#1 most frequent
United States of America
61.0%15,026 installations of 24,631
What is Slack?
Slack is a group messaging or team collaboration app that aims to simplify communication for businesses. Features include open discussions, private groups, and direct messaging, as well as deep contextual search and message archiving, and file sharing. Slack integrates with a number of other tools, such as MailChimp, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Slack was acquired by Salesforce in December 2020.
The product is free to use, and also has paid plans with more features and greater controls.
The company has raised $340M in funding and boasts 800k users.
Categories & Use Cases
Top Performing Features
Chat
Instant messaging tool allows users to communicate with select other users in real-time threads.
Category average: 8.8
Discussions
Users can join groups or message boards for forum-style collaboration.
Category average: 8.4
Mobile Access
Mobile access is the ability to access the software from a smartphone or tablet.
Category average: 8.3
Areas for Improvement
Scheduling
Scheduling capabilities allow users to set schedules on tasks, and create timelines and milestones.
Category average: 7.7
Internal knowledgebase
Users can author or access “How-to” help and reference tips about internal processes.
Category average: 7.7
Gantt Charts
Gantt charts are charts that show tasks or events along the y-axis displayed against time along the x-axis.
Category average: 7.3
Who Buys & Uses Slack
#2 most frequent
Canada
5.5%1,359 installations of 24,631
#3 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
4.5%1,116 installations of 24,631
Pros
- Potential to improve productivity and efficiency
- Facilitates real-time communication and collaboration
- Integrates with other business tools
Cons
- Notification overload can lead to distractions
- Potential for reduced focus due to constant interruptions
- Requires active management to avoid negative impacts on productivity
Slack helps avoid meetings
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used Slack at [...] School. We employ about 50 total employees - teachers, assistants, specialists, and administrative. The goal was to get everyone on the same page communication-wise. Also, we wanted to have groups that could keep track of the history of discussions regarding annual events. The employee who instituted the use of Slack had used it very successfully at a previous job.
Pros
- Communication can be tailored to the recipients.
- The dashboard let's you see what you need to deal with.
- You can message a group or an individual.
Cons
- Hard for some, non-tech employees.
- We didn't have 100% adoption of the tool.
- Debate between should this topic be a Slack message or an email?
Return on Investment
- Positive: those who implemented it, really liked it.
- Negative: not 100% of our employees implemented it.
- Decrease in meetings because we used Slack.
- Some confusion/double work to email and Slack the message.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
ClickUp and Apache Hive
Other Software Used
Amilia SmartRec, QuickBooks Online
Slack Real time collaboration tool for effective communication.
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We primarily use Slack for internal communication within the company, including chat, calls, discussions via channels, and threads. It is very useful for communication within the team and across stakeholders and departments. We are also using Slack for external vendor communication. Business problems we are addressing: When we are working on the project with all the stakeholders for effective communication and updates, we are using Slack to be on the same channel, and all discussions are in a single place. We are also utilizing Slack for general communication, org-wide, in the dedicated channel.
Pros
- Real time chat.
- Organized channel with private and public option.
- Integration with tools.
Cons
- Search functionality to find exact message from.
- Multiple threads can be better handled.
Return on Investment
- Faster incident resolution - by communicating in the channel with all the relevant members.
- Reduction of email and relevant communication over email.
- So many channels and threads create noise sometimes.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Built for Teams and Google Hangouts (Classic)
Other Software Used
Ameyo by Exotel, Freshdesk, Databricks Data Intelligence Platform
Great team communication platform
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use Slack for the majority of our asynchronous work-related communication. This includes asking questions for feature development, project management, prioritization, managing customers and business, and more. We use a lot of the integrations as well, like Zoom, Google Calendar, Notion, or Forkable, to integrate with the other tools that we use. Slack helps us to have open communication, keep history of important conversations, track issues and resolution, and support each other debugging. We also have external channels with some of our customers or technical partners for coordination. We typically use Slack for any internal communication, and then we'll use email for corresponding with people outside of the company.
Pros
- Channels for separating conversations by topics
- Integrations with other platforms
- Threads for consolidation of messages and to avoid unnecessary notification noise
- Activity tab for managing reactions, threads, responses, and DMs
Cons
- Would love a better integration with GitHub. For example, notifications when your PR is updated, when review is requested, @-mention in comments, etc.
- Improved "Later" tab, for example the ability to create to-do lists or making the "Later" tab into a more powerful to-do list (annotate items with notes)
- More powerful integrations, e.g. Google Calendar could render a calendar view within Slack, rather than sending the daily schedule
Return on Investment
- Improved communication and coordination to move companies from pre-POC, to POC, and then to paid partnership at a faster pace
- Increased observability and visibility, in terms of time to detection and time to resolution of issues on production environments
- Reduced friction in scheduling and executing synchronous communication, either directly through Slack huddles for quick calls or through the Zoom integration for longer meetings
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Google Chat and Discord
Other Software Used
Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Datadog
Slack - 1010 for Communications.
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use it internally for our national team, and we also use it when we’re part of other coalition groups. When we’ve had a model of different departments, we created channels for each department and for each initiative/program.
Pros
- Keeping everything organized neatly and efficiently.
- Integrating with other apps (Asana/Hubspot in our case).
Cons
- I don’t think there are areas where I see improvement - I really do love Slack, and I’ve used other platforms before.
Return on Investment
- Slack has been incredibly helpful in connecting various tech apps and ecosystems, creating a more streamlined and responsive process.
- Slack has made it significantly easier to communicate with our team members across multiple time zones, creating a more engaging environment for our all-remote team.
Usability
Other Software Used
Hootsuite, HypeAuditor, DocuSign
A remarkable journey with Slack software.
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Slack has transformed our team communication to a great length. The product integrates well with our systems and channels. Use of the tool has ensured real-time collaboration and effortless sharing of information. It has also speeded up project tracking and allowed us to timely fix our issues before they become threats to service delivery. Slack is easy to use and very customisable to meet specific needs. It has instant chat features that helps in speeding up information exchange.
Pros
- The product integrates well with google drive and zoom software, savings us considerable amount of time.
- Smooth software implementation process.
- Flexibility and usability of the software.
- The product allows cross devices sync.
Cons
- Developers of Slack should improve search functionalities of the software and allow advanced inorder to narrow down search results.
- Mobile application of the software is very unreliable. I don't like push notification feature of the product.
Return on Investment
- Use of Slack has enabled us to stay aligned with sales and ensure accurate forecasting.
- The product has reduced delays in decisions making and helps us to improve on transparency in our departments.
- Slack has eliminated the use if emails as it allows direct messaging. This has ensured real-time communication.
Usability
Other Software Used
HeyGen, Vimeo, Zapier
