What Is Slack and What Makes It Powerful?

Communication, as we all know, is an integral part of any unit. The dynamics of any business are also dependent on how communication is being executed. Unless you are a one-man team, in which the need for a communication channel isn't necessary.

But if you have 2 or more people working for and with you, having a central form of communication is vital to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, which is very inevitable. Businesses consist of people performing different tasks, taking on various roles, and being transparent in terms of the processes is highly appreciated to maintain the flow in the pipeline.

Most businesses aren't a one-man team. As a business owner, you most likely have a team of competent and reliable individuals working with you. How do you keep the business rolling? 

Every single day, you have an exchange of conversation about everything relevant in your business right? Do you still rely on phone calls, text messages, and emails? How do you preserve accountability? 

Perhaps it's high time to leave your comfort zone and move on to an unorthodox but superlatively concrete and stable route. 

Why The Need?

When you engage in any business, it is vital to keep all channels open as there may be incidentals that need to be acknowledged and addressed promptly. Having a communication tool that you can utilize without compromising transparency and accountability, the better. The purpose of this is to allow improvement and real-time action. It's also a safer and wiser option as it can help build trust among the team members. 

These are the fundamentals that shouldn't be overlooked to maintain the growth of your business in an uphill ride.

Over the years, there have been a great number of communication platforms that emerged in the market. While most served their purpose, some exceeded the expectations of the users. Let's take Slack, for instance. 

What is Slack?

Slack is a communication tool that had its launching in 2013. At present, Slack has over 12 million active daily users subscribed to them.  Slack is chosen by more than 150,000 organizations mainly because it offers efficient and reliable real-time communication, all documented for transparency purposes. Depending on the plan you're subscribed to, you can view and search the message history in your workspace, too. 

Reasons to Use Slack

• The good thing about this tool is that it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Slack even offers free unlimited use for small teams. 

• The security that Slack provides is also top-notch and unbeatable. As an admin, you get the upper hand on any alterations that take place within the workplace. Your team will have to ask for your approval and by default, whatever you disapproved of won't push through. You get the final say.  You can even remove team members who are no longer connected to your organization. That way, they won't be able to view and participate in any conversations. 

• Just like other messaging apps, Slack also has group chats wherein you can have conversations with multiple members of your team at the same time. Slack refers to these chat rooms as channels. You can have multiple channels in Slack, each belonging to whatever category you prefer for your organization. You can add as many users to each channel, too. Let's say, you have a channel solely for Finance people only. Then, that specific channel won't be visible to those who aren't included in the Finance department or whoever you did not invite to the channel. You get firsthand information while keeping confidential matters private. 

• You can also start a thread that your team members can reply to or comment on. For example, if you want to get feedback on a specific project,  you can create a threaded message and start the discussion from there. If you find that that said topic is no longer relevant, you can just unfollow the thread. What differs between a threaded message and a message within a channel is that you don't need to go over a multitude of messages just to follow up or reply. This feature helps organize the collaboration of thoughts and ideas in one place. It also works well asynchronously. You can just look into the thread and you'll see where the conversation starts and ends. Makes sense, right?

• Now, if there is an important message that you wanted to be sent across your whole team, you can place them under the announcement channel. The possibility of it being drowned is slim since there is a limit in conversation within this channel. 

• Just like social media messaging, you can also add mentions if you want to call out a specific user within the channel. 

• One of the winning features of Slack also is the ability to attach and send files like images, voice memos, word documents, and even PDF files. We all know how restricting emails can be when it comes to the file size and that is something that Slack was able to modify.  On top of that, Slack also allows app integration wherein you can combine other apps that are useful for your productivity. 

Slack is a perfect venue for users to proactively coordinate with each other both asynchronously and synchronously. Since Slack is pro-remote staffing, you can effectively communicate with your team wherever, whenever. You'll never be left out because this very popular and crowd favorite communication tool can be downloaded on your Android and iOS devices. 

If you're looking for a reliable way to communicate with your team, try Slack and see for yourself the difference that it makes. You get only the most straightforward, real-time, and effective means of connecting with your team.

With Slack, you can no longer slack for you will always be one step ahead