by Lydia Dishman
Most of us who use Slack (or other instant messaging platforms) to communicate with colleagues don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how we are saying what we say. It’s just quick chat, after all. But according to Anna McGrath, a partner in culture and transformation at the design firm Godfrey Dadich Partners, we should all be more conscious about this kind of seemingly casual conversation.
“Slack shows us exactly as we are,” McGrath asserts. “We are all a walking billboard for who we are and our current evolution,” she explains, for better or for worse. Taken together over time, unconscious Slack messages can serve to undermine a company culture.
McGrath noticed this several years ago when she was working with a client and talking about fear in the organization. The example this staff member gave was a Slack communication that was intended to be feedback but quickly devolved into public shaming. Although McGrath doesn’t recall the particulars of the message, she does remember that it was delivered in a public channel with 25 members, and it was the first time this person had heard this feedback.
Lydia Dishman is a reporter writing about the intersection of tech, leadership, and innovation. She is a regular contributor to Fast Company and has written for CBS Moneywatch, Fortune, The Guardian, Popular Science, and the New York Times, among others.