Slack for Business: How to Use Slack Messaging

What is Slack?

Slack is a messaging application that facilitates communication between in-person and remote teams. It’s much more efficient than email or texting and can save you from getting stuck in endless text or email threads. It works well for companies of all sizes and offers various pricing options, including a free version. You can use Slack on any device, so you don’t have to wait until you get to the office to collaborate with your team. 

Slack allows users to communicate via group chat channels or direct messages. When you set up the program for your business, you’ll organize your communication into public and private channels and add user accounts for each employee to post and receive messages. Slack is owned by Salesforce, which has integrated the tool into its broader business ecosystem. However, you don’t need Salesforce to use Slack on its own.

How to use Slack

Using Slack is more than just setting up an account and adding team members. Your Slack approach requires thought, consistency and oversight. “Slack isn’t just a chat tool; it’s a visibility machine,” explained Patrice Williams-Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad. “How you roll it out determines whether it drives collaboration or chaos.” 

Follow these five steps to help make your Slack implementation and rollout a success:

1. Define your objectives.
2. Establish usage guidelines.
3. Create and organize channels.
4. Connect with external tools.
5. Onboard your team.

1. Define your objectives.

Before signing up for a Slack account for your business, determine what you want to achieve with the platform. Clear expectations will help you build a solution that fits seamlessly into your operations. 

“Initially, it’s essential to explicitly define the strategic objectives for implementing such a tool,” said Bryan Cohen, CEO of OPN Communication. “Are you primarily aiming to reduce internal email traffic, enhance interdepartmental project collaboration, or establish a more dynamic, centralized channel for key company announcements?” 

2. Establish usage guidelines.

Once you determine the why, establish guidelines for how your company will use Slack. The ease with which employees can stay connected from anywhere is what makes Slack great, but it also poses potential problems. Establishing norms and explaining etiquette from the get-go can save you headaches down the line.

“Define what gets said in Slack vs. what belongs in email, project tools or meetings,” Williams-Lindo advised. “Create ‘off-hours’ expectations, encourage deep-work zones and normalize thoughtful delays in response time.”

Carol Dasaro, SVP of people and operations at Hot Paper Lantern, a marketing and communications agency, said it’s also vital to establish governance. “Assign admins or channel leads to monitor usage and suggest adjustments,” Dasaro recommended. 

3. Create and organize channels.

Slack lets you create unlimited channels, even on the free plan. However, you want to foster team collaboration, not confusion, so it’s important to organize channels logically. For example: 

• Create consistent naming standards so channels are easy to find. 
• Establish the purpose of each channel and identify which employees should report there. 
• Keep individual channel member lists up to date, especially if you’ve included people from outside your organization.

“We clearly define what channels are for and who should be in them,” said Dasaro. “And for further clarity, we have separate guidelines for channels with external collaborators. Also, channels are updated regularly to add and remove team members as needed.” 

4. Connect with external tools.

Slack integrates with top business solutions, including many of the best CRM software platforms, allowing users to collaborate via a central tool. Admins can easily create a list of approved apps, employees can request approval for additional apps, and there’s even an API for custom solutions. 

“The overarching objective here is to cultivate a communication ecosystem that demonstrably enhances productivity and organizational efficiency, rather than inadvertently creating an additional layer of digital distraction,” Cohen explained.

Slack also integrates with apps meant to foster a culture of empowered employees by building relationships, increasing engagement and prioritizing mental health. Melissa Painter, founder of Breakthru, a third-party app for Slack focused on tackling burnout, noted that businesses should make a point to include company culture tools right from the start. 

“If you’re launching Slack company-wide, consider what cultural tools and habits you want to pair it with,” Painter said. “Build in wellness from day one.”

5. Onboard your team.

Once you have the architecture in place, it’s time to onboard your team. Successful onboarding goes beyond helping them install apps and learn Slack’s features. You also need to explain how you expect Slack to be used at your business by clearly laying out the guidelines and channel structure you’ve put in place. 

“Overcommunicate your channel strategy,” advised Williams-Lindo. “Don’t make employees guess where decisions are made.” 

Slack communication features

Here are some of the most helpful features Slack currently offers:

• Channels: A channel is a group message board where multiple people can exchange messages to interact and share ideas. Channels can be public or private, and you can set up as many as you like. For example, you could have a channel for your marketing team, one for your product development group and another for a specific project. Slack channels aren’t just limited to individuals in your organization — you can invite external collaborators to join.
• Private messaging: Need to send a one-off message that you don’t want your entire team to discuss? You can send private messages through Slack instantly or use apps and workflows to schedule them for later delivery.
• Documents: Slack users can easily share documents by dragging and dropping files into a channel or direct message. You can also integrate Slack with document-sharing tools like Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.
• Canvas: Canvas helps you collaborate and brainstorm with your team. It’s similar to a whiteboard, allowing you to share images, documents, videos and checklists with others. You can even add workflows to your Canvas to set up automations. Slack’s AI tools in Canvas can also help you generate meeting notes, summarize conversations or rewrite content to match your tone, making it easier to document and share ideas.
• Slack Connect: Use Slack Connect to communicate with clients and vendors. Whether you’re trying to close a deal or negotiate new terms, Slack Connect allows you to take these conversations out of email for an instant back-and-forth discussion. This is a great way to strengthen customer relationships and improve response times.
• Huddles: With Huddles, anyone in a channel, group or direct message can quickly join a video or audio call. You can also create short video or audio clips to share updates with your team. Slack can even automatically generate AI-powered summaries and action items for Huddles, helping teams track what was discussed without needing to take notes.
• Integrations: Slack integrates with over 2,600 apps, including Calendly, Salesforce, Box and Trello. Since Salesforce owns Slack, its CRM integration is now built in, making it easier to collaborate around CRM data in real time. (Read our review of Salesforce CRM to learn more.)
• Content sharing: Slack makes teamwork easy by letting you share files, documents, photos and videos with your team. Everything you share is archived, allowing you to easily find previously posted information through search.
• Workflows: Use Slack to set up automated workflows for routine business tasks. For example, you can schedule daily updates, create standard process requests and create custom workflows with other apps that integrate with Slack to keep your business running smoothly. AI-assisted workflow creation can even help you build automations using natural language commands, such as “remind the team every Monday at 9 a.m.,” without needing to write code.
• Slack AI: Slack AI is a paid add-on available with all paid Slack subscriptions. It can summarize conversations or documents, help you find information across the platform, provide recaps of what’s happened in your channels, and even work as an AI agent.

What are the benefits of using Slack for business?

Slack is more than a messaging tool. “When used well, Slack is incredibly powerful,” said Painter. “It gets communication out of cluttered inboxes and into a centralized space where collaboration can actually thrive.”

Here are some of the biggest benefits of using Slack:

1. Instant communication: One of the top advantages of using Slack is that it allows you to communicate instantly with employees. You don’t have to walk down the hall or wait for someone to see your email and respond. Instead, all communication happens in real time. You may also save time by ditching productivity-killing meetings in favor of Slack conversations and quick Huddles.
2. Easy access: Everything you share in Slack is searchable, so all your messages, files and communication within channels can be accessed easily. This can help with organization and quick references.
3. Smooth workflow: Thanks to Slack’s numerous integrations, the app is customizable to meet your specific business needs. This makes it easy to set up workflows and automations to simplify day-to-day tasks. You can also collaborate seamlessly with colleagues in different locations.
4. Out-of-office contact: Slack is especially beneficial for businesses with remote work plans and hybrid workforces. Even though you may not see your employees at the office daily, they can continue collaborating through Slack. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with colleagues who work from home.
5. External collaboration: Slack allows you to invite people from outside your organization to the conversation. “Slack makes it easy to bring clients, freelancers and vendors into shared channels,” said Dasaro. “This allows for more seamless collaboration without relying on long email threads.”
6. CRM-connected collaboration (for Salesforce users): If your business uses Salesforce, Slack now offers features that connect conversations directly to CRM records like accounts, opportunities and support cases. This lets teams collaborate in real time without switching platforms. Users can view Slack messages in Salesforce, trigger CRM actions from Slack and use AI to summarize key updates, making communication more efficient and customer-focused.

What are the drawbacks of Slack messaging?

Like any business software tool, Slack has some downsides to consider:

1. Privacy: There’s always an inherent privacy risk when workplace conversations occur out in the open. Some messages that shouldn’t be public may be inadvertently shared on the wrong channel. Managers will need to develop plans for addressing these instances.
2. Miscommunication: Digital communications are a frequent source of miscommunication. “Messages can be misinterpreted,” Dasaro cautioned. “Quick Slack replies, especially when we are moving fast, can unintentionally come across as abrupt or unclear.”
3. Burnout: Painter warned that the always-on nature of Slack can exacerbate employee burnout. “Slack’s real-time messaging can make us feel like we’re connected, but when there’s no expectation of boundaries, it leads to context switching, digital fatigue and a culture of constant alerts,” Painter explained.
4. Visibility gaps: Slack is designed to increase transparency, but it can also unintentionally create uneven dynamics in who gets heard. “High-visibility threads often favor those who feel confident being vocal or who already hold social capital,” Williams-Lindo noted. “For underrepresented groups, contributing ideas can carry higher stakes, like the risk of being ignored, tone-policed or later credited to someone else.”
5. Distractions: Like with any messaging app, Slack can become unproductive if it’s not used appropriately. Some joking around and banter should be expected, but it can take effort to ensure that most of the discussions are focused on work. 
6. Cost: Slack’s paid plans can get expensive, and you may find a more affordable solution with one of the company’s competitors.

Best practices for using Slack

Fortunately, there are more benefits to using Slack than drawbacks. Here are some processes you can put in place to make it easier for your team to use Slack effectively:

• Establish protocols: Compile a list of best practices and rules for using Slack. Are after-hour messages OK? Will staffers be required to put up “away” notices when in meetings? What kind of content is appropriate for group channels, and what conversations are better suited for direct messages? If everyone’s clear about the right and wrong ways to use the app, you’ll be less likely to experience problems. 
• Support asynchronous use: To counter an always-on culture that can lead to employee stress and overwhelm, make it clear that immediate responses are not required, and lead by example. “Empower team members to respond when they’re available,” Dasaro recommended. “We also encourage the use of scheduled Slack messages to ensure that only urgent messages are sent outside of traditional office hours.”
• Encourage brainstorming: Make it clear that ideas don’t have to be fully formed before they’re shared. If you can loosen up your team’s creative juices over Slack, they may be more willing to contribute, especially those who are typically nervous about speaking in person. Create a channel called “brainstorming” or “ideas,” and use it as a place to post relevant articles, challenging people to brainstorm ways to bring new ideas into practice.
• Use Slack’s fun tools: While using emojis at work can be tricky, they often have a place in internal communications. For example, using emojis to react to messages or content when appropriate adds a fun element to workplace communication. A humorous GIF can lighten the mood, too, but be sure to set filters so no inappropriate content is shared.
• Use the search function: Take advantage of hashtags, starring and Slack’s search function to keep conversations organized. This is particularly useful for team members who struggle with apps, and it can reduce the friction that comes from asking colleagues to share the same information twice.
• Embrace transparency: Show your employees that you value business transparency by sharing updates on company finances, challenges, hiring processes and other parts of business operations via Slack messages. There’s no need to wait until your next meeting to share good news or provide vital updates.
• Foster a virtual culture: The purpose of Slack is to communicate about work, but it can also be used to strengthen your company culture, especially when you have a distributed workforce. “We have channels set up for a music league, book club, pets and more,” said Dasaro. “It gives us that opportunity for small talk outside of the office setting.”

What does Slack cost?

Slack offers four different pricing tiers, including a free plan, making it a great option for businesses of all sizes. Here’s an overview of the different plans and what’s included in each.

What are alternatives to Slack?

Slack was the first direct messaging app to gain prominence in the marketplace. However, since its launch in 2013, many competing products have entered the market. Here are three Slack alternatives to consider: 

• Microsoft Teams: While there’s a free basic Teams offering, Microsoft Teams for Business is quite affordable and has features companies will appreciate. The most popular version costs $4.80 per user per month ($4 when paid annually) and includes unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours, a whiteboard feature, data encryption for meetings, and 10GB of cloud storage per user.
• Chanty: Chanty offers a free plan for up to five users; its business plan is $4 per user per month ($3 when paid annually). The software comes with unlimited public and private messages, one-on-one video and audio calls and voice messages. The company also guarantees 99.9 percent uptime. 
• Google Workspace: Google Workspace is a great choice for companies that frequently utilize Google Docs and Google Sheets. You can try the software for free for 14 days, and there are four different pricing plans, starting at $8.40 per user, per month ($8 when paid annually). You can also schedule meetings with team members and clients through Google Meet. 

Tom Anziano contributed to this article.