Slack

Your Morning Slack Post

Before 9:30am each day, post your daily plan in #_pm. An automated “Plan for the Day” message prompts this at 8am.

Your response (in a Slack thread) should include what you plan to work on today and any blockers or support needed. For example:

Work on Project X build
Reply to support ticket for Tracey
Meeting with Dan for new project update
Internal meeting about code review

I also need help with Project Y as I am blocked on the configuration of the GF plugin addon for Stripe

Post your daily Slack update before 9:30am: It's essential for setting your goals, getting support if needed, and keeping the team and project manager fully informed.

Daily Communications

Announce your presence on Slack in #_general
Announce lunch breaks and when you leave for the day
Update your Slack status and Google Calendar for meetings, breaks, or deep work sessions

If you are On Call, remember to confirm your responsibilities at sign-off and monitor the support desk and Slack out of hours.

This guide will help you navigate Slack effectively for support and collaboration

Use of the Support Desk

Before you read on and start using Slack it is important to remember that the support desk website (https://makedo.support) and email support@makedo.net is still your primary contact for your new requests and emergency or critical issues. You can find a basic guide to this here.

Slack Do's

1. Open Email Support Tickets for Urgent Requests

Importance of Email Tickets: For urgent support needs, always open an email support ticket. This ensures your request is officially logged and prioritised.
How to Open a Ticket: Send an email to support@makedo.net with a clear subject line and detailed description of your issue.
Why?: It is important to state that Slack, unlike the support desk, is not monitored as comprehensively as the support desk meaning if you use this for urgent or critical issues, for example if a website or server is down, you may not receive any response - especially if the messages are sent out of hours or over the weekend.

2. Using Slack for Communication

Joining Channels: You will be added to private, secure channels relevant to your projects, this will be prefixed with ‘#excom-’ (external communication) and will either be added as a ‘guest access’ account or connected using ‘Slack Connect’ (https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/connect)
Participating in Channels: Feel free to ask questions, share updates, and collaborate with our team and other contacts in these channels.

3. Effective Messaging

Using @mentions: Use the @username feature to directly notify a specific team member. This is useful for directing a message or question to the right person.
Using @channel: This feature will notify everyone in the shared channel, it is important to only use this sparingly.
Creating Threads: To keep conversations organised, please use threads. Click on a message and select 'Reply in thread' to respond directly to a specific topic or query.
Opening a Ticket: If you have a critical or urgent issue or a change request then this is best sent to the support desk so it can be logged as an active ticket (support@makedo.net)

Slack Don'ts

1. Avoid Sharing Sensitive Information

Confidentiality: Do not share sensitive personal or business information in public channels. Use direct messages (DMs) for sensitive conversations.

2. Respectful Communication

Professionalism: Maintain a professional and respectful tone in all interactions. Avoid using offensive language or engaging in arguments.

3. Limit Non-Support Related Topics

Relevance: Keep discussions focused on support-related topics. Avoid unrelated topics that can clutter the channel.

4. Avoid Relying on Slack for Long-term Document Storage

Expiration: Please be aware that documents shared or uploaded in Slack are subject to a 12-month expiration policy. After this period, these documents will no longer be accessible.
User Deletion: Other users can also delete documents at a later date making them no longer available.

Additional Tips

1. Notifications and Alerts

Customising Notifications: You can customise your notification settings by clicking on your profile picture > Preferences > Notifications.
Email Notifications: If you do not regularly log into Slack you must set up some form of email notifications so you do not miss important notifications or responses. There is a comprehensive guide to this on the Slack website here.
Do Not Disturb: Use the 'Do Not Disturb' feature during off-hours to manage your availability.

2. Searching for Past Conversations

Search Bar: Use the search bar at the top to find past messages and files. This can be a quick way to find answers to common questions.

3. Using Slack on Mobile

Slack App: Download the Slack mobile app to stay connected while on the go. Available on iOS and Android.

Need Help?

If you have any questions about using Slack or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team through your dedicated Slack channel or via email.