Did you get enough emoji reactions on your Slack post?

Slack — workplace instant messaging platform that didn’t cut you ‘slack’

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👋 Hey there, fellow tech enthusiasts, professionals, and wanderers of the digital realm! 🚀

I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Science-Spirituality, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Have you ever found yourself lost in the labyrinth of a seemingly endless Slack thread, only to realize that it had nothing to do with your actual work, and your productivity was slipping through your fingers like grains of sand? ⌛️

You are not alone! 😒

We all have been feeling through the urge to compulsively check our Slack feed or trading our dopamine dose for the pursuit of accumulating more and more emojis on our posts, even if it meant losing track of time.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love Slackkk!

The messaging platform’s success is praiseworthy. It’s journey from a simple messaging app to a workplace powerhouse with billions of actions is nothing short of remarkable.

It has redefined how we communicate and collaborate, ushering in an era of increased transparency, efficiency, and integration. The product managers and engineers at Slack have done a great job in the making of such a streamlined real time user experience.

Slack posts, notifications, reactions and comments on the slack threads has even completely replaced email engines at many organizations.

As with many other advancements, the problem is not the innovation itself but how it is used and its rate of adoption.

With email, you have time to read messages, and notifications are not as engaging. However, with Slack, you encounter threads with hundreds of messages from ten different people, causing a lack of focus and FOMO regarding learning opportunities.

The instant hit of dopamine with every reply on a thread, as well as reactions or anticipation of reactions to something interesting you or someone else posted, has resulted in a significant loss of productivity.

Even though people are still getting work done, they have to put in extra effort or time due to the energy lost.

This perspective aligns with research from the University of California and Humboldt University, which found that workers can lose up to 23 minutes on a task every time they are interrupted.

Secondly, it has been proven to add stress. Part of this is due to added working hours, as discussed above, but more importantly, it’s also because some people like to chat a lot and have a way to drive conversations in their favor. However, not everyone is as fluent and effective in communicating through chats.

Often, the tone with which the writer wrote is misinterpreted by the reader. This is not just true for Slack but is also applicable to many other instant messaging platforms.

Slack’s seamless experience and ease of use have just made it easy to get that feeling. On top of that, the success of communication or announcements via Slack is often judged by the number of emoji reactions it receives🏅🍻🍾👍🥳. So what does that mean? If you posted at the wrong time and received fewer reactions, you are at a ‘perceived’ loss, adding a feeling that you got less for doing more work.

So, should we ban usage of slack at workplace? Maybe that’s not the right answer, though many firms, like Perq Studio, have adopted that. But there are many other disciplined habits that you can adopt to avoid getting into the vicious cycle.

Here’s few tips:

1. Consider implementing time management strategies, such as designated periods for checking Slack and setting boundaries on notifications. Encourage the use of concise and focused messages to reduce the noise in threads.
2. Promote a culture of mindful work and provide guidelines for minimizing interruptions. Encourage the use of project management tools to organize tasks and timezones boundaries.
3. To alleviate stress, provide communication training and guidelines for maintaining a professional tone in messages. Encourage face-to-face or voice communication for complex discussions.
4. Consider establishing specific channels for non-work-related conversations to maintain a balance.
5. Encourage a shift in focus from emoji reactions to meaningful engagement. Emphasize the quality of responses over quantity, and promote a culture where success is measured by the impact of the communication rather than the number of reactions.

That’s it for today.

And here’s a friendly reminder: if you’re ever feeling the weight of workplace stress or simply want to succeed while maintaining your sanity in life, check out my other posts and subscribe to the newsletter.

There, you’ll find more insights and tips to navigate the corporate jungle with confidence and composure. 🌟💼