any time. In the real world, if we ever return to it, I like having physical team rooms, the sort of thing you have naturally when it's an early-stage startup in a single space. When everybody knows each other and is focused on the same goal, it's not hard to work out good communication and space-use norms. But scaling that up…
What you are describing isn't the problem for Slack, is the problem of requiring a green status icon: https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-presence-prison/
Re: Slack is the right tool for the wrong way to work
#20I guess we are in the minority. Slack has been awesome for boosting communication and collaboration in our department. It's effectively killed awful e-mail communication on issues.
Instead, we carry on live, highly-interactive communications. Everyone pretty much understands if you are busy, however, and don't respond immediately.
Work without Slack would be awful.