{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Picking Up the “Slack” for Team Communication |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Picking Up the “Slack” for Team Communication",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/07/30/picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Picking Up the “Slack” for Team Communication","summary" : "You have a question about a project. You ping a coworker, who texts another colleague, who emails a listserv and receives 3 responses. And the problem is: where will your supervisor find the answer next month, when someone else asks the same question? Corralling","date" : "2015-07-30T01:01:50-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"awichman" : "Ashley Wichman"},"topics" : {
        
            "social-media" : "Social media",
            "terms-of-service" : "Terms of service"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-07-30-picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/07/2015-07-30-picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/07/2015-07-30-picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/07/2015-07-30-picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication.md","slug" : "picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/07/30/picking-up-the-slack-for-team-communication/","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-226-Slack-browser-phones-cutoff.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Slack device group – Browser\u0026#43;Phones – Cutoff\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eYou have a question about a project. You ping a coworker, who texts another colleague, who emails a listserv and receives 3 responses. And the problem is: where will your supervisor find the answer next month, when someone else asks the same question?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCorralling the cacophony of texts, tweets, and emails is a serious undertaking. Some of the free tools designed to manage communication and increase efficiency now have \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/resources/negotiated-terms-of-service-agreements/\"\u003efederal-friendly terms of service (TOS) agreements.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the new federal-friendly tools designed to lighten your communication load is \u003ca href=\"https://slack.com/\"\u003eSlack\u003c/a\u003e. Instead of locking team conversations in emails or 1-on-1 private messages, Slack offers “channels” where group members can share information, comment on each other’s ideas, and upload documents. Every conversation that is part of the channel is saved and searchable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrganizations and agencies are using Slack to streamline their efforts and have one centralized, easily accessible place for internal communications.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It’s a great way to keep our conversations in one place and have our documents exist in one place where many people on the team can access them without needing to dig through emails, said Kasia Galica, Digital Strategist for ICF International. “It also helps with version control. Currently, we’re using Slack for our team working with the Office of Planning Resources and Evaluation for the Administration of Children and Families.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-392-slack-browser-message-view-and-search.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Slack Browser – Message View and Search\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe search functionality is a key selling point for some.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“What I like most about Slack is the search capability,” said Bethany McDaniel, Web Content and Social Media Manager for the Georgia Technology Authority. “For example, if I know that I had a conversation with someone about Facebook but I don’t know who I talked to about it, I can just search “Facebook” and every conversation I had about Facebook pops up.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcDaniel said her nine person team moved to using Slack for internal communication after finding Google Hangouts unreliable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMembers of the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/communities/social-media/\"\u003eSocial Media Community of Practice\u003c/a\u003e praised Slack for being easy to learn and easy to manage.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) at the Department of State has deployed Slack in its bureau, and over half of the bureau’s 350 staff are active, meaning they are logging in and posting, says Hilary Brandt, Director of IIP’s Office of Policy, Outreach and Governance. To encourage adoption in the bureau, they’ve been holding short, internal training sessions on Slack and have even had an “email-free Slack day,” Brandt says.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSlack offers a \u003ca href=\"https://slack.com/integrations\"\u003esuite of integrations\u003c/a\u003e as part of the tool, and it can also be used in conjunction with \u003ca href=\"https://ifttt.com/\"\u003eIf This Then That (IFTTT)\u003c/a\u003e, another \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/02/12/ifttt-combines-social-media-mobile-and-internet-of-things-for-government/\"\u003efederal-friendly service that links different tools and platforms together\u003c/a\u003e. For example, you can use IFTTT to integrate all your social media posts into Slack for an at-a-glance view of your activity across channels.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn response to a privacy breach earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"https://slack.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204509068\"\u003eSlack now offers two factor authentication\u003c/a\u003e. To protect the security of all your social media accounts, DigitalGov offers a \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/resources/readiness-recovery-response-social-media-cyber-vandalism-toolkit/\"\u003eSocial Media Cyber-Vandalism Toolkit\u003c/a\u003e filled with practical steps and instructions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}