Slack channels are the text equivalent of open offices. Great for collaboration when you need it, but a noisy distraction for the rest of the day.
In my experience, group chat is bound to fail without some structure and expectation setting. I prefer to have two tiers of Slack channels for each team or initiative
First tier is a public slack channel which is only used for important announcements and for triaging requests from other teams. The team should be diligent about moving key conversations into private messages. Everyone should feel empowered to say "Let's take this offline" in the same way that they should feel free to grab a conference room to discuss something in depth.
Second tier is a small, private Slack channel for only the core team. Treat this like a small, shared private office for just the core team members. They should be diligent about not inviting people to the private channel, and removing anyone who is no longer intimately involved in the project.
Slack channels are the text equivalent of open offices. Great for collaboration when you need it, but a noisy distraction for the rest of the day.
In my experience, group chat is bound to fail without some structure and expectation setting. I prefer to have two tiers of Slack channels for each team or initiative
First tier is a public slack channel which is only used for important announcements and for triaging requests from other teams. The team should be diligent about moving key conversations into private messages. Everyone should feel empowered to say "Let's take this offline" in the same way that they should feel free to grab a conference room to discuss something in depth.
Second tier is a small, private Slack channel for only the core team. Treat this like a small, shared private office for just the core team members. They should be diligent about not inviting people to the private channel, and removing anyone who is no longer intimately involved in the project.