Style
You will spend a lot of time in Slack, so it is best for you to get comfortable.
Emoji Sidebars
You can personalize sidebar sections with emojis. Assign emojis that match the team or purpose, for example a WiFi icon for Networking teams, a Shield for Security, and so on.
One coworker uses Pokémon to identify each group, which is a fun alternative. If you prefer to keep things simple, the default emojis work well:
- đź”´ Critical / Production
- 🟡 Development / Staging
- 🟢 General / Information
- 🔧 Technical
- 🎯 Projects
- 📢 Announcements
After setting up your sections, mute every channel that does not add value to your daily work.
Custom Themes
Slack lets you apply custom colour palettes. You can try the following examples:
- Mickey Mode:
#1E328F,#091861,#20A271,#7C7A7F - Dark Mode:
#1A1D21,#232529,#2F3136,#FFFFFF - Light Mode:
#FFFFFF,#F8F8F8,#2F3136,#1A1D21
Configure these from Preferences → Appearance, then select the Custom tab to the right of “Slack Themes”.
Optimization
It is fun to do things until you do them over 20 times. The features below help reduce that repetition.
Slack User Groups
By creating a user group you can:
- Add users to multiple channels at once. Set default channels on the group itself and every new member is automatically included.
- Mention the whole team in one tag. This removes the awkwardness of tagging each person individually and reduces dependency on a single team member for answers.
A recommended group structure:
@team-all: Everyone in the team@team-dev: Developers@team-ops: Operations@team-leads: Team leads@team-oncall: Current on-call
Workspace Sections
Slack lets you group channels and conversations into sidebar sections. If you work across many teams and hundreds of people, assigning each team to its own section means you immediately know the context of any new message.
This is especially useful when many teams are involved. Keeping your workspace organized helps you stay sane.
Channels
Essential Channel Setup
Your organization will normally define its own channels, but if you are starting from scratch the following structure is a solid starting point:
- Team Operations
#team-standups: Daily meetings#team-announcements: Important updates#team-social: Non-work discussions
- Technical Channels
#tech-architecture: Design discussions#tech-reviews: Code reviews#tech-deployments: Release coordination
- Support Channels
#help-technical: Technical assistance#help-access: Access requests#help-oncall: Emergency support
Advanced Features
Pinned Items
Use pinned messages as a lightweight knowledge base for each channel:
- Team agreements
- On-call schedule
- Important links
- Emergency procedures
- Team documentation
Review and clean up pinned items regularly so they stay useful.
Custom Statuses
Statuses give your teammates quick context about your availability:
- 🥙 Lunch: use a healthy food emoji so people believe you are a healthy person.
- 🗓️ In meeting: this can be set automatically if you add the Outlook integration.
- đź”´ Do not disturb
- ⏰ Be right back
- 📉 Internet issues: helps explain unexpected disconnections.
Search Modifiers
Slack search supports modifiers that narrow results quickly:
in:#channel
from:@user
before:2024-03-21
has:link
has:reaction
Combine them to pinpoint a message, for example in:#tech-reviews from:@jane has:link.
Thread Best Practices
Keep the main channel readable by using threads for:
- Technical discussions
- Problem-solving conversations
- Responses that require back-and-forth
- Status updates on ongoing work
Best Practices
- Channel Management
- Archive inactive channels
- Clean up pinned items regularly
- Update channel topics weekly
- Communication
- Use threads for discussions
- Keep messages concise
- Use formatting for readability
- Organization
- Perform regular workspace audits
- Follow consistent naming conventions
- Write clear channel purposes