Slack backs automated communication workflows

Slack is rolling out a new way for users to create customised workflows that automate the most routine processes and communications.

Workflow Builder is designed to remove productivity roadblocks and support users with customised, automated workflows within slack, and without any coding.

It is able to assist teams with standardising the way requests are collected from a team; reporting any outage in real time; and welcoming new team members.

The company says that routine processes such as employee onboarding, travel requests, and sharing status updates with multiple channels can now be automated to route information to the right teams at the right time. This decreases bottlenecks so people can focus on the important work they need to get done.

Since Workflow Builder is built right Slack, it's easy to get started from scratch or by importing a pre-built template.

In addition to Slack's 1800+ apps, Workflow Builder is an example of how work (and not just messaging) can get done within Slack.

"I focus on projects relating to reducing business interruptions and improving the employee experience here at HubSpot," says HubSpot senior helpdesk technician Christina Kokoros.

"I used Workflow Builder in order to create an easy way to update the global Helpdesk team as well as the core management team for this initiative. Using this workflow makes it so I can fill the form out one time with dates, updates, risks and focus areas without having to copy paste the information to many different channels.

"The format makes it super easy to use as I expand the program to more Helpdesk folks! I am looking forward to future versions and being able to leverage APIs in order to make this an even more versatile and helpful tool for our project work.

Last week the company also announced that customers create five billion actions every week, with more than 12 million using the platform every day.

Slack VP and general manager of platform, Brian Elliott, says that there's a generational shift in how people collaborate at work.

The way we work is fundamentally changing. It's becoming faster, more adaptable, and more collaborative," he writes in a blog post.

"This change is fuelled by engagement. Whether you're sending a message in channel, launching a call in Zoom, sharing a Google file, or starting your day by checking the Outlook calendar app, every action you take to connect with your team in Slack and move your project forward adds up to a whole new way of working.

"People are moving away from email and into channels, away from legacy suites of badly connected products and onto a new customisable platform that can more easily connect the tools they use to work.