Slack versus Teams
Having recently joined a new working program, I have been invited to the program to collaborate with other people in groups, message boards, chats and to reply with my view on certain Oracle related queries.
I am new to Slack and have been using Microsoft Teams since 2017 or so.
So, getting to grips with Slack has been a new journey for me, to learn the functionality, the tips and tricks, shortcuts, the good features and learning the limitations.
Whilst doing so, I have a good grasp of both collaboration packages, I did not want to slant one way or the other on this article, but I have been using Teams for a long time, and I am trying to take an unbiased view of Teams in this post.
Both applications offer excellent workspaces and tools, but which one is best? How long is a piece of string — whatever you think it is…Sometimes a colour or interface is preferred and slants your view on functionality. Below I will document some of the key features of each application.
Interface
Both applications have similar interfaces which includes chats, groups, notifications, and files. Of course, Teams has the backend of Microsoft SharePoint to facilitate a lot of the versioning, access and security features inherent in that program. Both have mobile, browser and desktop application versions but for me, I prefer Teams user interface — Slack seems a bit of everything on one page, rather than using Channels in Teams.
Features
Both applications offer collaboration tools such as video calls, messaging, and file sharing — these are the corner stone of all collaboration applications. But if they can be extended further then they get extra points in my eyes. Teams delivers unlimited one to one meetings that can last up to 30 hours and unlimited group meetings — so much that sometimes I have hundreds of chats, and group meetings and channels on my Teams, that it gets a bit overloaded. One great function on Teams is the captions — even though it has trouble with my Irish accent, it is a good addition. The meeting attendance report is a good one to see who is engaging, and when. On Teams you can do polls, create tasks, and even better is you can incorporate PowerApps, and other apps are easily downloaded and added (with granted access) to plug in to your Teams channels. With Slack it includes ‘free’ one to one calls, and video chat with screen sharing but no group calls — which is a bit of a let down.
There are lots of other functions like calendars, forms, polls, applications built for your organisations and other popular apps like Miro, Project, SharePoint, OneNote etc that in my opinion gives more extensibility to Teams over Slack.
Both applications offer free and paid versions of the software. When it comes to paid plans, Microsoft Teams is usually licensed by a Microsoft Office 365 Business package but has other cheaper alternatives with reduced functionality. Slack also has differing options from Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise offerings.
Summary
Slack and Teams offer similar features when you have the full paid-up versions, but Teams wins the day for me as it is a one shop solution in terms of files, sharing, calls, meetings and collaborations. Slack is good for external users and bringing people together for chats and workspaces, knowledge sharing but it does not have the file sharing and security features that Teams would provide. BUT Teams is limited that if you are an external user, you may or may not be able to access another Teams site if it is not federated for example. In Slack, you can add any user as long they have been given access.
In my opinion, Teams is better for having engaged meetings, allowing hundreds of users to seamlessly interact with other, instigate group calls, set up meetings, invite participants; whilst Slack only supports one to one calls — this is a bit of a let down for Slack in this regard.
Slack does however make it possible to have unlimited amounts of user’s instant message on public and private channels and integrate with other apps such as Zoom, Google Drive etc etc. Slack would have a more open source feel to it, whilst Teams would have the more professional feel to it, in my opinion.
