Slack hacks for Agile teams

With everyone working remotely, Slack is an invaluable tool for teams because it ensures that teams are working together and part of a conversation while still giving the individuals the ability to remain focussed.

I would love to share some Slack hacks that I have learned over the years to help your team:

Stand up bots: Standuply and many other bots allow you to set up a stand-up time for your teams. You can even set up pointers or questions for them. At stand up time, the bot will message each team member on Slack and ask them to post their stand-up updates. This is then posted on the team channel.

The best part about Standuply is that it messages the team members at their local stand up time, so it is great for those teams with team members in different time zones.

Set reminders: You could set up reminders on any channel you want if you want to be reminded of something. The simple command to use is /remind me in 2 hours to check with X about the signup page designs.

Using hashtags: A great way to save conversation regarding a particular topic on Slack is to use a hashtag. Then you can always go back to all the discussions regarding a specific matter. It makes searching for information so much easier.

Timelord: If your team is remote with team members in various time zones, I am sure you are always wondering what local time it is for your colleagues, for a given meeting. Timelord helps to find that out very quickly. You install the plugin on Slack, and then you can type #e,#p,#m, or #c in your Slack channel, and TimeLord will post the time in various time zones, removing any confusion and saving you time.

Meekan: If finding a call time that would work for everyone on your team is a challenge, try Meekan! It syncs with your team calendar, and suggests a meeting that would work for everyone! For example, you can type: “@meekan suggest a time for a team meeting tomorrow’, and it will make suggestions based on everyone’s availability!

Trello integration: If your team is using Trello, then integrating it with Slack, can keep everyone posted on updates on the card. Great way to get people to use the Trello cards actively. I have used this for other tools like JIRA and Pivotal tracker as well, and I do notice my team is way more active and responsive on these tools when I integrate it with Slack.

Timetastic: I like Timetastic to track team leaves and personal days. If you integrate it with Slack, your team will get a daily message about the absences. Great way to remind everyone about who they can, and cannot message that day!

I hope you have found these hacks useful! I would love to hear any tools or hacks that you enjoy using in your teams. Please do share them in the comments below!