Internal communication: alternatives to Slack
Instant messaging, document sharing... it's possible to connect employees to facilitate their exchanges. How do you choose between the existing tools? To find out more, read our tips and best practice on instant messaging (chat).
Internal communication is changing
Email: too formal
In the professional world, we send a lot of emails. Although this is the most traditional medium, it does have its limitations:
- they are received in chronological order, and not by subject or group of people. We process information as it comes in, as we go along. The most urgent matters are dealt with as quickly as possible, but the substantive content, whether in an attachment or in the body of the text, is drowned in the mass. To find it when you need it, the search function is quickly limited, or you run out of keywords.
- Processing them can quickly become time-consuming. To avoid systematic saturation of your inbox, you sort, delete, archive and save locally... Otherwise, because of lack of available space, your emails will never arrive.
Synthetic and instantaneous
Things have to happen fast. In Anglo-Saxon working environments, business communication is based on what are known as memos: notes between colleagues. The approach is direct, the tone simple, and polite expressions are abbreviations.
How do you communicate internally?
Chat in real time
Messenger was the pioneer of IRC: Internet Relay Chat, an internet communication protocol. This is the principle of chat: real-time written communication. Its use in business offers real advantages. It's less formal than email and the exchanges are more concise. You can discuss a specific point or issue at the time, and get the information you need quickly.
The EDM for working together
Sharing documents works in the same way. Employees work in teams, on common media. They need to be able to access a synchronised version, enhanced by changes made by their colleagues beforehand, or simultaneously. Otherwise, conflicting versions will be duplicated, and documents will have to be reconciled and information consolidated so that none is lost. Tools such as Google Drive make it possible for several people to edit the same document.
ChatOps with Slack: the cross-functional solution
Think outside the box
Some collaborative solutions are designed to be all-encompassing. They encompass chat and EDM. Some, however, are not as successful as expected. Particularly if their framework is too institutional: employees at different levels of the company will not dare to express themselves. It's the bottom-up approach that needs to be applied to generate enthusiasm. Just like ChatOps.
Make it friendly
Launched in 2013 by the founder of Flickr, Slack has established itself as a leader in this market . The interface resembles social networks such as Facebook. You use emoticons and hashtags, tag people and chat online. This familiar private environment encourages adoption in the workplace.
Video for greater interactivity
Chat can be combined with audio and video functions. With the VolP - Voice over IP - method, users chat by video-conference. Slack hasn't offered this yet, but it will soon. Audio, in beta version, will be followed by video. Multi-user conversations are also possible to encourage interaction within work teams. Skype for Business (formerly Lync) can be used to set up chat rooms.
The importance of APIs
To choose a ChatOps, look at its APIs - Applications Programming Interfaces. This is what makes the tool compatible with the rest of your IT environment. For example, HipChat, a pre-Slack solution published in Australia, interfaces with third-party marketing applications such as MailChimp or Saleforces, and also provides APIs for plugging into tools developed in-house by companies.
Extended functionality
Either your ChatOps can interface with your other tools, such as a diary, etc., or it can offer them itself. This is the case with Bitrix24, which focuses on a project management approach. It covers uses right up to CRM (Customer Relationship Management). According to Bastien Le Lann, consultant at Lecko, it is this ability to aggregate complementary information that sets ChatOps apart. "It] brings social and conversion benefits to business processes [and] increases the productivity of teams, who don't have to spread themselves thinly between different applications": a real gain from an operational point of view.
Taking a different approach, TalkSpirit is designed as a collaborative platform. You can centralise the sharing of knowledge and content, communicate and collaborate with all your contacts - team members, customers and partners - from a single space. Professional-grade collaborative features, such as synchronisation with your CRM and project management solution, are a major boost to business productivity.
ChatOps, as a module or as a more comprehensive solution, is at the heart of business exchanges. Whether it's Slack, the leader, or its alternatives HipChat, Skype, Bitrix24 or TalkSpirit, each has its strengths. Your choice will depend on your working environment and your specific requirements.
Article translated from French