Lesson 6 – Collaborate effectively in channels

Meet Sara. Sara recently joined Acme Inc. – a company just like yours. Acme Inc. adopted Slack a while ago, and Sara is learning how it has changed the way they work. In this lesson, Sara wants to explore how channels help the team collaborate more effectively.

Introduction

Sara's experience before Slack

In her previous company, Sara found that communication happened in many different places. She received a constant stream of emails to her inbox, even if they weren't very valuable or didn't apply to her. Files were shared around with individuals, and decisions were often made without everyone knowing what was going on. These communication silos made it difficult to keep aligned, track information, and stay up-to-date.

How Acme uses Slack

• Files and conversations exist side-by-side in channels, which means Sara always has access to the most current information.
• Sara has noticed people respond efficiently to each other using reactions and mentions, which help the team get the attention of specific people – without distracting one another.

An example from Acme

What's happening...

1. In #proj-email-campaign, Sara and her team are working on an upcoming newsletter to send to their customers
2. Liza needs an updated project brief, so she mentions Sara in a message.
3. Sara shares the project brief in the channel. Everyone can see the latest version of the document in-line with the conversation
4. Liza adds a reaction on Sara's message to let her – and everyone in the channel – know that she has seen the file.
5. Liza responds with some nicely formatted next steps.

Get the attention of specific people with a mention

Liza needs the attention of a specific person to help move work forward, so she mentions Sara directly in her message. Sara gets notified that someone needs her help, and the whole team stays up-to-date on what's happening in the conversation.

Desktop and mobile

Mention a colleague in a channel:

1. Type the '@' symbol, followed by the first few letters of someone's name.
2. Scroll to the person you'd like to mention and select them. 

Share files with the team

 When Sara works with her team, she wants files and conversations to exist side-by-side so everyone has access to the most up-to-date information. It's much easier to get work done when everyone has access to the same information! 

Desktop

iOS

Android

1. Drag and drop up to 10 files into Slack, or click the paperclip icon next to the message field.
2. Add a message about the file if you'd like.
3. To change a file's name, select it and click edit in the top left.
4. Below Share with, choose where to share the file. To share a file later, or to keep it private, uncheck the box next to Share with.
5. Click Upload when you're ready.

Note: If you upload an Office file under 50MB, you'll see a full preview of it in Slack, no download required!

1. Tap the message field.
2. Tap the file with the paperclip icon to upload a file or the image gallery icon to upload up to four photos. You can choose photos from your phone or take a new one.
3. Tap on the file to give it a title and add a message if you'd like.
4. Tap the check mark in the top right to send.

1. Tap the file with the paperclip icon in the input bar to bring up your available files.
2. To upload a file, tap the files icon, or tap the image gallery icon to upload up to four photos. You can choose photos from your device or take a new one by tapping the camera icon.
3. Tap on the file to give it a title and add a message if you'd like.
4. Tap the paper plane icon in the input bar.

Respond efficiently with reactions

Liza could acknowledge Sara’s file by sending a message in the channel saying “Thanks Sara, taking a look”! However, sending a new message would mark the channel as unread – and the comment doesn’t add much value to the conversation.  Instead, Liza could add the eyes reaction to Sara’s message to let her know that she’s seen the file and is taking a look. This doesn’t mark the channel as unread.

Desktop

Mobile

Add a reaction to someone's message in a channel:

1. Mouse over a message and click the   Add a reaction icon.
2. Choose an emoji for your reaction, and watch it appear below the message. 

Add a reaction to someone's message in a channel:

1. Touch and hold on the message you'd like to add a reaction to. 
2. Select Add reaction. 
3. Choose an emoji and watch it appear below the message.

If a message already has reactions, tap the   Add a reaction icon to add one of your own. 

Keep things tidy with message formatting

By taking the time to neatly format her message, Liza ensures that everyone in the channel can quickly scan the content and understand the next steps.

Desktop and mobile

1. To bold, surround your text with asterisks: *your text* 
2. To italicize, surround your text with underscores: _your text_
3. To quote, add angled brackets (>) before your text: >Quote one sentence
4. To format a list, begin our message with a number or a bullet (•).

Note: The guide to specific message formatting can be found here. 

Tip: Clicking the More Actions (•••) button while hovering your mouse over a message will allow you to edit or delete a message.

Your next steps

💡 Mention a colleague in a channel to get their attention

💡 Add a reaction to a message in a channel

💡 Upload a file and share it in a channel

💡 Try out some formatting techniques on your next message!

↪️ Ready for the next lesson? Lesson 3.2 - Find and search for information