Item: Slack
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Slack

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Slack for regular team member communication and task management. We segment channels across different teams and use Slack as an accountability and task management tool as well. For example, interns check in at the beginning of the day and list their priorities. At the end of the day they give a progress update. We have whole team channels, as well as community boards, and some chats just for team-building/morale such as a chat to post pictures of your pets.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Ability to link documents and references in messages
Facilitate communication and team building
Channel/new chat segmentation, ease of creating diverse groups

Cons

I wish messages were easier to format, for instance being able to press the enter key to add a new line of text, versus send your message, or if you could expand the message box if you're typing out a longer, more formal paragraph. I find it's easy to send typos on Slack, versus longer-form content like email.

Return on Investment

Slack has served as an alternative to a business phone line, saving us money there.
Slack has not replaced our need for CRM, task management, or video conferencing, however.
Slack has provided a safe, secure, professional place for internal communication and had a positive impact on team morale.
Provides quick communication, helping us meet quick deadlines.

Usability

Slack is easy to understand with a casual, playful interface. It's not real clunky or overly robust, so it is not overwhelming or intimidating to learn. And there is no set up/very minimal initial set up to get started and acquainted to the platform. It can also serve as somewhat of an internal contacts database to help you see the staff roster/organizational chart and have everyone's photo and contact info at hand. This is useful for new employees.

Alternatives Considered

RingEX, Discord and Microsoft Teams

I find Slack to be more intuitive and user-friendly than RingCentral, Discord, and Microsoft Teams. I think Slack is slightly more professional and appropriate in business than Discord, with a cleaner, more professional interface. It has a more organized interface than Microsoft Teams. And it is simpler than RingCentral/RingEX, although RingCentral/EX does have more task management capabilities and more advanced features overall. And Microsoft Teams has great Microsoft Suite integration options which is a plus if your organization uses other MS products, having all those tools linked and wrapped in one.

Key Insights

Do you think Slack delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

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

RingEX, SurveyMonkey, PandaDoc, Google Drive

Likelihood to Recommend

Slack tends to be a more casual communication platform and best used internally within your team as a more professional alternative to texting, but a more casual alternative to email. I find that Slack is best for quick messages and check in's. It's nice that there is call functionality too, so if I'm messaging a colleague, we might determine that it's quicker to discuss live on a quick call. And instead of having to create an invite and set up conferencing, we can just click the call button. Slack is less appropriate for more formal communication and long, detailed messages needing formatting. I've never used Slack with a client, or send formal external messages through Slack.

Slack Feature Ratings

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

A Friendly Team-Building Communication Go-To for Internal Messaging