DEV Community

Discussion on: [Ask Dev] Is Slack disruptive at work?

Collapse
 
wuz profile image
Conlin Durbin

People talk about Slack like it is a better, more modern version of email. I think that is really wrong - it's more like a modern version of the water cooler. You have little choice over who can overhear your conversation, it immediately lets you know when you have a notification, and it constantly pulls your attention between channels.

It's pretty nightmarish, in my opinion. That being said, I think there are a lot of ways to make Slack work a lot better and fit with your style of working. I'd highly recommend reading How I Slack by Rands.

Lately at work, we've been trying out buddy rotations for "communication triage". Basically, one dev is working in "deep focus" mode, where they don't have to worry about incoming communication. The buddy dev then handles communication for that time and they swap after a bit. It's worked pretty well so far! I'll probably do a write up on it soon!

Collapse
 
jacobherrington profile image
Jacob Herrington (he/him)

That's a super creative approach! Good idea.