There’s an abundance of factors that can dictate a business’s success or failure. From starting a business to managing it and achieving sustainability and growth, challenges abound. After the initial stages, one such challenge lies in organization; managing communications, achieving productivity, and remaining effective. Luckily, while technology isn’t a panacea for all troubles just yet, it can help face this particular challenge. As such, in this article, I’d like to explore how Slack helps your organizational efforts and lets you thrive.
Technology in the service of business organization
In the digital age, technology is indeed an efficient tool and a reliable partner. From search engine optimization (SEO) tools to marketing and sales tools, options to optimize operations and streamline workflow abound. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an equally lucrative option for customer-centric strategies, as its booming software market proves. Most importantly, in this article’s context, communication, and organizational efforts can also be enhanced through such solutions. Software like Slack helps your organizational efforts in many ways by addressing specific workplace problems. What’s more, you can team it up with your CRM, collaborative or otherwise, and truly rise above.
Synchronous vs. asynchronous communication
The most fundamental way in which Slack helps your organizational efforts is by offering synchronous communication. To properly appreciate this proposition, consider how disorganizing traditional, asynchronous communication can be. How often do your emails remain unread, delaying necessary inquiries? How much time is lost in-between email correspondence that could be spent productively? Lastly, how often do simple mistakes like wrong email addresses and duplicate emails push communication back? Those are precisely the problems that Slack tackles by being designed as a quick, direct communication solution.
Of course, that’s not to say that it fully replaces email. That’s arguably too risky an undertaking to consider just yet, and email does remain popular and useful. However, using Slack can help reduce email use down to the basics, reducing the room for error and wasted time. In this regard, then, it might be better to consider the two as necessary partners, more so than clear-cut competitors.
How Slack helps your organizational efforts
Having highlighted that vital distinction, let’s explore which organizational problems Slack addresses. Among others, consider these three widespread issues.
Problem #1: poor internal communication channels
First and foremost, organization hinges on optimal, timely internal communications. Different departments need to communicate effectively and swiftly, and team members must all be on the same page. Thus, poor internal communication channels can hamper your efforts and reduce efficiency.
Solution: consolidated, searchable, custom Slack channels
In this regard, Slack helps your organizational efforts by providing consolidated, searchable, and custom channels. Among its many benefits and features in this regard, consider the following notable ones.
- Searchable channels specific to teams, projects, and subjects
Why settle for disorganized, scattered communication when Slack offers such functionalities? Slack allows you to create channels specific to individual projects, exclusive to particular teams, or dedicated to specific subjects. Add the highly searchable design of all such channels, and it’s an absolute boon for consolidating communications.
- User tags and push notifications
Along the same lines, you may urgently need a specific member’s knowledge or expertise. In this regard, Slack offers user tags to notify said members quickly, either publicly or in private. Such tags notify members with push notifications for quick responses. Lastly, members can choose not to receive alerts to such tags during off-hours if need be.
- Mobile-friendliness
Finally, Slack is tremendously mobile-friendly to help your workforce stay connected. In an increasingly digital, mobile world of remote work and social media, mobile-friendliness can be very helpful. What’s more, even if some users don’t use it through mobile devices, that it’s designed with mobile devices in mind still helps it provide a clean, responsive interface.
Problem #2: low productivity and organizational motivation
Still, even if internal communication channels are flawless, motivation and engagement can hamper productivity – and thus organization.
Solution: team-building and motivational incentives
Here, Slack helps your organizational efforts by providing more ways to engage with content and more incentives to do so. As it does, it also helps cultivate an inclusive culture and foster team-building. Consider the following examples of such features:
- Off-work channels for coffee breaks
- Reacts, kudos, and recognition
- Employee surveys
- Direct messages
- Audiovisual content
Of course, such features can also present a reasonable concern; such tools can boost productivity but also hamper it. Indeed, too much of anything not strictly work-related can introduce distractions that reduce productivity. However, this is true of all such solutions, and careful management can prevent those troubles. A work culture that prevents such distractions from becoming cumbersome while also promoting team bonds is always vital.
Problem #3: Low organizational effectiveness
Finally, even with all of the above factors in place, organizational effectiveness may still be lacking. Of course, the exact reasons will always vary, but the solutions remain mostly the same.
Solution: managerial tools for long-term effectiveness
Here, Slack provides a central platform for communications that managers and leaders can use to ensure proper organization. Consider some of the metrics that become visible and can be measured:
- Engagement and commitment
- Recurring behavior
- Culture
Through careful monitoring, leaders can make informed, data-driven decisions. They can observe engagement with important messages in an announcement channel or pinned posts. They can measure survey participation and reactions to inquiries. Perhaps most importantly, they can witness the growing culture and prevent an unprofessional environment from taking hold. With role-specific communication channels at their disposal, they can discuss such matters with appropriate members and ensure a proper course.
Conclusion: keep it professional and let Slack help your organizational efforts
Finally, it bears repeating that, in this context, Slack is a professional tool. It is thus vital to remember that a professional attitude toward it is critical. Engagement and socializing are great in moderation but can indeed become distractions if left unchecked. However, as long as you overcome this common challenge, Slack can be a tremendous asset toward improving your organization.
