Skip to content

Files

Latest commit

 

History

History
155 lines (103 loc) · 7.04 KB

HowToUseSlack.md

File metadata and controls

155 lines (103 loc) · 7.04 KB

How to use Slack

In Babylon we try to be as remote friendly as we can. Slack is a tool we rely on to help us communicate with everyone, without having to be physically present. On your first day at Babylon, one of the first things you have access to is Slack. Although this is a pretty straightforward instant messaging tool, there are a few rules and tips everyone should be aware.

Which channels to join?

#ios

The public channel for any babylonian to reach out to the iOS Team. This channel should be regularly checked by the iOS support engineers.

#ios-underground

The private channel for the iOS Team. It's the place to raise problems, have discussions, make the team aware of your whereabouts or just to say "Good morning 👋".

#ios-meeting-outcomes

The private channel to post the outcomes from the iOS team meetings. Each message represents a meeting and should have the following format:

**<title>, <date>**
<what was discussed>
Recording: <recording link>

Example:

**Retro, 11th Nov 2019**
Board: https://trello.com/b/8OC8ahZz/retro-11th-nov-2019
Actions: For @catarina to change the PR Party documentation to address the changes in the process that were discussed.
Recording: https://babylonhealth.zoom.us/recording/share/2q99Zb7Oxg0Kk7yIAVITuGUZVCs2_eV7Vge2Ppmjq3WwIumekTziMw

#ios-announcements

A private channel used to make announcements or to open discussions on broader topics within the iOS Team. Each announcement or discussion should be just one message and the discussion should happen within that message's thread. To understand the status of a message we should identify each topic by adding tagging each message with:

  • Discussion 💬
  • Announcement ⚠️
  • Information ℹ️

When a discussion is completed we should tag if there was an outcome or not with:

  • No outcome ❎
  • With outcome ✅

To be easier to identify the topic of the message we use: [<tag>][<topic of the message>] message

Example:

⚠️[Peakon] Please make sure you feel the Peakon survey frequently and give as much feedback as you can. Please do not ever think your feedback is not relevant enough to write it down. I can guarantee you every feedback is important for us and it will always help us get better at what we do.
Your help is very much appreciated!
Thank you :thanks:

#ios-questions

A private channel where the iOS engineers can post any technical question and it get an answer from someone in the iOS Team. The questions should be a message in a channel and the reply should be within the message's thread. Ideally, please follow the StackOverflow approach and state what you've tried.

The question should follow the format: [<topic of the question>] question

Example:

[RAF] What is an example with the newest style for a page where a child triggers some events in a parent? What is best to inject, and from where?

#ios-build

A public channel where we usually trigger CI workflows like Testfligh/AppCenter builds or UI Automation Tests. The UI Automation Tests run every night and the results are published in this channel by the bot. To check how to trigger the workflows check Slack CI Integration

#mobile-announcements

A private channel used to make relevant announcements for both iOS and Android teams. Each announcement should be just one message and the discussion should happen within that message's thread.

How to manage notifications?

Slack notifications are great way to make sure we don't miss anything important. However, when they are very frequent they can disturb our work and productivity.

There are a few tips to try to reduce the number of notifications to the ones that really matter to you:

Global notification preferences

To reduce the overall number of notifications we can configure the notifications on Slack doing the following:

  1. Go to Slack > Preferences > Notifications
  2. Configure your notifications with:

  1. Go to My keywords and define the keywords to be used to trigger notifications. These can be your nicknames and variations of your name.

  2. In the Do Not Disturb you can set the time interval you don't want to receive any Slack notification. Ideally, this should be enabled during your non-working hours.

On a day to day basis, if you want some quiet time, you can mute notifications temporarily by selecting the notifications icon next to your Slack organization name followed by one of the options.

Leave the channel

When you leave a channel, you can see its messages, but can't participate unless you join it again. When someone shares a thread from that channel, you will be able to read it, but again you'll have to join the channel to interact with it. When the channel is private, if you leave it you will have to be invited by one of its members to join it again.

You should leave a channel when:

  • You haven't opened it in the last month.
  • The subject is no longer relevant or obsolete.

Mute the channel

Muting a channel means you will have access to it but when mentioned individually, with @channel, or @here you won't receive a notification and only the badge next to the channel will be displayed.

You should mute a channel when:

  • The subject is not your main focus but you like to keep yourself updated on what is happening.
  • It is a private channel and you don't want to lose access to it, but you don't check it on a day to day basis.

How to communicate my schedule?

Your status on Slack should be a way to communicate what is your current status. This can be used to indicate you are working remotely, in a meeting, or any other statuses.

Connect Slack with Outlook

You can integrate your Slack account with your Outlook account. This will give permission for Slack to:

  • notify you of your calendar events
  • change your status to In Meeting when you have meetings scheduled in your calendar

To connect the Outlook Calendar app:

  • Go to Apps in Slack
  • Search for Outlook Calendar
  • Open a conversation with Outlook Calendar
  • Connect your account
  • Configure your preferences

Not available

When we are not available on Slack, it is advised to update your Slack status so the person trying to reach you knows why you are unavailable. You can configure your own status however, for some common situations it is better to use the pre-defined ones:

  • Holidays 🌴
  • Working from home 🏡
  • Off sick 🤒
  • Focused 💭 - A few of us turn-off notifications or turn-off Slack when we want time to focus on a certain task.

Scheduling time slots to focus on a task is encouraged because it helps our productivity. When booking these please be mindful of when and how long you are unavailable for. It is always better to schedule these slots when you have no meetings in your calendar and not involved in conversations that are active at that time.