Item: Slack
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Slack for regular communications, broadcasting messages, building quick war rooms and several day-to-day operations. I use Slack to ensure that messages and action items do not get lost in broader conversations. Also, there are several communities which are outside the purview of the office but in the Product Space which are helpful professionally.

Pros and Cons

Channels for discussions
Ability to remind and schedule messages
Ability to deal with multiple communities

Huddle often has some or the other issue with respect to connectivity
Searching within threads can be nightmare. Message which are several weeks old are really hard to find.
The FTUX can be better. Hard to find keyboard shortcuts for frequently used functions.

Return on Investment

Hard to put an RoI number here. However, if the teams had to collaborate on Google Chat, productivity would have definitely been lower.
Declutters the space for individuals who are engaged in several discussions
Notification + App Integration Systems are super helpful

Alternatives Considered

Google Chat and Microsoft Teams

The level of complexity for Power users is unparalleled in Asana. The only advantage Google Chat has is its linkage with Gmail, another indispensable tool.
Google's meetings are better and connectivity-related issues are fewer.
Microsoft Teams too is similar to Google Chat is more suited for users who are engaged in dozens of threads.

Key Insights

Do you think Slack delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Slack's feature set?

Yes

Did Slack live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Slack go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Slack again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Asana, Miro, Figma

Likelihood to Recommend

Best suited for large teams where multiple work streams are to be discussed with different stakeholders. The app becomes 10x more useful once you integrate it with the rest of your production systems like Asana, Google Docs, Jira etc.

For smaller team sizes say less than 100, the level of complexity offered may not add enough value. Also, for folks who do not use extensions and plug-ins, there are several low-cost solutions.

An indispensable tool for Power Users

Overall Satisfaction with Slack