Boundaries + Etiquette 

️⭐ Our Boundaries⭐

I commit to being available to answer questions between working hours of 9.30am - 4.30pm (UK time) Monday to Friday. If a question is asked outside of these times, or from someone in a different time zone, it will be responded to the next working day.

I encourage everyone to use the Do Not Disturb feature on Slack outside your working hours so you’re not getting pinged each time a message is sent.

I ask that you do not use the DM function on Slack. We have dedicated channels for different topics and a wealth of knowledge within the community but we’re all still learning. Chances are the answer to the question you’re asking will be beneficial to someone else in the community too.

⭐ Slack Etiquette⭐

🚀Less messages means more efficient collaboration

Here’s a quick win: Never send a message that just says “hey” or “hello.” Even if you immediately follow up with your “real” message, the recipient gets a notification on that first “hey” that contains no information and potentially causes distraction. The person might see the indicator that you’re typing but is still left waiting for your full message.

You can start a message with “hey” or with a , but make it the first line of your entire message. Getting everything you need into a single direct message means that only one notification is sent to the person. Multiple messages means multiple interruptions, and that’s far from an ideal use of everyone’s time and attention.

🚀Write longer messages that scan quickly

Use emoji, bulleted lists, and bold and italic text styling to make your titles and key points stand out in longer messages. This is especially useful for announcements or meeting recaps.

🚀Use threads for effective team collaboration. Seriously.

Threads are great for discussions and project collaboration in a team channel. Members can ask for clarification or share ideas freely without tripping the unread indicator for everyone else in the channel.

🚀Replace short follow-up messages with emoji reactions

Emoji reactions are unsung heroes in Slack. They can communicate lots of different things to your team without needing everyone to post “I agree” messages. Imagine you sent an email to your team with a new product idea. First, you’re met with total silence, then later a reply or two. You have to guess how the rest of the team feels, or you can ask at your next team meeting. What if that idea were posted in a team Slack channel instead? You’d likely see emoji reactions soon after posting. They might show support, indicate that the team wants to think about it, or note approval.

🚀Reduce off-hours pings with Do Not Disturb

Please use this feature in Slack to mark your outside-of-work hours. That way, if you have an idea or question at 10 p.m., you can send it with the knowledge that we’re not expected to respond until morning.

You can also use DND to carve out focus time during your workday. Click your name atop the channel menu and select how long you’d like to pause notifications. Your status in Slack will then communicate to others that you’re heads-down working and they shouldn’t expect an immediate response from you.