Item: Slack
Rating: 10
Author: Rick Murphy

Overall Satisfaction with Slack

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We currently use Slack in a couple of different ways. Our IT Department was struggling with internal communication. Email was our primary system and it made it difficult to identify important messages as they funneled into our inbox. Our first implementation was directed at curbing this use of email. We found the move beneficial, and then eventually used Slack for microlearning, integration with other systems, training, and sharing documentation. Notifications via smartphones made it an advantageous way to contact colleagues. We also setup a Slack team for communication and direction for student workers within our organization, and have begun testing it for operational communications across campus. We believe it will improve overall communication, training strategies, and customer service.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Integrations are a plus. We use Zapier on campus to interface with other SaaS systems, CRMs and ERPs. The integration capabilities make it an effective collaboration and communication tool.
Slack provides multiple modes of communication. You can setup channels for specific topics, send direct messages to an individual team member, or setup groups.
The desktop app is nice in that it provides effective notifications, and makes it easy to share documents with other team members.
Multiple teams allow you to segment your communication and collaboration initiatives.

Cons

Finding some of the advanced features or preferences can sometimes be clunky and not intuitive.
When trying to verify effective communication to team members, it would be nice to have "read receipts" similar to iOS Messages.

Return on Investment

One of the metrics we have watched over the years is our average resolution time. Prior to two years ago when collaboration was accomplished via email, phone calls, or visiting offices within the department, our average resolution time was around 72hrs. Over the past year we have reduced that to around 48hrs.
While not quantifiable, the reduction in email noise has allowed our technicians to prioritize more effectively, and provide important information to colleagues in a timely manner. We know that these factors have improved overall service.
Prior to our use of Slack we typically had weekly staff meeting that ran 2-3 hours in length. Today we meet bi-monthly, or even once a month since Slack allows us to post updates on projects, and note outages/emergency issues that have appeared.

Likelihood to Recommend

I believe Slack is a highly effective tool if you want to reduce the clutter of email, and ramp up collaboration on projects, or resolving issues in a team context. Setup dedicated channels and you can subscribe to specific projects you are working on with others, or implement that channel that allows you to continually offer service training to your employees. Want to know when you receive negative feedback on your service or product? Setup integrations with the tools you are already using, have it fire into a channel for your team to see, and even send a notification to the app on a smartphone so you have realtime information when your customers are not happy.

Slack Feature Ratings

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