Not once have I heard a colleague criticising Slack. Every startup I know is using it and praising it.
When I work with some people who still use email to coordinate in situations where I usually use Slack, I find it to be maddeningly time-wasting. Email is terrible for group conversation.
It strikes me that there must be some more general for the Slack criticism. Perhaps the hype cycle effect? Or the inevitable fact that at least some companies will use a tool ineffectively, given enough adoption?
To anyone who hasn't already used Slack - I'd recommend a trial, especially if your organisation has a culture of group discussion via email. I've found it to be an excellent tool, particularly when coordinating remotely.
The ironic thing is that email fixes pretty much all of the problems that Slack creates.
Slack is still better for sending out random links and messages about lost car keys or whatever, rather than having those clog everyone's inboxes, but beyond that it quickly becomes an anti-pattern that enables a huge array of self-destructive behaviors.
[Disclaimer: I work for AgileBits. I also started the #slack-murderer hashtag inside :slack: before we switched over. My opinions are my own. Just ask anyone at AG!]
"Slack is heroin" is pretty accurate. Instant communication (and video games, and Facebook, and Y-Combinator ...) feeds the gratification / pleasure parts of the brain. That's great if one is working on their own time and can enjoy the inevitable crash when everyone else has finally gone to sleep, but when you've got a company full of people flitting around like crazy, because their neurochemistry says they have to "keep up", because "keeping up" is what keeps the brain in a happy mood -- that's a bad thing.
Changing collaboration software won't do a damned thing until teams have a chance to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Not once have I heard a colleague criticising Slack. Every startup I know is using it and praising it.
When I work with some people who still use email to coordinate in situations where I usually use Slack, I find it to be maddeningly time-wasting. Email is terrible for group conversation.
It strikes me that there must be some more general for the Slack criticism. Perhaps the hype cycle effect? Or the inevitable fact that at least some companies will use a tool ineffectively, given enough adoption?
To anyone who hasn't already used Slack - I'd recommend a trial, especially if your organisation has a culture of group discussion via email. I've found it to be an excellent tool, particularly when coordinating remotely.