Why we use Slack at Notitia

What is Slack?

Slack is the new digital workplace where you can check if a colleague is in the office, ask day-to-day questions, post a meme. Think of it as the “popping your head over the office cubicle” of the 2000s.

It can also be used to keep a record of what is happening in projects, within channels. This ensures that conversations aren’t happening in isolation and keeps everyone on the same page.

This is how Slack has changed our workplace.

• We’ve replaced the need for approx. 70% of meetings since deploying it across the Notitia team. While we still talk face-to-face (over video conferencing and in person) we encourage conversations to happen over Slack, wherever possible.
• We’ve cut down drastically on emails and email admin - almost all of our internal emails now happen over Slack channels.
• Some of our team prefer to communicate in writing (rather than verbally) and Slack has given them this option.
• For those who prefer to have verbal conversations or for discussions that require in-person meetings, or a more personal delivery, we still encourage our people to use conference calls (but to ask the question, “can this be done over Slack?”
• It has eliminated siloed conversations that naturally happen across multiple office locations or remote vs office workers.

Our Slack ‘rules’

Some rules our people stick by, to make Slack “work” as a workplace communication channel:

• Our employees all have the app installed on their work issued device.
• Our people have notifications turned on so that they can be reached throughout the working day (this excludes meetings or during focus time to complete tasks).
• It’s not mandatory to use on personal devices and our people are not expected to be reached outside of their working hours.

How we use Slack at Notitia

• Ad-hoc communication between team members, both through direct messaging, channels and “team huddles”.
  
• Collaboration on projects through the use of channels
  
• A central location for questions, bookmarks, documentation
  
• Notification of where people are at (in meetings, lunch) through syncing to Google Calendar
  
• Casual chatter (such as our internal channel #smack-talk)

How we use Slack as a project management tool

Notitia's Adelaide-based Analytics Manager, Kelly McAteer was tasked with rolling Slack out across the Notitia team to integrate it into project delivery.

Kelly says that using Slack as a project management tool, ensures that Notitia’s deliverables are met.

“Slack keeps the right information and actions visible to the right people,” she says.

“Using ‘Slack Channels’ allows communication to flow seamlessly; it also keeps our people accountable and reduces time spent on slower methods such as face-to-face meetings or email.”

Kelly uses Slack daily to ensure that she remains across what the team is working on.

“Rather than chasing emails or tracking individual people down for updates, I go directly to the project channel and a team member will answer that question for me,” Kelly says.

She says that she has seen an uplift in team engagement, across the board, since implementing the messaging app.

“I’ve noticed that our people are more likely to engage over Slack, rather than replying to emails as it's quicker, easier and less formal,” she says.

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Notitia Analytics Manager, Kelly McAteer’s top #3 tips for using Slack in the workplace

1. Set expectations upfront for Slack usage with your team. Be respectful of when people are in focus time and meetings, don’t expect them to reply straight away.
   

1. Use integrations to keep everyone up-to-date on when work in other programs in your tech stack is progressed. We use Jira and Confluence plugins to auto publish updates to Slack and are in the process of adding more.
   
2. Use statuses so that people know when you are free and when you are busy.

Slack Dos and Dont's

‍Notitia services & expertise

Want to know more about how Notitia can help with your data strategy? Book in a 1:1 chat with our team.

We use our combined expertise to provide a solution with tangible outcomes for your business and people.

Analytics:

• Problem Solving
• Training
• Dashboards
• BI Analytics
• Solution Architecture & Implementation
• Data Lake

Data Strategy:

• Strategy Workshop Sessions
• Technical Roadmaps to achieve business goals
• Data Literacy skills
• Data Quality
• Data Governance
• Cyber Security
• Data Dictionary
• Training + process implementation in your business

Web & Software Development:

• Simple, efficient  & understandable solutions across front  + back end application development
• Modern Cloud Technologies

Design (meet our team here):

• Beautiful dashboard design (we work through this with you in an iterative process)
• UI/UX Design + Prototyping
• Graphic Design
• Website and Application Design + Development
• Brand Identity

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