Why We Built Gratify On Slack.
We’ve been asked “Why Slack?” more than a few times. Gratify is our Slack-immersed freelance platform. Currently, the only way to access our network of vetted freelancers is through Slack.
“Why not use a web portal?”
“Do you plan on integrating Facebook messenger?”
“What about Microsoft Teams?
While we’d love to eventually have presence on all of these platforms, we believe that refining and committing to a single, great platform can lead to a truly rich user experience. That’s the experience we‘ve built for Gratify.
I first discovered Slack from a fellow engineer in 2014.
“What is that,” I asked, curiously looking at my friend’s Slack-filled screen.
“It’s Slack,” my friend clearly responded.
“It’s like a chat room for your team?”
“Yeah.”
..and I was sold. The next day I implemented Slack into our remote-team of 7 (3 in NY, 1 in NC, 1 in PA, 2 in Ukraine). Our team was building EHR software for a company called Getwell. Organizing our communication was super important. We used Slack to replace numerous unorganized google hangouts and email sessions. Slack became incredibly useful, very fast. There was no downside, Slack was the bees-knees of internal team communication.
There was, however, one thing missing…
External communication.
Reaching outside Slack was tough. We got too comfortable with the conveniences inside Slack that other tools, like email and contact boxes on websites, started to feel less convenient. Our tiny team was leading a large project. We frequently had ‘busywork’ that would be best off-boarded elsewhere. We wanted to connect with other experts and off-board some of this extraneous work…inside Slack.
Do what you do best, outsource the rest.
In previous jobs, at physical office spaces, my company frequently brought in outside help from an agency. These freelancers worked with our team, on-site, and helped deliver where our team fell short. It was a quick and relatively efficient way to optimize our company’s resource breadth.
This was in 2011, when virtual office tools were still in their infancy.
Today, virtual office tools have advanced significantly, but finding freelancers online has generally has remained the same…and this is why we built Gratify on Slack.
Finding freelancers on Gratify feels natural. You have a problem, you tell the bot, the bot finds you a freelancer. Freelancers can join your Slack workspace via a private channel. Pending a great working experience, you and the freelancer can naturally stay in touch inside the convenience of Slack.
Slack recently announced Shared Channels, which we plan to integrate with Gratify. This will open up new possibilities for both our freelancers and our client users. Forward-thinking innovations like that is what keeps us grounded and confident in our single-platform approach.
Nothing is certain, we may migrate to other platforms in the distant future, but one thing is for sure: Gratify and Slack were made for each other.
You can add Gratify to your Slack workspace today using this link. Not on Slack yet? Join us here.
