Beyond Buzzwords: Adding Heart to Effective Slack Communication
Summary
In our fast-paced, attention-diverting world, swirling buzzwords compete for our time and our focus. We hypothesize that true productivity - creating outcomes and experiences that align with our mission, values, and goals - is about quality over quantity. And the way to achieve genuine quality is to prioritize humanity, especially in how we communicate. In our session, we challenge conventional wisdom by asserting that bringing the human side to communication is essential for achieving meaningful and sustainable success. We will take the audience through our tried and true best practices to craft effective Slack communications that lead to increased knowledge, improved application, and stronger team connections - with a dose of heart.
Key Insights
-
•
Humans have communicated mostly face-to-face for 99.87% of our history, making asynchronous screen communication a relatively new challenge.
-
•
Over 70% of communication effectiveness comes from nonverbal cues like tone and body language, largely missing in async messages.
-
•
Meaningful communication in async channels supports individual and team resilience by fostering trust and connection.
-
•
Effective async messages clearly state the audience, purpose, and required action to reduce recipients' cognitive load.
-
•
Too many calls to action can reduce clarity; limiting to about three key actions is recommended.
-
•
Tailoring message tone and format based on audience size (one-to-one, one-to-many) and sender seniority improves reception.
-
•
Using Slack features like emojis, gifs, Slack clips, and block kits can restore some lost nonverbal communication in async text.
-
•
Staggering message sends and reducing message volume helps prevent information overload and improves engagement.
-
•
Human-centered communications without calls to action still boost social connection and work culture.
-
•
AI tools can aid drafting and polishing messages but require human editing to maintain authentic voice and intent.
Notable Quotes
"You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't connect with other people, nothing will come of it."
"The words we use should enable clear paths of understanding so recipients know their role, what to do next, and why both easily and quickly."
"The vast majority of what makes up meaningful human communication is harder for us to access screen to screen."
"Social pain affects the nervous system in the exact same way as physical pain."
"Every time we communicate, we are sharing in that basic need for human connection."
"Make sure you clearly define who your message applies to so your audience can quickly scan and recognize relevance."
"The bigger the impact, the higher the title that should send the message."
"Slack clips can add tone and body language that is too hard to capture in the written word."
"Short links are a great way to quantify engagement and understand which calls to action are working."
"Communication is nourishment for you and your teams, not just sustenance."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Focus your research report on the three most influential stakeholders, not everyone."
Jerome “Axle” BrownHow to Use Self-Directed Learning to Ensure Your Research Insights are Heard and Acted Upon
March 11, 2021
"We’re showing people how to collaborate like crazy and how to fail gracefully."
Phil GilbertA Consistent Culture of Design
May 14, 2015
"We’re not trying to change behavior, but help researchers in their existing processes to make research faster."
Kate Towsey Basel Fakhoury Oren Friedman Graham GardnerParticipant Recruitment and Management Tools
March 12, 2026
"Machine learning used to be backend technology, but now millions of consumer experiences are decided by machines or algorithms."
Sohit KarolDesigning Delightful Listening Experiences: Mixed Methods Research in the Age of Machine Learning
March 31, 2020
"The BICEPS model helps understand what our co-workers need to feel supported and purposeful."
Christopher Taylor Edwards Valerie RoskeDesign as a Team Practice, A Practical Guide to Cross-functional Collaboration
September 30, 2021
"There is no silver bullet in system-level challenges; multiple interventions across different domains are needed."
Sheryl CababaExpanding Your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
February 23, 2023
"We had to push back on the idea that we could just use existing models without understanding our team’s needs."
Francesca Barrientos, PhDYou Need Your Own Definition of Design Maturity
June 8, 2022
"Celebrating efforts, even when they’re not wins, helps people keep moving forward."
Allison SandersOperating with Purpose
January 8, 2024
"People were encouraging each other to score themselves higher and see their own potential."
Saara Kamppari-Miller"Prototype" vs "Prototype"--Breaking Down and Rebuilding Our Understanding of What We Do
October 24, 2019
