Teams Using Slack
 

Hello! My team has been looking into slack as a way to do team communication. I have a few questions:

1. How did you have your slack channel set up? (i.e subgroups, build groups, etc)

2. Does your team have any guidelines to follow, such as rules that people have to follow?

3. How big is your team?

4. How has it worked out so far?

5. Anything we should know about Slack before we use it?

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

We haven't used it formally during build season yet, but for the summer it's worked great.

1. General is used for most things, but I have created channels for other subteams. Other than general, only #offtopic and #marketing get used often, but I would guess that's because of our small size and that we aren't physically meeting right now.

2. No, but I would probably kick them out of the slack if they were being disruptive.

3. About 14 members.

4. Pretty well compared to our previous uses of Facebook and Google Classroom

5. It's really nice for planning things instead of having to contact each thing individually. The only problem is getting people to sign up for it.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Here's how we use Slack on 1257:

We have public channels for each of our subteams, other projects, and miscellaneous other topics that need a place to be talked about (for example, we used Slack channels to coordinate our trips to Champs and IRI this year).

We warn students that is a place that must be kept school-appropriate and that all robotics-unrelated discussion must be limited to the Random channel. We haven't had very many issues with this one.

Our team has around 40 members.

4. Slack has worked incredibly well for us to keep all team discussions in one place and expand team-wide discussion beyond in-person meetings. This is immensely helpful during the heat of build or competitions season, when everyone's constantly thinking of ideas for the robot or team, even outside of meetings. It has the advantage of not being social media such as Facebook, which some students are not on, and where student-teacher interactions may be frowned upon

Slack has fantastic mobile apps so students can get push notifications and send messages from their phones.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Could you elaborate on your experience with Google Classroom? Our new lead mentor and our student leadership are currently deciding between that and Slack.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

While it can work, it results in so many "I didn't see it"s and you can't interact with people very personally.

It's basically just a stream of announcements. I think combining Slack and Classroom can work well, but not just Classroom. It's basically just a Facebook Group. It would work if people actually read their feeds.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

1. Each channel is a department, so you have one channel for CAD, another channel for programming, etc. For more general discussions, we have channels for those as well.

2. Rules? Ha! ... On a serious note, it's given that you use common sense. Spamming/talking out of context/interrupting the current discussion is frowned upon, although we have a #random channel for things like that.

3. 30+, according to Slack (we're a relatively new team)

4. Can't speak for my teammates, but it's been great for me. All discussion is organized by the way we formatted our channels, so you don't have confusion. And for me personally, this has been working out perfectly since I live away from my teammates and therefore cannot meet in-person frequently.

5. Can't really think of anything. :p

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

In addition to what the other have said, I'd highly suggest applying for Slack for Nonprofits if your team has a 501c3 booster club. That way, you can get discounted or free Slack premium for your team.

The important distinction is whether the nonprofit is attached to a school or not. If so, it's Slack for Educational pricing.

(From my own experiences with 1257.)

EDIT: Slack is 85% off for education. See my next comment in this thread.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Oh, we are related to our school. I guess that's why I missed that. Guessing they won't discount it further?

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

From what I can tell, most schools are governmental nonprofits, something *very* different. However, at a 85% discount for Education, it's still more feasible than paying full price.

Slack "Trial" (Trial as in WinRAR): Free* (only allowed 10k messages a month.)
Annually for Slack Standard per person: $80.04 USD
Annually for Slack Plus per person: $150.00 USD

https://www.slack.com/pricing

Annually for Slack Standard on Education per person: $12.00 USD
Annually for Slack Plus on Education per person: $22.50

https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/arti...-for-Education

Slack for Nonprofits: Free (up to 250 people)

https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/arti...for-Nonprofits


Most teams would, unfortunately, fall under the Slack for Education category (as long as they're associated with a school.)

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

1. We have a General channel (of course) plus channels for programming, manufacturing, design, public relations, electronics, announcements, and a social channel for chit-chat. We also have a private mentor channel and team lead channel. We also create temporary channels for build season and each competition.

2. No Slack during school hours. At all. Also, usernames must be firstname.lastname

3. We have a big team. 50+

4. It's worked out really great. We've been using it for about a year and I love it. We used to use a combination of Google Hangouts/texts/emails. Slack has been great for keeping all information in one place, but still organized. Information can be disseminated in the appropriate channel so there's less confusion. For example, a designer can ask for help with a certain problem with Solidworks without disturbing PR, who may be talking about new sponsor acquisition. The only issue we really have is making sure everybody checks it regularly.

5. Use the integrations. We have ours integrated with Google Drive, Github, GrabCAD, and a few others. It's a lifesaver for file sharing.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

We have some different channels: CAD, Chit-Chat, General, Leaders, Marketing, Mechanical, Programming, Electrical, and Special Teams.

Basically behave yourself how you would in real life in the lab. Don't spam the chat in important channels. You can goof around in designated channels. Don't curse, don't be derrogatory of others, don't be a jerk, (you get the idea.)

We currently have 27 on our Slack. With seniors graduating and freshmen coming in, I expect about 30 total withing 3 weeks of school starting.

It has been an amazing life-saver. The integrations (Trello, Google Drive, Calendar, Poll Bots, and even messing around with slackbot features) make things so easy, and since we make everyone download the app, it's easy to get notifications and responses. We also use the "pin" feature for things like permission slips and event information. I also like the channel option. As opposed to email in the past, you don't need to deal with the annoying email groups, and students can join and leave channels based on interest. It makes it easier than asking to be removed from an email list, or even added.

If you are a school team, make sure that any adults/mentors have clearance to join from the board. It wasn't an issure for us, but I have a friend whose mentor was unable to join the slack because of districts policies and teacher communication with students via social media outside of school.

Also, urge students to get the app. Makes things easier than desktop.

Integrations are really fun and simple to use. Use them!

Good luck! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Back when I first heard of Slack, the last thing I needed was one more "thing." I was set with my primary stuff: e-mail (primary), Remind texting, Google Drive, and Trello (on occasion). But I will say, I did not give Slack a serious look, because I had no need to

Currently, we're using Google Classroom under our school district's Google Apps for Education organization and it's working well, but it does have its limitations. However, I will say that it's nice to keep all your stuff within one "ecosystem."

Hearing that there is Google Drive and Trello integration in Slack though, I may need to give it another look.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Did not think of that, thank you for mentioning it!

Seems like a lot of people like Slack.

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

My team started using slack this past year, and we couldn't be happier. Including mentors, parents and students, we have over 100 people using and it's amazing. PM me if you have any specific questions!

Re: Teams Using Slack
 

Edit: snip - wrong post