We’ve Used Slack for 6+ Years: Here’s Our Short Review [Pros/Cons]

We were not paid by Slack to write this review. All opinions are our own and are based on experience with the product. We hope it helps other agencies when selecting a communication/messaging platform to use in their business.

Bluestem Media has used Slack as our primary communication tool as a web design agency for over six years (starting in June 2018). Our team recently spent time reflecting on the things we like/don’t like about the platform.

The short version: Slack is a well-built tool that operates nearly without flaw, but you really need the paid version to get this experience.

Pros/things we like

• Channel organization – Setting up a channel per client helps to keep conversations organized. This is a massive help when managing many clients. 
• Setting up Workflow Automation – Slack has a way to build automation using a Workflow builder tool. We’ve used this in the past to push messages to a priority channel when a message is reacted to with an alarm clock emoji ⏰. This helps with maintaining levels of priority and things that need to be done RIGHT NOW. 
• “/remind” function – By using the forward slash and “remind”, you can have SlackBot remind you about a task at a future time. Example: “/remind me tomorrow at 9 am to follow up with Tom”. Then at 9 am the next day, you’ll receive a message from SlackBot.
• Integrations – Integrations with other services like Uptime Robot. This helps us keep track of our client’s website uptime status. Some of our team have Slack integrated with Google Calendar, which gives a rundown on the day.
• iPhone App – Our team uses Apple iPhone products, and they designed the app to be a great experience. Messaging on the app is simple, navigating each channel is easy, and you can even join huddles from your phone.
• Video recording – Videos can be recorded directly to the web app with one click (and you can share your screen). These videos can be sent to clients or be used as internal training for Bluestem Media staff. 
• Image sharing – The ability to paste/send screenshots and images quickly is a huge help when working on projects.
• Information archive – The paid version of Slack allows you to view your entire message history, which serves as an archive of information. Client information can stretch back for years. The ability to use the search function to pull up notes, images, or other files related to a subject or client is unmatched. 
• Keyboard shortcuts – There’s an entire library of shortcuts in the desktop app. If you learn a handful of these, it makes it wicked fast to use the platform. You can view all shortcuts in Windows by pressing Ctrl + /. The shortcut to toggle between workspaces is very handy (Ctrl + Tab). They have all shortcuts (including Mac shortcuts) on their website.
• Canvas feature – We use this feature primarily as a scratch pad for upcoming client meeting notes. Our primary meeting notes are stored in Google Docs, but this is a nice place to tap out some informal thoughts.

Cons/things we don’t like

• Huddles have issues – Huddles tend to slow down a desktop or laptop when screen sharing. We’ve even had the app crash in the past, ending the entire meeting.  The audio in huddles is also configured strangely. Isaac has had issues when switching from a Zoom call to a Slack Huddle, with getting Slack to recognize the correct audio inputs/outputs. It’s not a deal breaker, but sometimes it’s a pain. 
• Best features are paid – All of the core features are on the paid plan. This is less of a “con” and more of a reminder. Although there is some usability on the free plan, the full features that make Slack worth using can only be accessed with a paid account. 
• Limited video recording – The five-minute video recording limit is a pain. We have used it to send explanatory videos to clients in the past, and we’ve had to record multiple videos. These have to be organized in Dropbox and parsed in the email to the client. 

Bottom line: is Slack worth the money? Our team says, yes, it’s worth it.  The pros outweigh the cons by a significant margin. You’ll have to spend some monthly cash on the tool, but if you have more than a handful of clients or employees, it will save you a huge headache.