#FashionTech – Here Is How You Can Use The Slack App As A Designer To Structure Your Team And Get Things Done

Slack is an application software that helps team members communicate effectively and remotely whether in a large enterprise or a small business. In this age where working remotely seems to be the order of the day, the power of online meetings and connections has to be utilised fully.

Teleconferencing applications such as Slack, Zoom, Skype and many others have seen a spike in their worldwide activity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Business owners, companies and schools have searched for ways to still be connected to employees, collegues and students in order to stay productive and porting from the traditional face-to-face meetings to online meetings has proved to be the best alternative.

SLACK is an acronym for Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge.

Features Of Slack

Channels: The channels are basically the building blocks of Slack. They are groups set up such that team members can discuss specific topics at any time. Ideas, files and documents can be shared freely through these channels for members to access them easily.

The channels in Slack are always recommended to have clear topics and description in order for them to be organised. Assuming, a fashion designer needs to share a proposal or a budget to a number of people, instead of sending the file individually, creating a channel on Slack can help save time and increase efficiency.

Reminders and Deadlines: Deadlines can be set for specific projects, such that the members of the team are alerted when a deadline has been met or elapsed. In fashion designing where specific dates have been set for clients to pick up outfits, or for outfits to be delivered, deadlines can be set on Slack to serve as reminders. With Slack, employees can also review documents together and make amendments.

Integration Of Other Applications: With the ability of accessing other applications like Google Drive, Google Calendar, Zoom and many more through Slack, users can access files, make schedules and set reminders. Sharing files, like documents and pictures are all made available on Slack, and with this, fashion designers can share outfit styles or lookbooks to prospective clients for them to make a choice.

Video Call Feature: Did we also mention that video calls are available on Slack? What makes video calling different on Slack however is the presence of a virtual background that helps you choose whatever setting you want to appear in. Assuming a client puts a call through, and you’re not in the best place to answer the call, background-wise, there’s a feature that let’s you choose a virtual background, in order to appear more professional.

As a podcast producer and marketing consultant testified,

“Before our company adopted Slack, we weren’t really a team. But since we started using Slack, we’ve become much more efficient and a better team simultaneously, and the results were immediate”.

How The Slack App Can Help Your Fashion Business

In addition to the advantages listed above by using the Slack App, designers can set a to-do list containing a list of tasks and projects to be achieved for a week, or perhaps a month. This helps to keep designers on their toes, and to prevent Slacking, if you know what we mean.

Over a long period of time, messages are bound to pile up on a channel which might make accessing old messages become a worry. Slack has amazing in-built search capabilities or modifiers that allows you search for messages, links and even emojis. To get more information on the search modifiers, check here.

How To Install Slack

To install Slack, all you need do is download the application from the Slack website. To install on a Windows device, click here, for a Mac device, click here, while for an android device, click here.

The Slack app has different plans; the free plan, the standard plan and plus plan.

The difference between the free and paid plans include increased storage space for team members, more team members are allowed to join in on a group call and many others.

Nevertheless, the free plan in Slack does its job quite efficiently.

How To Set Up A Slack Account/Workspace

After installation, all you need to do is click on the Get Started option, then select the ‘My team isn’t using Slack option’, and follow the commands.

At the point where the command prompts you to enter a project name you should enter the name of your channel. After choosing the name of your channel and creating it, you can share an invite link, which is generated automatically by Slack, to your team members.