Joe Schaefer’s Post

You don’t need Slack to run a productive team. But you can learn a lot from Slack users. Don’t get me wrong. I still think that Slack can help elevate any team’s productivity immensely. But it is not the only tool that can help you with that. And not having it in your toolbox shouldn’t be an excuse for not trying to implement some of the best practices that it brings. I mean, if you use MS Teams, you have almost all the same features at your disposal. So what are the best practices that you shouldn’t omit? 🥇 Replacing some of your meetings by asynchronous communication If you’re planning a status meeting or a daily standup, ask yourself: Do you really need that face-to-face time with the whole team? Or would it be enough to gather updates in a structured way and then discuss the rest in a group chat or schedule smaller meeting with just one or two team members? There is an app called Updates in MS Teams which does exactly that. 🥈 Asynchronous preparation for the meeting Every meeting can be hugely improved if everyone attending it simply prepared in their own time. Good examples are brainstorming or retrospective meetings. If everyone prepared and sent their inputs in advance, you could get to the point and get the most value out of the meeting much quicker. I know, it can be difficult to implement, but it could shorten those meetings to half. 🥉 Have all the communication in one place Having all of the communication in one place gives you a huge advantage in finding what you need quickly. And with the imminent advancements in AI, both MS Teams and Slack will soon be able to answer any work related question that you might have. You just need to have all the relevant information in one trusted place. Do you use any of these asynchronous practices? What are your biggest struggles? #teamproductivity #async #msteams If you're interested in the topic of team productivity, follow me for more.

Tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams were supposed to increase productivity, especially in medium and large-sized organizations. But I have actually seen them become a productivity killer in most cases. If you are a person who gets annoyed hearing a Slack message notification tune, then you can relate. To make matters worse, these messages can arrive when people are involved in deep work, such as writing code, thinking of solutions to open problems, and discussing strategies. Tasks like that require complete focus, deep thinking, and attention to detail, and they can be easily broken with one notification sound! So, how can we avoid this productivity killer? Here are a few practical hacks that have proven effective for me -  1. I turn off the Slack notification sound when working on something that requires a lot of focus.  2. I use Slack's "later" feature copiously. I mark any message that requires an action as "remind me later," and it stays in the "later" tab until I resolve it. This helps me keep track of all action items in one place. 3. I set expectations for my colleagues - The maximum waiting time for a reply from me is 60-70 minutes. If there is anything urgent, then call me directly or start a huddle. Most people don't call!  4. Whenever I come back to the Slack screen after deep work, I open messages based on priority: "mentions" first, followed by threads. At the end of the day, I visit everything else, assuming it doesn't require my intervention or attention. Just following the above four hacks, you should be able to cut down on your slack anxiety by 60-70%.  Also, install a Slack bot or app that tracks your Slack screen time or typing time(if you prefer to keep Slack open). This will help you objectively measure how much time you are actually spending on that screen. It may seem low when you reply to a message or thread, but you will be shocked when you look at the numbers at a daily or weekly level.  Do you have any tips on Slack productivity? Do share them in the comments. #slack #productivity #workproductivity #distraction #notification #productivityhack #developer #programming #deepwork #focus

🚀 Boost your productivity on Slack with 8 popular keyboard shortcuts. Check out the latest from our blog. #productivityhacks #SlackShortcuts #CommunicationTips #WorkSmarter https://hubs.ly/Q01Ywv4d0

🚀 Boost your productivity on Slack with 8 popular keyboard shortcuts. Check out the latest from our blog. #productivityhacks #SlackShortcuts #CommunicationTips #WorkSmarter https://hubs.ly/Q01_YRpd0

Slack Cheat Sheet: The Ultimate Slack Guide for 2023 https://lnkd.in/eztk6sg #computers #cloudcomputing

Slack Review 2024: Does the Most Popular Team Chat Deserve Its Reputation? 👉 https://lnkd.in/g-Jwbjyg Slack's been a major player in team collaboration for years, but is it still the best option? The software excels at streamlining communication, but it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. 📨📲 Is Slack still the king of team chat in 2024? Find out here: https://lnkd.in/g-Jwbjyg #slack #teamcollaboration #communication #remotework

reminder to self: there are too many words on that slide if you have sentences on the slide, you will be tempted to read them out loud. the people looking at the slide will need to wait for you to speak the words that they can read much faster and will use that time to check their email/ slack/ teams. cut the words and make everyone happier.

How to edit a sent message in Slack: Easy Guide #HowTo

🚀 Wondering about the impact of Slack on your workday? On average, it takes up at least 20% of our time. But is it hindering productivity during critical periods? Let's take control and identify when Slack usage becomes a blocker. Discover more in our latest blog on studying team Slack usage effectively. 💡🔗

In this short guide, I'll show you how to add a chatbot to your Slack workspace to help team members by automatically answering questions from your company knowledge.