Slack is #1 productivity killer.
Slack was meant to revolutionize the workplace. Save us from the email avalanche, and streamline the communication so we can focus on what matters.
But for some – it didn’t deliver. Instead, it created a stressful treadmill of staccato messages in the eternal now.
Group chat is like being in an all-day meeting, with random participants, and no agenda.
Basecamp folks
Good news: There is a way to win!
Drawing on my Psychology education and best remote practices of established companies, I created a free, email-based course with proven communication techniques you can use to get the work done, be recognized, and have fun doing it.
Cut down on miscommunication and disagreements
The amount of sad encounters (especially lately) that I’ve had as a result of people not understanding what I’m saying because they don’t actually read what I wrote are enraging.
I used to argue on Github reviews. A lot. Because I treated my colleagues like vendors of comments, I drowned them with logical arguments, reasons and justifications.
But logic does not mean squat if you are not using the same language. And I don’t mean English (although it’s not my first language) or Javascript. You can use the same words and seemingly agree on the dictionary, but still, misread your colleague completely. I share tips on how to connect, so your project goes smoother.
Get a seat at the table
People smarts get you in the door. People skills are just as important as technical skills. Effective communication will help you interview well, pitch yourself, lead meetings, influence others, and get your ideas heard.
The biggest difference between junior developers and more experienced individuals is their written communication abilities.
Do you know why Sundar Pichai became the Google CEO? He wasn’t the smartest, most capable, or more experienced. He just knew how to get people to agree with each other.
If you are brilliant, you will probably be successful if you are agreeable or not. But knowing how to chat with people will create disproportionate leverage for you, so you can do your job in peace.
And people will recognize you for it.
They don’t teach you that in CS1
How many hours per day do you spend on Slack? How often do you balance Red-Black trees? I share scientifically proven techniques, slightly adapted to a text-only environment.
It’s a crime that nobody did it before.
- a thing nobody tells you about remote work is that you have to get good at text-format social grooming.
- We deliberately extend our recruitment process to have more “writing exchanges” with the candidates before we actually talk to them. Writing reveals a lot.
- I believe I’ll be 10x more effective as a contributing member of a dev team if I mastered the art of communicating thoughtfully and precisely
Who am I?
5 Lessons to elevate your Slack game
I know you don’t have time for infotainment videos and a grand curriculum. That is why I wrapped up 5 years of my Social Psychology degree into 5 modules – sent to your inbox daily:
- Module 1: 6 conversational hacks to use straight away. Seriously, you can stop after the first module and still win.
- Module 2: How to start your conversations on the right foot and build rapport online. Yes, you can show charisma via the chat window!
- Module 3: Challenges of text-based communication, where the traps are hidden and the ladder of inference,
- Module 4: Deep dive into asynchronous communication and how to win at Remote. One easy hack to save you days,
- Module 5: How to tailor all this advice to YOUR Slack instance and unlock the secret languages of your colleagues.