Slack And Beyond: Internal Communication For Distributed Companies

“Distance will die,” the British economist Frances Cairncross predicted while observing the spread of the Internet in the 1990s. Distributed companies are defeating distance on a daily basis by using several tools and adapting them to our needs.

In this session I have explained how internal communication for remote companies can be effective, and shared how you can implement the same strategies to communicate with the rest of your team—while reducing issues related to different time zones, cultures and lifestyle.

Transcript

1. internal communication for distributed companies
   @franzvitulli
   SLACK AND BEYOND
   #wcnl
   

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3. london
   nuoro
   

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5. large-scale wordpress websites
   wordpress.com vip partner agency
   distributed team with ~35 humans
   

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8. london, boston
   adayofrest.hm
   online
   outofoffice.hm
   

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9. THE WAY WE
   COMMUNICATE
   IS UNIQUE.
   

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11. LANGUAGE
    =
    COOPERATION
    

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12. SPEAKING
    100% sync communication.
    

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13. VISUAL COMMUNICATION
    

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14. WRITING
    1-to-1, 1-to-many
    async communication
    

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15. LONG DISTANCE
    SYNC COMMUNICATION
    phone, radio, etc.
    

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16. NO MORE BODY LANGUAGE
    NO MORE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
    

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17. THE INTERNET
    CHANGED EVERYTHING.
    

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19. HOW DO WE
    REPLACE THIS?
    

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20. SOFTWARE.
    

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22. SOFTWARE
    ALONE DOESN’T
    DO ANYTHING.
    

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23. SYNC HYBRID ASYNC
    

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24. SYNC
    

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25. HAVE A MEETING AGENDA
    1
    

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26. KEEP IT SHORT AND SWEET
    2
    

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27. TAKE NOTES!
    3
    

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28. SYNC / ASYNC
    (…and other group chat apps)
    

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29. “Group chat is like
    being in an all-day
    meeting with
    random participants
    and no agenda.”
    –Jason Fried (CEO at
    Basecamp)
    

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31. SUPPRESS
    @HERE
    @CHANNEL
    

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32. MUTE
    CHANNELS!
    

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33. ⭐ starred channels
    regular channels
    @channel & @here suppressed
    muted channels
    CHANNEL HIERARCHY
    

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34. USE
    DO NOT
    DISTURB
    

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35. YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE
    FOR YOUR OFFLINE TIME
    

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36. ASYNC
    

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37. HANDBOOK?
    DOCUMENTATION?
    README’S?
    MEETING NOTES?
    EVENT REVIEWS?
    EMAILS?
    

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38. A WRITING
    WORKFLOW.
    

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39. 1
    ALWAYS USE THE SAME APP.
    

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41. 2
    ALWAYS USE MARKDOWN.
    

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44. header 1
    lorem ipsum
    header 2
    lorem ipsum
    
    bacon
    eggs
    toast
    
    header 2
    lorem ipsum
    
    lunch
    dinner
    
    header 2
    lorem ipsum
    

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45. 3
    CREATE & USE TEMPLATES.
    

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47. 4
    ALWAYS REVIEW
    BEFORE PUBLISHING.
    

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48. IT’S NOT JUST
    ABOUT GRAMMAR.
    

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49. CULTURAL / GENDER
    NEUTRALITY
    

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50. “I’m so glad we’re hiring a new
    marketing manager, looking forward
    to working with him!”
    

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51. “I’m so glad we’re hiring a new
    marketing manager, looking forward
    to working with him!”
    

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52. “I’m so glad we’re hiring a new
    marketing manager, looking forward
    to working with them!”
    

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53. TECH
    NEUTRALITY
    

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54. “If you need to get in the zone,
    feel free to cmd+q Slack”
    

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55. “If you need to get in the zone,
    feel free to cmd+q Slack”
    

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56. “If you need to get in the zone,
    feel free to quit Slack”
    

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57. WHERE IS INTERNAL
    COMMUNICATION
    GOING?
    

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58. WHERE IS INTERNAL
    COMMUNICATION
    GOING?
    

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59. CLIENTS? CONTRACTORS?
    INTERNS? SUPPLIERS?
    they’re all part of the greater team.
    

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60. OPENNESS
    real news > good news
    

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61. CONVERSATIONAL BOTS
    get ready, they’re taking over.
    

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63. VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
    not quite like Jarvis, still exceptional helpers.
    

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65. BRAIN TO MACHINE
    COMMUNICATION
    we have the technology, maybe it’s not necessary yet.
    

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66. THE REVENGE OF
    NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION
    

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67. EMOJI
    ☺☹
    ☕✅☀⛈
    
    

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69. MICROINTERACTIONS
    

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70. LIKE A
    P2 POST?
    • I’ve seen it
    • I actually like it
    • thanks!
    • a passive-aggressive reaction?
    

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71. THE MEANING
    IS IN THE CONTEXT
    

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72. LET’S RECAP…
    

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73. ASYNC > SYNC
    BE INCLUSIVE
    DEVELOP A WRITING WORKFLOW
    

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74. KEEP OPTIMISING
    DON’T AIM FOR PERFECTION
    SPEAK YOUR MIND
    BE RESPECTFUL
    

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75. BEDANKT!
    @franzvitulli
    join the fun! http://hmn.md/is/hiring
    

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