5 REASONS WHY SLACK IS THE TOOL YOU NEED FOR BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Slack has been all the rage for companies and employees over the last year, but now that 2015 is wrapping up, it’s making headlines as one of the hottest startups of the year, worth $2.8 billion, and it’s expected to see an even more extensive reach in 2016. buy twitter followers uk

While it may have started as a tool employees use on their own, there are ways that you can bring Slack into your company officially and help improve communication and collaboration. Check out how it works below and how you can use it to your advantage.

THE BASICS: HOW SLACK WORKS

HOME Slack is considered a “messaging app” and is entirely free to use. The idea behind Slack is to make communication easier between coworkers with a few advanced features to improve collaboration (more on this in the last section). Below is a sample screenshot of the dashboard of Slack:

As you can see, it is structured similarly to a social mean stream while keeping tabs separated on the left-hand side. This means that each person will have a potentially different-looking Slack dashboard based on the channels they are a part of or created. It offers three essential features:

Channels

This helps you organize conversations within that Slack team in what they call “open channels.” When you make a channel, everyone can see what is going on. This means it’s a good idea to create channels for different projects, topics, or conversations between certain team members.

Private Channels

This is the place where you want to include confidential information with just a few team members.

Direct Messages

This works just like email. Reach one coworker quickly and directly. The screenshot above shows a Direct Message. In addition to the three essential features above, you also have a few advanced features to work with that can help take businesses to the next level:

You can drag, drop, and share your files within Slack conversations. This includes images, PDFs, spreadsheets, etc. In addition, you can add comments, star to reach later, and search for these files. Paste the link for your Google Drive spreadsheets or Dropbox files, and that document will then be in sync and searchable right away.

Setup integration between Slack and your other apps so you don’t have to switch back and forth and so that you can get notifications within Slack.

This makes it easy to use Slack as a one-stop platform. Keeping things in sync is probably what Slack does best and why Slack is becoming so popular. Not only is everything archived and therefore searchable, but it’s also compatible with iOS and Android, so you have the information with you wherever you go.

Getting Started with Slack

You visit the website Slack.com and type in your email address to get started. You are then sent through a series of web pages to get created that includes:

• First, name your team, which refers to the overall Slack account.
• You’re then given a custom URL that you and your coworkers will sign in to Slack.
• Pick a username so that coworkers recognize you.
• Next, look in your email to set up your password.

That’s all there is to it to get started. You will then be asked to send invitations to your coworkers so that they can be a part of your slack conversation. Once members get your email invitation and join, you can start talking and using the aforementioned features.

5 WAYS TO USE SLACK TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN YOUR BUSINESS

So it’s clear that Slack is all about communication, but how exactly you organize your Slack conversations/ channels can help you make sure you’re taking full advantage of the benefits. Consider some of the ways you can use the tool below:

Create a Channel for Blog Posts to Discuss Social Promotion

This is usually where businesses start. Sometimes it’s tough to get everyone in your company on the same page regarding content. Still, even your IT professionals can benefit from sharing and knowing what’s happening with the blog.

Use this Channel to add links to the most recent content that has been published and ask others to help promote it on social. Because it can sync with Buffer, this makes it easy for the Channel owner to urge others to share right then and there.

Integrate Slack with Google Drive

By integrating Slack with Google Drive, you can genuinely keep everything in one place. We use this to keep track of the links we earn, making an SEO audit much more accessible. Because everyone can collaborate, it’s easier to make sure you cover all of your bases.

As discussed above, Google Drive isn’t the only app you can sync with Slack. Far from it. Visit this link to see a list of all the compatible apps with the tool. They even break up the apps by category, so you have choices from Customer Support to File Management to HR, Productivity, Social, and much more.

Take Advantage of the Open API

This essentially means that Slack is made for developers. The tool makes it easy to add other devices to a developer’s user stream so that you can use Slack for payroll, Intranet, advertising, structure management, and more.

Build a Referral Network

According to an Entrepreneur article, freelancers are among those who benefit most from using Slack because they can use it as a way to build referrals. They say that freelance workers make up about 34 percent of the workforce in the US, and 81 percent of freelancers refer work to fellow freelancers.

On top of that, 52 percent hire fellow freelancers to collaborate on projects. This makes Slack the perfect place to organize this network and keep the freelance work flowing faster and easier than ever before.

Extra: What Are Slack Credits

You’ll notice that when you sign up for Slack, you can take a survey to earn Slack credits (usually $100). Although Slack is free and has an unlimited free option that is most popular, they offer a paid option for $6.67 per user per month.

This has features such as guest access, priority support, more comprehensive archives of messages, and more, which you can check out on their Pricing Page. If you choose to go for a premium package, Slack uses your credits toward your payment until they run out.

Does your company use Slack? What strategies does your company use to help keep things moving in the right direction? Let us know in the comment section below. socialfollowerspro