How To Use Slack for Your Project Management Needs
Have you ever been in a meeting and wished that you could send a quick message to someone instead of having to interrupt the discussion? If you’re like me, the answer is probably “all the time.” That’s where Slack comes in.
Slack is a combination communication and collaboration tool designed for busy professionals who need to stay connected with their team members throughout the day. But did you know that Slack is more than just a way to send messages to coworkers and that it can also be used as a project management app? Don’t worry; I just learned about this too! So together, let’s walk through all the ways Slack can be a helpful project management tool alongside its internal and external communication use.
What Is Slack?
While the name Slack might make people immediately think of its definition: inactivity and laziness, Slack is an acronym that means “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge.” The irony here is that of the over 10 million people who use Slack, they hardly “slack off.” 87% of Slack users say that using Slack helps improve communication and organization in their business. So, not necessarily the “slacking” statistics you would expect!
Slack was created in 2013 by Stewart Butterfield, the co-founder of Flickr, as a way for his team to communicate internally without needing to rely on email. It has since increased in popularity and use and is one of the most popular communication tools for businesses.
Slacks’ main functionality exists in messages that allow coworkers to communicate with each other without interrupting their workflows or leaving their desks. It’s also an excellent bridge for teams to communicate with external clients and freelancers without everyone in the same “network.”
Ways To Use Slack For Project Management
While Slack was not developed to be a project management tool, it can be used as a great tool to support your project management goals. Here are a few ways you can use Slack without any additional integrations for project management:
1. Create and assign tasks to team members
You can use slack to create and assign tasks to team members by using shortcut commands like the “/todo” command. This allows you to create a task and assign it to a specific team member without leaving your current conversation.
2. Set deadlines and reminders for upcoming tasks
You can use Slack’s “Remind Me” function to set deadlines and reminders for upcoming tasks. This is a great way to make sure that everyone on your team is aware of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
3. Track the progress of ongoing projects
Slack also allows you to track the progress of ongoing projects with its “Project Tracking” feature. This lets you see who is working on what, how much progress has been made, and what still needs to be done. While not as robust as some standalone PM platforms, it helps keep our projects in the right place and everyone moving forward!
4. A knowledge base for your team
You can use Slack to create a knowledge base for your team by using the “/kb” command. This allows you to create a space where your team can share and store files, articles or any other type of information that would be useful for the team.
These are just a few ways you can use Slack for project management. While it might not be the primary tool you use for managing your projects, it is a great tool to supplement your existing project management workflow.
Using Slack Integrations and Automations
If you have a business that already relies on a project management system for the bulk of your tasks, you might think that Slack is redundant. But, my friends, Slack can be one of your best friends if you give it a chance. Using native Slack integrations and other automation tools, you can automatically send information from Slack to your other project planning tools, and vice versa.
Some benefits of connecting Slack with your project management tool are:
- Send reminders to team members
- Tracking the progress of projects.
- Updating clients or stakeholders on project progress.
- Managing client requests and questions.
Linking your different tools can help you automate tasks and streamline your workflow in many ways. Let’s look at an example of how you can do this in one of the top project management tools on the market: Hive.
Using Slack and Hive
If you are a Hive project management software user, it’s easy to integrate your Slack account to streamline your project management process and save you time. Here’s how to use Hive’s Slack integration.
Simply head to Hive apps, select Slack and enter your details. Once you’re integrated, Slack will work as your primary chat in Hive — showing up on the left hand chat panel where the Hive Chat would normally be located.
From there, you’ll be able to see all your Slack channels in Hive, and you’ll be able to create a new Slack channel with a few clicks inside the Hive interface. You’ll be able to drag and move Hive actions to share into Slack, and when you do the relevant channel will open in Slack so you can move directly to the discussion. And if you find you want to add anything to Hive when you’re in Slack, you can use chat commands to create new actions. It will even assign the action to the person you’re talking to!
Hive Automate is a great way to automate your Slack-to-Hive workflow even more. With Hive Automate, you can use Triggers and Actions to produce a desired result based on something that happens in Hive. For example, you can create a recipe (shown below) to post a message in a desired Slack channel each time an action is created or updated in a certain Hive project. And that’s just one of the many, many, recipes you can create in Hive Automate.
Now that we’ve gone over some of the ways you can use Slack for project management, let’s look at some examples of how businesses use Slack to supplement their project management workflows.
As an Agency/Business
Using Slack in the agency or business setting can be a great way to keep everyone on the same page. Having all of your project-related conversations in one place makes it easy for team members to stay up-to-date on what is going on. Using Slack, you can keep everyone informed about the projects and save the history of conversations and notes to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
As a Freelancer
If you are a freelancer, it often feels like you are out on an island without anyone else on your team. However, you can connect with other freelancers and create your team when you use Slack. This can be a great way to:
- Get help with project-related questions.
- Find collaborators for upcoming projects.
- Share resources and tips with other freelancers.
Using Slack as a freelancer, you can build a community of fellow freelancers that you can rely on for help and advice and network with like-minded individuals.
Slack can be a great tool to supplement your existing project management workflow. It is a versatile tool that can be used in various ways to help you save time and keep your team organized. So, if you’re looking for a way to streamline your project management process, consider using Slack as a supplement to your operation.
What are some other ways you and your team like to use Slack for project management? Let us know in the comments below!
