FUN with Slack

In this section, we will describe our best practices when using Slack.

Asynchronicity

Slack is used:

• for real-time discussion when two or more persons are actively connected at the same time,

• to replace emails when sharing information or for asynchronous conversation.

When you post a message to someone on Slack, you should not expect them to answer synchronously.

In other words, consider your messages like emails:

• communicate the whole point before pressing "Enter" and not just "hello are you here?" or

  "are you available to talk?",

• if the person answers straightaway, it means that he or she may be available to chat, but you

  should not expect it to be the case by default,

• give the person some time to answer: at least a few hours, unless the matter is unusually

  urgent. They can decide how fast they need to answer you, because you have given them the

  whole information in your message, right?

Threads

We want technical discussions to happen in public channels as much as possible and not in private/group channels:

• someone else may have a good idea,

• someone else may learn something by reading your discussion.

In order to limit the noise for people not directly interested in your topic, switch to a "thread" as soon as you notice that a conversation is initiating.