Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 4
Beyond the Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Part 1 Working Smarter and Better with Slack 7
Chapter 1 Why Slack Exists 9
Introducing Slack 9
Meeting Slack's Users and Customers 13
Understanding Why Slack Exists 14
Email: The blessing and all-too-frequent curse 15
Trapped institutional knowledge 16
Employees often can't find what they want - quickly or even at all 17
What Slack Specifically Does 18
Employer benefits 18
Employee benefits 23
Chapter 2 Getting Started with Slack 29
Reviewing Slack's Different Versions 29
Free plan 30
Standard plan 30
Plus plan 31
Enterprise Grid 31
Changing your Slack plan 31
Describing Slack's cost structure 33
Beginning Your Slack Journey with the Workspace 35
Creating a new Slack workspace 36
Signing in to an existing Slack workspace 37
Accessing your new workspace 40
Using the Slack desktop app 40
Introducing the Slack user interface 42
Summarizing Slack's Different Roles and Permissions 44
Administrative roles 44
Non-administrative roles 46
Managing member roles 47
Enterprise Grid roles and permissions 51
Starting Your New Workspace Off on the Right Foot 52
Expanding your existing workspace 52
Configuring your member profile and key account settings 54
Part 2 Communicating without Chaos 57
Chapter 3 Targeting Your Communication with Slack Channels 59
Introducing Slack Channels 60
Exploring the Different Types of Slack Channels 61
Public channels 62
Private channels 63
Multi-workspace channels 65
Shared channels 67
Creating Public and Private Channels 69
Creating your first public channel 70
Building an intelligent channel structure 73
Viewing basic channel information 75
Performing Channel Actions 76
Group actions 77
Individual actions 81
Adding Members to Existing Channels 83
Manual additions 83
Default workplace channels 85
Exploring Existing Public Channels 85
Communicating via Slack Channels 87
Posting simple channel messages 88
Understanding channel etiquette 89
Chapter 4 The Wonderful World of Slack Messages 91
Understanding Slack Messages 92
Sending a Message 92
Performing basic message actions 94
Formatting your messages 96
Finding people in your workspace 98
Editing messages 100
Deleting messages 101
Muting conversations 101
Setting message-specific reminders 102
Saving DMs and channel messages 102
Pinning DMs to conversations 103
Creating special types of messages 104
Converting group DMs into private channels 108
Using threads to create topic-specific containers 109
Sharing in Slack 111
Sharing files 111
Sharing messages 114
Comparing Email and Slack 116
Forwarding Email to Slack 117
Communicating Outside of Slack 117
Chapter 5 Staying Informed with Notifications, Statuses, and Feeds 119
Getting Your Arms around Notifications 120
Managing Slack notifications 120
Reviewing the different types of Slack notifications 122
Letting Others Know Your Availability 130
Setting your status 131
Viewing your colleagues' statuses 132
Editing your status 133
Clearing your status 133
Setting yourself to away/active 133
Unplugging with Do Not Disturb mode 134
Configuring Device-Specific Notifications 137
Enabling notifications on mobile devices 137
Understanding when settings collide 137
Finding Other Ways to Stay Current 138
Receiving emails on recent activity 138
Viewing mentions and reactions 139
Part 3 Becoming a Slack Power User 141
Chapter 6 Going Deeper into Slack's Functionality 143
Making Calls in Slack 143
Types of calls 144
Calls and security 148
Sharing Your Screen in Slack 149
Presenting and viewing 149
Drawing 150
Saving Even More Time in Slack 150
Invoking keyboard shortcuts 151
Using commands 152
Managing Your Life with Reminders 153
Saving Items 155
Saving files 155
Saving messages 155
Quickly accessing your saved items 155
Creating User Groups 156
Chapter 7 Finding What You Need with Slack's Powerful Search Techniques 159
Searching for Better Search Methods 160
Performing Searches in Slack 161
Searching by workspace members 163
Restricting searches to specific date ranges 164
Using negative keywords 165
Referencing multiple keywords 166
Restricting search results even more 167
Searching by user reactions 167
Searching by wildcards 168
Searching by fuzziness 169
Searching by additional modifiers 170
Getting the Most Out of Search in Slack 170
Start small 170
Embrace modifiers 171
Remember that results change over time 172
Be patient 172
Chapter 8 Personalizing Slack 173
Getting to Know Your Slack Options 174
Configuring global workspace settings 175
Personalizing your Slack options 179
Customizing User Profiles 185
Creating custom fields 186
Populating custom fields 187
Organizing Your Sidebar 189
Using sections 189
Sorting channels 191
Chapter 9 Keeping It Safe: Reviewing Slack's Security and Privacy Settings 193
Getting Acquainted with Slack Security 194
Security and Slack's Evolution 194
Configuring Slack's Access and Security Settings 195
Confirming sign-ins via email 195
Resetting your password 195
Viewing access logs 197
Enabling two-factor authentication 198
Additional security features 200
Enhancing Security via Slack Enterprise Grid 201
Examining Privacy in Slack 202
Message encryption 202
What data Workspace Admins can Access 204
Workspace message-retention settings 204
File-retention settings 207
Understanding Slack's Tricky Regulatory Environment 208
Restrictions on data and file retention 208
Data residency 208
Part 4 Extending Slack's Native Functionality 211
Chapter 10 Making Slack Hum with Robust Third-Party Apps 213
Understanding How Slack Has Embraced Platform Thinking 214
Comparing Public and Private Apps 215
Public apps 215
Private apps and integrations 215
Enhancing Slack with Third-Party Apps 216
Looking at app costs 216
The Slack App Directory 217
Introducing Some Popular 5lack Apps 218
Polling apps 218
File- and content-sharing apps 220
Scheduling apps 221
Productivity and project-management apps 223
IFTTT Slack applets 224
Video-calling apps 225
Email apps and integrations 225
Miscellaneous apps 226
Finding and Installing Apps 227
Browsing the Slack App Directory 228
Installing a Slack app in your workspace 228
Searching for specific apps 230
Experimenting with new apps 230
Managing Apps and App Permissions 231
Approving specific apps 231
Regulating workspace apps 232
Viewing all your workspace apps 236
Enforcing your organization's app policy 236
Removing apps from your workspace 238
Disappearing apps 239
Disabling and re-enabling preserved apps 239
Viewing app activity logs 240
Using Workflow Builder 241
Creating workflows 241
Heeding workflow warnings 244
Chapter 11 Analyzing, Importing, Exporting, and Updating Slack User Data 245
Analyzing Workspace Data 246
Slack's analytics dashboard 246
Channel-specific analytics 250
Member analytics 252
Viewing Member Access Logs 253
Moving Data Around in Slack 254
Exporting data from Slack 254
Importing data into Slack 258
Consolidating Slack workspaces 259
Avoiding mistakes when migrating data 261
Performing Mass Updates to User Data 262
Chapter 12 Integrating Slack with Popular Enterprise Systems 263
A Brief Primer on Enterprise Systems 264
Back-office systems 264
Front-office systems 265
Slack and Current Enterprise Systems 265
Exploring current system integrations 268
Creating new system integrations 270
Looking forward 274
Part 5 Successfully Introducing Slack in the Workspace 275
Chapter 13 The Elements of Persuasion: Slack-Adoption Strategies 277
A Brief Primer on Network Effects 278
Reviewing the Different Slack-Adoption Approaches 279
The bottom-up method 279
The top-down method 280
The middle-out method 280
Making Slack Stick at Work 281
Organization-level strategies 281
Strategies for handling difficult employees 286
Chapter 14 The Inherent Risks of Deploying Slack 297
Identifying the Risks of Using Slack 298
Business risks 298
Technology and security risks 304
Listing Slack's Environmental Challenges 307
Slack's financial pressures 308
Stiff competition 310
Ongoing legal and privacy concerns 311
Chapter 15 The Future of Slack: We're Just Getting Started 315
Increased Use of Automation and Bots 316
AI and machine learning make Slack smarter - much, much smarter 317
Slack begins to monitor employee morale and diagnose cultural issues 318
Tighter Integration with Popular Enterprise Systems 319
Better Dashboards and Analytics 319
A More Powerful Slack Work Graph 320
Continued Borrowing of Popular Features from Other Apps 322
Key Acquisitions and Partnerships 326
Part 6 The Part of Tens 327
Chapter 16 Ten Great Slack Tips 329
Respond Promptly to New Users' Requests, Questions, and Feedback 329
Regularly View Slack Analytics 330
Tread Lightly with New Hires 330
Establish Slack as the Default Medium for Internal Communication 330
Emphasize Slack's Carrots More Than Its Sticks 331
Keep an Eye Out for New Slack Apps 331
Tell Overly Exuberant Slack Members to Tone It Down 331
Publicize Your Status and Availability 331
Try Before You Buy 332
Know When to Turn Slack Off 332
Chapter 17 Ten or So Common Slack Myths 333
Slack Is just Email 2.0 333
Slack Decimates the Need for Email 334
All Organizations Configure Slack in a Uniform Way 334
Slack Obviates the Need for In-Person Communication 335
Slack Solves Every Conceivable Business-Communication Problem 335
Slack Is Too Expensive for Our Company 335
Our Company Has Built a Tool That's Just as Good as Slack 336
Our Employees Don't Need Slack 336
Our Company Uses Slack and Nothing Else for Collaboration 337
You Can't Misuse Slack 338
Chapter 18 The Top Ten or So Slack Resources 339
Slack Online Support 340
Contacting Slack 340
Browsing the Slack support site 340
Opening cases or making suggestions within the Slack app 340
Finding Slack tips 340
Submitting Slack feature requests 341
Other Online Resources 341
Official resources 341
Unofficial resources 342
Developer resources 343
In-Person Resources 343
Conferences 343
Meetups 344
In-person training 345
Index 347
