SLACK briefing note

Introduction

What is slack?
Slack is a collaboration hub for work. It’s a place where conversations happen, and information can be shared. With
Slack, our team can be better connected and all our communication is taking place in one simple place.

Why do we want to use it?

We have created a CEA slack group to share information within the region and be able to connect to CEA practitioners
in other regions more easily.

Challenges in terms of communication we have been facing:

▪ No overview of who does what
▪ No clarity on who has discussed what with whom, who is leading in which country
▪ No way to see conversations if not copied in the email -> conversations are not inclusive
▪ Not clear who the focal points are for the different NS
▪ Lots of email threads
▪ Combination of skype, WhatsApp, email, micrososft teams

The added value of slack

• Slack makes information sharing faster
• The searchable history enables you to search for things or documents
• Conversations are more inclusive as one is free to join any open channel of interest
• When joining a channel it is possible to see all previous conversations (unlike WhatsApp or skype where
information must be shared with new people joining a conversation)
• The application works on your phone, your browser or as a desktop app
• It avoids information getting lost in long email chains have different channels for specific topics
• It increases transparency since all the team’s communication is in one place
• It can be integrated with other apps like google, outlook, zoom etc.

How to join slack

1. Go to www.slack.com create an account and download the app on your computer and your phone
2. When you create a user profile, don’t forget to add your name, position as well as a picture
3. Click on this link to join the CEA Slack Workspace

Slack basics

Channels
Communication in Slack happens in channels, organized by region and topic (eg.
#cea_africa, #cea_hub).

Public channels are open to anyone in the group. You can also share files, images or
videos that are of relevance to that channel. Channels allow us to build a database
of RCRC knowledge.
Tip: Please don’t double post across channels, choose the channel that is most relevant.

There are also private channels which you can create for projects that are confidential only the people you invite to
the channel will be able to join. There is a private channel for the IFRC Africa team for example.
Direct message
If you need to reach someone directly you can send them a direct message which is
private, you can also message a group of people. It’s a great way to communicate in
a quick and easy way.

What to post?
- Anything you think would be useful for other members to know
- Updates on conversations, events, activities
- Resources
- Lessons learned
- Questions or requests for advice you may have that other members could help with

Please note that this workspace does not replace other communication channels with line managers or other
collaborators especially regarding operations. Please avoid posting sensitive, personal or irrelevant material or any
other material that may jeopardize operations, security of staff or volunteers or relationships with partners.

Also, to avoid unnecessary messages in the timeline, you can create a thread under specific messages to comment
on the post.

Replies
When you want to reply to a post in a channel you can add an emoji or start a thread
this way all the replies to one post will be linked to the post.

Notifications
When you post in channels you can also tag different team members who it involves @name or the
whole channel @channel. You can personalise the notification settings for every channel.
Tip: We recommend only tagging the whole channel for important messages.

Sharing Uploads
You can easily upload photos, documents and PDFs in channels.
Tip: give your file a good title (it will make it easier to find later). For example, “SDB team
performing biweekly drills”
Please select the best pictures and videos to be shared

Pinned items
These items are particularly important messages that contain key
information for the channel and you can find them quickly by clicking the
small pin at the top of the channel

Search
Everything on Slack like messages or files are searchable. So it’s easy to tap into
the shared knowledge and find information when you need it.

Slackbot is a built-in robot assistant to which you can ask questions about slack and it will give you
automatic responses.

If you need any further assistance, please send a message to Eva at eva.erlach@ifrc.org or on slack