Introduction to Slack

No, it's not an invitation to "slack off" at work. It also has nothing to do with slacklining, a popular recreational activity. In the business world, Slack is a popular productivity tool that easily connects your local and off-site teams.

As a web-based and mobile app, Slack allows your team members to easily collaborate and update each other on project progress. A rise in remote work in recent years helped Slack gain traction after its release in 2013.

Here are some of the features and benefits of Slack if you want an easy tool to connect with your stakeholders.

Secure team chats

Companies can create their own private Slack channels within their account, making it easier for team members to know where to interact. For example, you could make a channel for your development team and another for your sales team and control access.

Convenient outside communication

Slack does more than manage internal communications in one place. The app also allows your team members to collaborate with outside companies and vendors, allowing for more organized information exchanges than email.

Slack Connect promises to speed up your sales cycle while taking pressure off your customer service teams by decreasing ticket backlogs. (On that note, Wrk offers an automated Ticket Routing & Escalation Wrkflow to help your human support staff prioritize tasks.)

Integrated apps

Like Jira, a project tracking platform, Slack offers a wide range of app integrations to boost its power. This feature allows you to streamline your communications by connecting with tools such as Office 365 (and thousands of others.)

Automated features

Slack's Workflow Builder allows users to automate simple and repetitive tasks. We previously wrote about tasks you can automate through Slack, including polling, scheduling, reminders, etc.

Regarding automation, Wrk has a wide range of Wrk Actions that can improve your daily workflow, from retrieving keywords to exporting data.

Unlock more features with a paid subscription

While there's a free version of Slack that allows limited app integrations and even audio/visual chats, you will only get some of the features we've mentioned if you subscribe.

Other levels include Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid, the latter suitable for large companies (this version can accommodate 500,000 users.) Subscribing to any level aside from "free" provides an unlimited message and file history, and the top two tiers offer unlimited channels.

Final Thoughts

So, is Slack worth subscribing to?

That's not up to us to decide, as each business has different needs. Slack allows for a free trial, so you can test drive the platform for suitability before making your own decision.

However, we can say that Slack has attracted about 59 million users, including Uber, NASA, and the New York Times – so it must be doing something right!

Wrk can help you maximize your resources by automating common tasks and taking your sales to the next level through workflows, including Lead Nurturing.

Meet with us remotely to learn more about our hybrid Automation Platform!