Google’s G Suite includes Gmail, Hangouts Chat and Meet, and Calendar as well as its cloud-based document-sharing programs. Teams comes as part of Microsoft’s pervasive Office offerings like Word and Excel. Slack is one of numerous types of workplace software that companies are using to facilitate collaboration and communication in an increasingly digital world. If wielded poorly, it can even make it worse. “Imagine what you’ll accomplish together.”īut an increasing emphasis on new technology to moderate our workdays isn’t necessarily making our work better or making us more productive.

“Slack is where work happens,” reads the company’s website copy. Or, more often, a nonlinear argument is unfurling as everyone tries to get the last word in first, and chaos envelops the very system meant to keep you organized. Important news is breaking and everyone wants to know. It can mean a few things: A vibrant discussion is taking place in which you and your colleagues are excitedly collaborating around a central topic.

If you’ve spent any time with Slack, you’ve likely seen this message float below the text field of your company’s communications software.

Slack away message