Managing Multiple Slack Guest Accounts and Workspaces in 2022
On a scale of 1–10, how hard is it to handle multiple Slack workspaces at once? If you said more than 1, this article should help.
Tools like Slack have changed the way professionals operate.
Instead of clunky emails, we can connect with people in real-time through direct messages. Instead of calling people and hoping that they pick up, we can check a coworker’s presence and set up a video call.
However, there are still a few issues that workplaces need to overcome with their collaboration apps.
For instance, what happens if you have multiple Slack workspaces and accounts to manage at once?
Can you still have a simple, single-pane-of-glass Slack experience?
Signing into multiple Slack workspaces
The good news?
Signing into multiple workspaces is easy.
If you’re a freelancer, a contractor, or you just have more than one group to manage, you shouldn’t have a problem.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Log into the Slack web portal, or sign in with your desktop app
- Click on the tab named “Your Workspaces”
- Select “Create Workspace”
- Enter the URL of the team you want to join
- Enter your email and password
Eventually, you’ll end up with a list of workspaces you can use to connect with other coworkers and clients. Unfortunately, each of those workspaces remains separate from the others. That means that you’ll need multiple tabs open to speak to everyone at once.
TIP If you are using the Slack desktop app, you can use the CTRL + 2 shortcut for Windows and cmd + 2 for Mac to flick tab between workspaces.
TIP So you don’t have to remember the index of the workspace, you can navigate back and forth using [CMD | ⊞CTRL] + [:arrow_up:SHIFT] + [ | ]
Check the left-hand pane where your workspaces are displayed to see which number each Slack workspace assigned. The more workspaces, the more shortcuts will be displayed.
Handling your teams
Let’s say you’re invited to join a Slack team as a single channel guest.
Guests in Slack can either be multi-channel or single-channel guests. To join a team as a guest, you’ll need to accept the email invitation you’re given, then create a separate account.
Your account can share the same profile elements as your original Slack account, and link to the same email. However, for each account, you’ll have a limited group of people that you can message and connect with.
On the one hand, having separate accounts for each team or channel you use is handy. It means you can adjust your preferences and notifications for every group.
For instance, if you were a freelancer that worked specific hours with one business, and different hours with another, you can turn off your notifications outside of those hours.
On the other hand, you’re going to need to switch back and forwards between channels regularly to make sure that you’re up-to-date with the latest information.
It’s that or turn email notifications on and hope for the best.
Since the whole point of an app like Slack is to eliminate your reliance on email, you might be reluctant to turn back to your inbox for help.
You may also like: Ultimate Guide to External Federation in Slack
What about Slack Shared Channels?
You’re not the only person who’s ever worried about handling multiple workspaces on Slack.
As more companies continue to collaborate with external, as well as internal people, Slack has begun working on new solutions.
For instance, the Shared Channels feature on Slack makes it possible to share specific channels in your workspace with another company’s slack account.
Imagine you had decided to work on your marketing campaign with the help of a marketing agency.
You could link your marketing team’s Slack channel to the other company to allow for easier collaboration.
The result is that company Slack users can talk to multiple teams on their app, without having to switch to a new account or add guest profiles.
As your marketing project progresses, the agency could add new people to the shared Slack channel to help you, such as video or audio specialists.
The only problem? If you’re working with multiple companies, not all of them will be happy to invest in a paid Slack service so that they can interact with you.
Shared Channels is a premium feature.
This means that you’d once again have to add people as a single channel guest to your team or join their team as a single channel guest, giving you multiple accounts to manage.
Options for switching between Slack Workspaces
Currently, if you want to switch between workspaces on your Slack account, you’ll need to:
- Create Slack accounts with the same email address for every business you want to collaborate with
- Click on the top left-hand side of your Slack application where you see your profile preferences
- Click on “Switch to…” then the name of the workspace you want to visit (or use the shortcut CTRL+ 2 or cmd +2)
Unfortunately, once you’ve entered a specific Slack workspace, you won’t receive desktop or smartphone notifications from the other channels.
You may still receive email notifications when someone sends you a direct message or @mentions you.
However, there’s also a good chance you could lose track of certain parts of a conversation too.
Ideally, you’d be able to manage all of your channels within the same window, simply clicking between the people you want to communicate with, regardless of which company they’re affiliated with.
You could set this up by installing a universal channel. Sign into the Slack workspace you use the most and create a universal channel to share with external Slack users.
This way you can stay in your desired workspace and message your external contacts without switching between workspaces.
Mio designed universal channels to ensure the future of intercompany collaboration was a connected one. While the primary use case for a universal channel is enabling Slack to Microsoft Teams cross-platform messaging, we have customers using universal channels to manage their Slack workspaces better.
What happens when you need to message people outside of Slack?
Just because you use Slack all day every day, other organizations and individuals prefer Microsoft Teams or Webex.
This is usually the scenario where you have to resort to email or arranging a call to chat with external guests.
The last thing you need when you’re trying to streamline your workflow is the headache of switching between channels, workspaces, and then other apps like Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex come and mess up your flow.
We hear you.
Mio makes handling multiple Slack workspaces as easy as possible and allows users that prefer Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex to join in the conversation with ease.
Instead of switching between apps, using email, or waiting for a time for everyone to become available for a meeting, Mio Universal Channels let you message users on other platforms directly from your Slack workspace.
If you’d like access to our tool, install it directly to your Slack workspace here.
Creating a cohesive Slack experience with Mio
When your colleagues use Microsoft Teams, or Cisco Webex, Mio ensures that you don’t have to switch apps to interact.
Rather than adding yet another app to your toolkit, Mio lets you unlock true messaging interoperability instead.
All you need to do is sign up, sync all the chat apps that your team uses in your personal Mio hub, and start messaging across platform.
This way, you can communicate easily with people on Microsoft Teams and Webex without having to leave Slack.
At the same time, your coworkers, clients, and contractors can continue to use the tools that they prefer.
What sounds incredibly difficult to achieve becomes simple with Mio.
Want to find out how Mio can improve your ability to handle multiple Slack workspaces? Check out this video of how Mio works below.
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