Communication Tools
How to Communicate Using Slack, even if You are a Newbie
A tutorial of the very basics to get you up and running on Slack
You have been asked to join a Slack group. Great, now what?
If you have never used Slack before and are unfamiliar with the platform it might be a little intimidating up front. This article addresses how to log on and make Slack work for you, even if you have no prior knowledge about the platform.
How to Join
First, the invitation will generally come in the form of a link to what Slack calls a “Workplace”. Don’t memorize the term, it isn’t crucial except that the Workplace group that you are in should make sense as you are already a part of a formal or informal team that is now using Slack to communicate.
If you have received the link from someone in your team or group, you are likely in the right place.
If you don’t have a Slack account, you will be asked to make one. It is free to create your account. Consider adding a picture right away, it will help the others on your team associate your name to you. You can use the same picture you used for your Medium account if you like.
That’s it. Once you create your account you are free to roam, read and communicate within your Workplace.
Basic Layout
You can use Slack in your computer browser, on a Personal Computer (PC) application, on a tablet or on your phone/mobile device.
This article focuses on the PC application and computer browser version. The tablet and phone apps will have a slightly different layout, but all of the same basic functions that we cover here.
When you open Slack in your PC app or browser you will see a menu on the left panel that has shortcuts at the top and “Channels” below that. In the center, either the channel or shortcut area you have selected from the menu panel will be displayed. All of my screenshots come from a group I belong to called ILLUMINATION.
Your layout on the PC app will look like this:
Sometimes people will start “Threads” of conversation where they reply directly to a comment. If you click on the reply box under the main comment, a Thread window will appear on the right of the main screen.
That covers the basic layout, now where to begin?
Channels
Most all of your basic communication will take place in Channels. These are areas broken out by subject so that communication around specific projects or topics can have their own area for discussion.
This can seem overwhelming at first, like in my group there are probably close to 20 channels. Do not dismay, and don’t be put off by the big list. Most all of the basic communication you will need at first will take place in one or two channels.
In my case, the #Illumination and #spam-our-own-posts channels are the only places someone new may want to use.
Then, slowly, as you get your feet under you, you can begin to interact in other channels. Check out the image below. The red and blue arrows indicate the primary channels for ILLUMINATION. The bright-white highlighted channels are ones with new messages. You can see that there are a lot of channels I have not read, even as someone that uses Slack a lot. That is okay.
The green arrow indicates channels where someone has tagged you specifically in a post. You can see that I need to go check out the #featured channel to see the message I have been tagged in.
Basic Communication
Communication is easy. Just pick the correct channel for your topic (remember your go-to is always the main channel like mine is ILLUMINATION) and type in the box at the bottom. The tool has a standard text entry box with all the tools you might expect, like bold, italics, numbered lists and hyperlinks.
Just type and hit enter. One quick advanced tip is that
If you want to reference someone directly in your message use the “@” symbol, followed by their name, just like in Medium. If you want to alert everyone in that channel, you can use the “@Channel” function. They will get a little red oval in their channel feed like in the image above; and if they have opted into it, an email saying they have a message in Slack.
Direct Message
Finally, if you want to send a direct message to only one person, you can do so by clicking on the little “+” sign on the bottom of the left menu panel next to the “Direct messages” tab. If you have already interacted with people through direct messaging their name will appear in your menu. When they reply, you will get a little red oval and an email alert (if applicable).
That’s it. That is all you need to know to get going in Slack. While it may seem a bit off-putting and complex at first, it really isn’t. Once you get in there and give it a little test drive, it quickly becomes second nature to use as a great form of direct communication with your team.
Now get out there and get communicating!
Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.
