Level Up Your Team's Communication with Slack

Slack is a team instant messaging app that allows messaging synchronization on various devices. This well-designed communication tool is getting a lot of press time these days as it continues to become one of the fastest growing applications ever. Not a bad reputation, especially since its unique features back up its swift climb to success.

The Difference

This is not your typical instant messaging app. Its unique qualities rely on its efficiency to simplify the daily tasks of a team of workers. When you’re a team member, it’s not unusual to use different tools to reach the team’s goal. Along with these tools are different email addresses and instant apps for communication. Going back and forth, and opening and exiting multiple apps can be tedious and confusing.

Slack simplifies the chaos. Share on X

Slack simplifies the chaos by creating a channel that enables all team members to communicate using different platforms. This design eliminates the need for more communication apps and email messages. Taking it up another notch, Slack also allows integration with other web and mobile apps to make work easier and faster.

The Integration

By enabling app integration, Slack makes for seamless communication for everyone, allowing for improved productivity. There are several web app integrations that allow direct interaction with the app using specific Slack commands. Take Google Hangouts for instance. This web application provides the team a communication hub if video conferences or voice calls are needed. When Slack is integrated with Google Hangouts, the team can create a specific group for “hanging out.” If a video conference is needed, the team can easily jump from Slack to Google Hangout with a simple command (/hangout). This is an especially useful feature if the team is in a cross-collaboration with clients or other teams.

Slack’s simple-to-implement integrations increase its usability tremendously. It has been noted that a number of journalists from various newsrooms have used it to collaborate and discuss ideas and news related to their niche. The integration has also been tested by students who use Slack for group projects. They found it useful because it provides a more intimate setting than the more popular Facebook, but still brings enough flexibility and scalability than a traditional instant messaging app.

One of the best use-cases I’ve seen is in conjunction with Twitter. The entire Slack team can receive instant notifications from Twitter, alerting them to interactions with followers. This is hugely beneficial, especially when more than one person has the ability to act on info.

Slack can be integrated with the following apps: