Communication & Collaboration Resources: Slack best practices

• Use the first and last name that you go by in the “Full Name” section of Accounts; the “Display Name” is your Kerberos user name and is not editable.
• Updating/Adding a status (for example, “working remotely,” “on vacation,”” in a meeting,” etc.) allows others to view your status  
  • The FlexWork pilot norms designate the Outlook calendar as the primary method to use for sharing work status information.
  • Slack’s active/inactive indicators show a status based on whether users have read or sent messages in the past 30 minutes
• Optional settings include: adding profile photos, an office phone number, skype username, and downloading the slack application on personal devices
• See MIT Libraries Team Slack documentation, which includes optimal settings for themes, alerts, and other settings to customize Slack

• Ask quick or general questions
• Share links or brief updates
• Have periodic virtual “standup” meetings to share progress, planned work or blockers
• Humanize the workplace by providing opportunities for informal interactions across work locations
• Some groups may find it helpful to communicate via Slack instead of texting for quick and timely “I’m running late” type of messages

• Conduct lengthy or detailed communications 
  • route detailed communications to email, ticketing system, bringing into a collaborative document-editing tool or through a meeting.
• Create tickets for support requests or reference questions
  • for staff support email fix-lib@mit.edu
  • for technical support related to public-facing services use the Ask US form (insert link to the form)
• Manage to-do lists, delegate tasks, or to manage a workflow or project 
  • Try tasks management tools such as Trello, Asana or JIRA instead
• Store and organize files/data/information for long-term use
  • Save and manage documents in accordance with your teams’ norms and practices
• Share detailed information about library users or their requests
  • refer to the MIT Libraries Team Slack documentation for guidance

Slack is not a system of record

• In the near future, the retention period for messages in Slack will be changed to 90 days. Plan accordingly if you want to save something – cut and paste is the quickest and easiest option.

Decision making

• When making decisions via Slack, make sure all affected parties are part of the conversation and have appropriate time to respond.
• When in doubt, bring the thread to the relevant stakeholders through other methods such as conversation, meeting, email, etc

Slack usage expectations

• Make sure you follow your department expectation for having Slack open or have the conversation with your manager if expectations are not clear.
• Slack is not a universal substitute for email or meetings.

Shared responsibility

• Participants in Slack threads share responsibility for ensuring that Slack threads are useful, timely, and inclusive, and should move threads to other communication methods as needed.

Need help or have a question about Slack?

• Email the Slack Admin Team (slack-lib-admin@mit.edu)

MIT Libraries documentation

• MIT Libraries team documentation for Slack
• DWG-Team documentation for Slack
• Communication Norms for FlexWork pilot

Select articles 

• What Slack is doing to our offices—and our minds
• Slack is killing your productivity. Here’s how to fix it.
• Best practices from the most active slack users
• 5 Reasons We Love Slack
• The Ultimate Guide to Using Slack for Team Communication

1. Updating your profile
2. Using Slack to...
3. Avoid using Slack to...
4. General considerations
5. Getting help & related info

Have a question? Need technical help?

Email: fix-lib@mit.edu